whatis x11
X11 (X Window System)
Also known as: X, Xorg, X server
The original network-transparent display system for Unix, used on Linux desktops for decades and now largely replaced by Wayland.
What Is X11 (X Window System) in Linux?
X11 dates to 1987. An X server owns the display and input devices, and applications connect to it as clients. Any client can read the screen or inject input into another, which made tools like screenshot utilities and global hotkeys easy but also meant no isolation between apps.
Xorg is the X server implementation used on Linux. Most desktops now default to Wayland, and several have dropped their X11 sessions entirely, though XWayland still runs legacy X11 applications inside a Wayland session.
Learn more about X11 (X Window System)
- Wayland vs X11 Explained: Why Linux Replaced Its Display Server X11 is nearly four decades old and was designed for a world of dumb terminals and networked mainframes. Wayland is the replacement that is now the default nearly everywhere. Here is what actually changed and what it means for you.