The project LabWC (Lab Wayland Composer) announced a few days ago the availability of its version 0.9.0, which adds support for more configurations, introduces useful tweaks such as scroll emulation, improves interoperability with XWayland, and much more.
For those who are unfamiliar with LabWC, you should know that This is a Wayland compositor that was inspired by the classic Openbox experience. LabWC positions itself as a modern alternative that maintains the principles of efficiency, simplicity, and customization, without resorting to heavy visual effects or unnecessary complexities.
Main new features in LabWC 0.9.0
One of the main changes in Labwc 0.9.0 is its compatibility with wlroots 0.19, the base library used by multiple Wayland compositors. Thanks to this, Labwc inherits support for new architectures, graphics protocols, and capabilities such as multi-GPU management or explicit buffer synchronization using DRM Syncobj.
This update also Improves support for various Wayland protocols, enabling features such as advanced clipboard management, server-side transparency manipulation, direct icon assignment to windows, and more efficient screen capture.
Among the new features visible to users, the following stands out: Introduction of the lab-sensitive-terminal command, that automatically selects the appropriate terminal emulator using the $TERMINAL environment variable. This command has also been integrated into the menu, making it easier to access a terminal from the graphical environment.
It has also been added support for simple gradients in window titles, something that until now was not contemplated in this composer:
window.*.title.bg: Solid | Gradient (Vertical | SplitVertical)
window.*.title.bg.colorTo:
window.*.title.bg.color.splitTo:
window.*.title.bg.colorTo.splitTo:
Improvements in usability and user experience
LabWC 0.9.0 now available allows you to configure multiple aspects of interaction with the system integrated into libinput: such as mouse button behavior, three-finger gesture support, scroll wheel emulation, and new options for navigating between virtual desktops. In addition, support for configurations defined using X11 color names and simplified hexadecimal values has been added, expanding the possibilities for aesthetic customization in a technical yet accessible way.
Another highlight is the improved icon management, which can now prioritize whether to use client-supplied or composer-supplied icons, improving visual consistency in mixed environments.
Known issues and regression warnings
Despite the progress, The jump to wlroots 0.19 brings with it some regressions. One of the most notable affects GTK applications, in which It is no longer possible to activate menu items with a single mouse click, drag, and drop action.n. This issue is common to other compositors and is due to ambiguities in the Wayland specification, so it has not been considered a blocking issue for this release.
Furthermore, Support for virtual reality headsets has been temporarily disabled due to a bug in wlroots that is expected to be fixed in future versions.
Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about it, you can consult the details in the following link
Download and installation
If you are interested in trying LabWC, you should know that you can install it from the Arch Linux or Manjaro repository directly from the official repositories or AUR:
Official repository
sudo pacman -S labwc
Or development version
sudo pacman -S labwc-git
On Alpine Linux
From the community repository:
sudo apk add labwc labwc-doc
Optional: xwayland, swaybg, waybar, swaylock, etc.
Compile from source code
If your distro doesn't include it or you want to use the latest version, follow these official steps:
git clone https://github.com/labwc/labwc.git cd labwc meson setup build/ meson compile -C build/ sudo meson install -C build/
Prerequisites for compiling: wlroots, wayland, meson, ninja, gcc/clang, wayland-protocols, among others.
You can disable XWayland support if you prefer Wayland only:
meson setup -Dxwayland=disabled build/
First start and configuration
Run labwc from a TTY or Wayland session manager. Upon startup, you'll see an empty desktop. Click to open a basic menu.
Optional: Launch an app directly, for example:
labwc -s alacritty
Create the ~/.config/labwc/ directory with files like:
- rc.xml (keybindings)
- menu.xml
- autostart, environment, etc.
In autostart you can add things like:
swaybg -i ~/wallpaper.png & waybar &
When you need to reload the configuration:
labwc --reconfigure