Also known as: Wayland compositor · Wayland protocol
Wayland is a display server protocol for Linux designed to replace the X Window System, in which a single compositor handles rendering, input, and window management rather than the client-server split X uses.
A significant motivation was security. Under X11, any client can read the contents of other windows and capture all keyboard input, making keylogging trivial for any running application. Wayland isolates clients by default, with screen capture mediated through explicit portals.
That isolation was also the source of long-running friction, as screen sharing, remote desktop tooling, and accessibility software all had to be redesigned around portals rather than direct access.
X11
X11 is the long-standing display server protocol for Unix-like systems, providing a network-transparent client-server architecture in which applications connect to an X server that manages display output and input devices.
Kernel
The kernel is the core of an operating system, responsible for managing memory, scheduling processes, and mediating all access between software and hardware. The Linux kernel is the component that makes a system 'Linux'.
Linux Distribution
A Linux distribution is a complete operating system built around the Linux kernel, bundling it with system libraries, a package manager, default utilities, and a curated set of software, along with policies for how all of it is maintained and updated.
Open Source
Open source software is software distributed under a licence that grants anyone the right to use, inspect, modify, and redistribute the source code, subject to conditions defined by that licence.