So I would really like my Discord screen share to work (flatpack from the software app) so I can stream my game play to some friends. I'm not a total total Linux noob and can figure out most things but my Googling appears to have led me to Wayland not playing well with screen sharing, in any form. I feel confident I could get Xorg installed and switch over etc etc but I guess my questions is how many if any downsides will I see in my day to day use? Apparently from reading Wayland is much snappier and is the future etc.. but I can't stream to my friends.
Other than that I'm happy to be back on Linux for the first time in like 10 years.
Appreciate any input, OR a solution so I don't have to switch, thanks!
You don't need to install Xorg/X11 as it is already present. When you select your user name at login you should see a cog bottom right. Click on it and select 'Zorin on Xorg'. It is true that Wayland will never be able to support screen sharing. See my tutorial on how to disable Wayland here:
Yeah, unfortunately there are plenty of folks out there preaching Wayland as the future, today™ even though there are some pretty obvious deficiencies with it, depending on your use case.
I wouldn't go as far as to disable it entirely, however. You can switch back and forth between the two as needed. So if you find that X11 doesn't support some high res monitor resolution or whatever, you can use Wayland, and vice-versa.
You shouldn't get great Problems when using Xorg. And You don't have to install it. It is installed by default.
The Wayland Discussion in common is very ... overheated I think. There is no doubt that Wayland is not ready yet. But it makes Progress. I run Zorin with Wayland since Zorin 16.2 or .3 and didn't had bigger Issues. But I don't use special Software or have Nividia-Hardware or some special Hardware.
Others have Issues with that - primary Nvidia-Users. There is Xorg the better Solution - when You don't have an up-to-date System with Gnome or KDE Desktop. With a new Technology called Explicit Sync in the newest Versions of the Desktops and the Nvidia Driver the common Experience of the Nvidia-Wayland Combination should be better.
The Software Usage can be problematic because there it depends what Wayland delivers and what the Software Developer delivers. It is a two Side Thing.
To make a Try with Xorg go to the Login Screen and click on Your Profile so that the Password Field appears. It muss be appeared. When it is appeared, You should see in the bottom right Corner a Gear Icon. Click on it and You should see two Options:
Zorin Desktop (that is the Wayland Option)
Zorin Desktop on Xorg
The active Option is marked by a Dot. So, click on the Xorg Option and then type in your Password and that's it. It will stay on the chosen Option until You will change it again. So, You don't need to choose it on every start-up.
Yeah what I was reading made it seem as if it would be noticeably worse "downgrading" but so far I see no difference... except that screen sharing instantly worked. I literally have no other complaints at this point. Everything I want to work works, even fractional scaling for my 4k monitor which apparently can be an issue is good for me. (I'm using an AMD GPU so maybe that helps)
I think I gotta buy the Pro version to show support lol, I couldn't be happier with this OS.
NEVER support screen sharing seems like a pretty big miss on their part.. but I'm talking from the outside looking in so I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that and I respect the devs lol. That said, disabling Wayland seems like the way forward for me as it simply doesn't do what I need it to currently so I appreciate the tutorial. I'll hold on to it for just a bit though in case I run into something that triggers me switching back.
Yeah I read "x11 already installed" and "Wayland will never screen share" and was switched over before I even read the next couple of replies.. Discord streaming is essentially THE way my friend group shares what we're playing etc etc.
But this ''exclusively'' is ... it not directly. Let's take Fedora as an Example. They want to use Wayland on Gnome and KDE without the preinstalled Xorg Option. they do this for 2 Reasons:
They use more modern Desktop Environments with a better Wayland Implementation
They want to push the Wayland Development
But that doesn't mean that You can't use Xorg. It is still available in the Repos. So, You have to install Xorg.
I personally think the Zorin Way with both preinstalled is a good Way because You can simply switch when You have Problems under Wayland to Xorg. You don't need to install it first. But the Gnome Version of Zorin 17 is 43. And the up-to-date Version is 46. So, there are 3 Version between that.
I think this is the perfect example. Fedora is intended to be a "playground" of sorts, stable enough but still experimenting with new implementations. In this particular case, I don't mind they dropping support for X11 (out of the box, that is).
The only thing that concerns me is other distributions following suit without contemplating what their user base actually needs.
