Glimpse the future of the Linux desktop with the Wayland-based Hawaii
Catch a Wave

The Hawaii desktop relies on Qt Quick, supports Wayland, and comes with its own compositor. Thanks to the Maui Linux system, you can test Hawaii on a Live CD or on a VMware virtual machine.
The Linux classic desktop systems have been around for several years now. KDE and Gnome are each built around a native toolkit (Qt and Gtk+, respectively). Many of the other desktops are spinoffs of either KDE and Gnome, and the ones that aren't spinoffs are built with many of the same background tools. Slowly, however, a new generation of graphics tools and components is entering the scene. A pair of promising new tools include:
- Wayland [1] – a protocol for graphics interfaces intended to serve as a replacement for the venerable X display protocol used with traditional Unix/Linux graphics systems.
- Qt Quick [2] – an application framework that is used for fast development of custom user interfaces based around Qt.
A new desktop system takes a long time to build, so it takes a while for these new ingredients to actually get baked into something. The Maui project [3] began as an effort to build a complete Linux system around new tools like Wayland, Qt Quick, and the systemd startup daemon. At the heart of Maui is the Hawaii desktop [4] – a simple and (so far) experimental desktop system that runs on Maui and a few other Linux alternatives. Hawaii is still in the alpha stage, but you can try it for yourself using an Arch Linux package, a Live boot DVD, or a VMware virtual machine.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
There's a New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle is a Linux AI assistant that can work with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.