As the new year unfolds, the Budgie Desktop team has outlined an ambitious plan for its future development, focusing on two major epics: the completion of Budgie 10 for Wayland and the initiation of Budgie 11.
Budgie 10: Wayland Transition and Enhancements
The primary focus for 2024 is the release of Budgie 10 on Wayland, aiming to make it suitable for daily use.
The team has scheduled the release of Budgie 10.9 early this year, including the initial integration of libxfce4windowing and a new requirement for using Budgie Session to launch the desktop.
This version will feature ported applets and a Tab Switcher, aiding distribution packagers in timely integration.
Key developments for Budgie 10 throughout the year will include:
- Q1 Goals: Finalizing daemon and XDG/Flatpak portal definitions, getting Budgie Desktop running in Wayland or XWayland sessions, and initiating deferred daemon development.
- Q2 Objectives: Completing Wayland’s work in Budgie Control Center and Budgie Desktop for Magpie v1 compatibility and starting portal work.
- Q3 and Q4 Focus: Releasing a Wayland-only Budgie 10 series, with continuous evaluation for community-wide daily use. Once deemed ready, Budgie 10 will enter maintenance mode, concentrating solely on Wayland support and bug fixes.
Budgie 11: Laying the Foundation
The secondary epic for the year is the development of Budgie 11, emphasizing the daemon, panel, applet functionality, and a new Budgie Control Center.
The team plans to spread this work throughout the year, focusing significantly on Magpie (a soft fork of GNOME’s mutter) and the daemon before Budgie 10 transitions to maintenance mode.
Efforts will also include porting work on various components, with a gradual shift towards UX developments in the latter part of the year.
So, 2024 promises to be a transformative year for the Budgie Desktop. We’re excited to see how this fantastic desktop environment evolves in the upcoming months. Rest assured, we’ll keep you informed about all the essential updates related to it.
For more detailed information, visit the official publication.