GRAMPS: 5.2.2
Python: 3.12.3
BSDDB: 6.2.9 (5, 3, 28)
sqlite: 3.45.1 (2.6.0)
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
OS: Linux
Distribution: 6.8.8-300.fc40.x86_64 (Fedora 40)
Wayland, KDE and Nouveau display driver
I have notices a few annoying little anomolies when running Gramps on Wayland. If I switch back to an X.org session, these do not appear.
The Gramps main window and the clipboard window do not remember their last position. They seem to remember last size - but not position. All other child windows I have used, such as Notes, Family, Person, etc. will remember their last position.
When searching for persons - I click on a random person in the person view, then start typing a name. A child window appears that is just large enough to type in. If I click outside the search window, then it goes away. BUT! If I click the “close” icon on the child window (the X in the upper right corner), then all of Gramps aborts leaving a locked database.
Every time I switch from X.org to Wayland (or back!) , all saved window positions and sizes are lost.
None of these are show-stoppers, but they are annoying.
Which is your nVidia graphics card? If it is “recent” enough, you could try installing an nVidia proprietary driver from rpmfusion nonfree. nVidia does not collaborate well with the FOSS community. nouveau is lagging behind because GPU API must be guessed or retro-engineered.
My nVidia card is too old to be supported by nVidia Wayland-compatible drivers and nouveau has issues with Wayland. I had to stay with Xorg on my main computer.
My nVidia card is a GT710. The proprietary drivers for it are version
470 and will not run Wayland. The CPU is an I5-760. Yep, it is also an
old piece!
For what it is worth, there is a behavior of Gramps that works better on
Wayland. If you select multiple sources in the Gramps clipboard, then
drag/drop them onto a Sources tab, you can then use Alt-O to OK each of
them. It is very quick
Under X.org, you can Alt-O the first one, but then the window behind
gets focus. The second Alt-O closes the window you dropped the multiple
selection on, and only the first is actually added to the data. You
have to mouse-click each source box to get them to add to the sources tab.
It seems very odd to me that most (not all) child window positions are
remembered and used. Why not all of them? I assume (probably wrong)
that every child window uses exactly the same routines for reading their
last position and then setting themselves to it. They should either all
work or all fail.
I do plan to upgrade to a somewhat newer system in a few weeks. It uses
Intel display hardware. I might be trading one set of woes (nVidia) for
another (Intel)!
There are probably issues in the Qt library itself (KDE is based on Qt widgets). I like to keep a few windows open (Dolphin and others) when I log out so that my session is restored in the state I left. Apparently, KDE (or its Wayland interface) reopens the windows centered in the screen, not where I had them.
This may contribute to loss of Gramps window location, although Gramps is based on GTK+ widgets. This makes me suspect something deeply rooted in Wayland.
Twenty years ago, Linux was considered as a successful “modern” OS to revive old hardware. This seems to dwindle away. My CPU is i5-2500 and GPU GTS 450.
I recently configured some more recent hardware for a friend (i7-6700K + GTX970) but the nVidia causes systematic freezes (though it runs with the latest available nVidia driver from rpmfusion). IMHO, KDE is not yet at production-quality with Wayland. I’m considering turning towards Radeon GPUs for my next machine.