IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Phoenix: A modern X server written from scratch in Zig

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Wayland Fragmentation and Missing Features

Users criticize Wayland for compositor-specific protocols, lacking universal tools like X11's automation and remoting, calling it "security theater" and balkanized. "On Wayland, this isn't supported 'for my security' and my remaining options boil down to either using a tool that requires root... or a tool made exclusively for my DE" - mzajc. "Wayland is both bleeding-edge and obsolete simultaneously" - Qwertious.

2. Preference for X11's Universality and Simplicity

X11 praised for cross-DE compatibility, scripting (e.g., window titles), stability, and custom WMs without compositor complexity. "In X this is easy and the bash script will work with every DE. In Wayland you have to write a different solution for each compositor/DE" - mikkupikku. "X11 is backwards compatible, you do not have to 'keep up' with its changes" - badsectoracula.

3. Phoenix as Modern X11 Revival ("X12")

Enthusiasm for Phoenix's cleanup of X11 cruft, Vulkan/DRI focus, and Wayland-like isolation while retaining compatibility; seen as better than XLibre/Wayland. "Phoenix is a great idea. It's basically 'X12': removing the old cruft and making breaking changes" - kelnos. "A better plan than XLibre" - wmf. Skeptics note early incompleteness: "very few things work at the moment" - donio.

🚀 Project Ideas

Universal Wayland Window Query Tool

Summary

  • CLI tool providing X11-like queries (e.g., get focused window title, window geometry) across Wayland compositors via standardized protocols and fallbacks.
  • Solves fragmentation where scripts/tools like xdotool fail per-compositor; enables bash scripts for audio/volume control by window title.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Linux scripters, WM users, automation enthusiasts stuck on Wayland
Core Feature Cross-compositor queries for window titles, focus, properties using xdg-desktop-portal, layer-shell, and protocol fallbacks
Tech Stack Rust + wayland-client, smithay-client-toolkit; CLI with clap
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "What's the simple way for a bash script to get the title of the currently focused window? In X this is easy... In Wayland you have to write a different solution for each compositor/DE." (mikkupikku)
  • High utility for power users; sparks discussions on Wayland standardization.

Tech Project Name Collision Checker

Summary

  • Web service/CLI scanning GitHub, PyPI, NPM, HN archives, StackOverflow, crates.io for name conflicts in tech contexts.
  • Prevents "Phoenix" confusion; quick validation before naming new projects.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience OSS maintainers, indie devs naming tools/frameworks
Core Feature Instant search across 10+ registries + semantic HN/NPM similarity scoring
Tech Stack Go CLI + API; Elasticsearch for indexing repos/HN; GitHub/PyPI APIs
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium API ($10/mo pro tier)

Notes

  • "This is a really really bad name. There's already a Phoenix that is well known in tech." (sergiotapia); multiple "Phoenix" rants
  • HN loves naming drama; viral utility for avoiding rebrands like Firefox.

Read Later