What If Wayland Sucked Less | Shrub

In this thought-provoking episode of *Tech Over Tea*, host Brody Robertson dives deep into the future of Wayland with guest Shrubb, the mind behind the Wayland.fyi project and a minimalist SWC compositor fork. Shrubb recounts his journey from frustration with X11’s bloated architecture—riddled with over 60 library dependencies and convoluted design—to championing Wayland’s streamlined core, which reduces compositor development to just ~80 lines of code. He advocates for radical simplicity, rejecting complex systems like D-Bus and Udev, and emphasizes the importance of code that is both externally usable and internally comprehensible. The conversation expands into broader philosophical territory, questioning the real-world enforceability of open source licenses like GPL and BSD, and reflecting on how licensing decisions historically delayed projects like Linux and GNU. The hosts contrast Linux’s massive, functional but complex codebase with BSD’s elegant simplicity—particularly NetBSD—while acknowledging BSD’s shortcomings in modern usability. A recurring theme is the value of building replacements when systems become incomprehensible, driven by a DIY ethos and a commitment to maintainability over abstraction. The episode concludes with a vibrant, unfiltered exchange on software philosophy, where Shrubb reaffirms that good software isn’t defined by features, but by clarity, simplicity, and alignment with core principles—citing examples like Firefox and Discord’s Electron client as benchmarks. Despite technical hiccups like a lost internet connection, the energy remains high, with a humorous and pointed final jab at D-Bus as a performance bottleneck. The hosts and guest collectively champion a future where open source thrives not through rigid adherence to standards or licensing dogma, but through freedom, minimalism, and the courage to rebuild when necessary. The episode ends with practical guidance for listeners to follow Shrubb’s work across Mastodon and IRC, reinforcing the message that accessible, understandable software is not just possible—it’s essential.