phoenix

Phoenix is a new X server developed from scratch in the Zig programming language, intended as a modern alternative to the Xorg server. Unlike Xorg, Phoenix is not a fork but a separate implementation focused on simplicity by supporting only a subset of the X11 protocol. The project aims to provide the features required by relatively modern applications, specifically those written or updated in the past twenty years, which includes older gtk2 applications as well as more recent software. Currently, Phoenix is in an early stage of development and is not intended for end-user deployment. Its present capabilities allow it to render gtk3, glx, egl, and vulkan applications with full hardware acceleration, but only when nested within an existing X server. This nested mode is the only supported way to run Phoenix at this time, pending further development to support running a full desktop environment with real applications. The design of Phoenix restricts hardware support to relatively modern devices—those produced or updated in the last fifteen to twenty years—that have drivers implementing the Linux DRM and Mesa GBM APIs. Unlike the Xorg server, Phoenix does not include a server driver interface, drawing a parallel to how Wayland compositors manage graphics. The developer notes a willingness to consider support for older devices that do not implement these APIs through community contributions, but this is not a current focus. Phoenix is positioned within the class of X servers, targeting scenarios where a simpler, streamlined X server is desired for modern Linux systems. Pricing, licensing, and further delivery details are not specified in the available information.