> And if that wasn't enough, we had to build another windowing server

Strictly speaking, Wayland is just the protocol. Pedantry aside, X11 is from 1987, whereas Apple totally redid their display server in 2001 with OS X, and Microsoft in 2006 with Vista. Wayland brings the Linux desktop kicking and screaming into the 21st century. But bazzar development will always be very different than cathedral development, so inevitably Wayland has its problems and rough edges. X11 being longer in the tooth doesn’t help.