However, the real issue I'm getting at is the ability to run the same statically compiled binary many years later. That requires a dedication to compatibility (in this case, protocol compatibility). X11 was a bit all over the place on this, though it is probably stable enough now by dint of not getting much attention anymore. It seems like Wayland takes protocol compatibility pretty seriously [1] but there's an important caveat:
[W]hen a protocol transitions from unstable to stable, one last breaking change is permitted.
[ ... ]
Note that many useful protocols are still unstable at the time of writing.
Though this itself may be out of date by now (I can't find a date of authorship in that book).[1]: https://wayland-book.com/protocol-design/design-patterns.htm...