Only on systemd/logind systems. Bitrot doesn't just happen, it caused by your dependencies considering your usecases obsolete.

> All of the X11 based WMs are slowly bit-rotting.

was the statement I was replying to. In 10 years of using dwm I've not been aware of any bitrot that affects me. Certainly nome in the WM itself.

There's X11libre for Linux and there's X on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. I am sure it will be fine.

Define what problems you think exist please.

One advantage of the patches not working is that manually applying a patch (usually quite simple) brings you some familiarity with the code. In my case this let me make my own modifications that were not available as patches. Altering window manager code is fun!

And while you have a good point, I don’t think this is what most people have in mind when they use the term “bitrot” (but I could be wrong). I say this because dwm as supplied continues to work perfectly without modification. The patches are enhancements contributed by third parties (as far as I know) and, as you’ve discovered, are not maintained.

(Also, once you have a working, patched dwm, it should continue to work forever, even if the patches that you used may no apply automatically to future versions of the base dwm.)