How To: Xgl and Compiz on Ubuntu Dapper

Xgl along with compiz offer new features to the Unix Desktop Environment.

Xgl is a new Xserver on top of OpenGL and compiz the window manager using Xgl enhancements.

This How to will go through the installation process and the way to configure it in Gnome.

Since early 2006, Xgl has joinned the open source community and is hosted at freedesktop.org . You can get it from source or download it from the dapper repositories.

Open a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl compiz-gnome _(compiz-kde for kde users)_

##1. Configuring X

You need to edit gdm configuration file. Open /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf.custom and add:

[daemon]
StandardXServer=/usr/bin/Xgl

[server-Standard]
name=Standard server
command=/usr/bin/Xgl -br -audit 0
flexible=true

Then restart gdm, go to console 1 (Ctrl+F1), login and:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

2. Use Xgl and Compiz

Login into gnome, open a terminal and type:

$ compiz --replace gconf
$ gnome-window-decorator

You can now get a funny 3D cube when switching Desktop (Ctrl+Alt+Right or Left), pressing F12 brings all the window opened to the center, you then have to click on the window you wish to open (Mac OSX like).

(Ctrl+Alt+Left Click) on the desktop background let you move your desktop like a 3D Cube.

When moving a window (Alt+LeftClick) on the top bar of a window, while moving it, the window gets real soft and runny.

3. Configure Gnome

Open gnome-session-properties (System->Preferences->Sessions), go to Startup Programs and add both of the previous command: “compiz –replace gconf” and “gnome-window-decorator”, you will need to restart gnome.

4. Conclusion

This is real funny to play with, but it does not still run flawlessly with my video card (should be fixed with the next release :)) . NVidia or ATI card owner should definitely enjoy the trip and might stick to it.