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== Merge of the Compiz and Beryl communities ==
== Merge of the Compiz and Beryl communities ==
On [[March 30]], [[2007]] the discussions between the [[Beryl (window manager)|Beryl]] (a fork of Compiz) and Compiz communities have led to a merge of the two communities which results in two new software packages:
On [[March 30]], [[2007]] the discussions between the [[Beryl (window manager)|Beryl]] (a fork of Compiz) and Compiz communities have led to a merge of the two communities which results in two new software packages:
⚫
* '''[[Compiz Fusion]]''', consisting of the plugins, decorators, settings tools and related applications from the Beryl and Compiz communities. Its main activity is focused in installation, configuration and additional plugins to be added to the core functionalities of Compiz.
* Compiz, (also Compiz-core) which contains only the core functionality of compiz and base plugins
* Compiz, (also Compiz-core) which contains only the core functionality of compiz and base plugins
⚫
* '''[[Compiz Fusion]]''', consisting of the plugins, decorators, settings tools and related applications from the Beryl and Compiz communities. Its main activity is focused in installation, configuration and additional plugins to be added to the core functionalities of Compiz.



It has been also agreed to create code review panel consisting of the best developers from each community who will see that any code included in a release package meets the highest standards and is suitable for distribution
It has been also agreed to create code review panel consisting of the best developers from each community who will see that any code included in a release package meets the highest standards and is suitable for distribution

Revision as of 06:28, 7 September 2007

Compiz
Developer(s)David Reveman, Matthias Hopf, Dave Arlie, Adam Jackson, Jon Smirl
Stable release
0.5.2 / August 03, 2007
Repository
Operating systemUnix-like
TypeCompositing manager
LicenseMIT License
Websitecompiz.org

Compiz is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. The effects, such as a minimization effect and a cube workspace are implemented as loadable plugins. Because it conforms to the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual standard, Compiz can substitute for the default Metacity in GNOME or KWin in KDE.

Some of its features mimic those of competitors, such as Exposé in Apple's Mac OS X and an Alt-Tab application-switcher that uses live previews, instead of just icons. The Composite extension to X is used, as is the the OpenGL extension GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap. The first version of Compiz was released as free software by Novell (SUSE) in January 2006 in the wake of the also new Xgl.

Initially, Compiz only worked with 3D hardware which was supported by Xgl. Most NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards are known to work with Compiz on Xgl. Since May 22, 2006 Compiz works on the standard X.Org server, by using AIGLX. Besides the Intel GMA graphics cards, AIGLX also supports using the ATI graphics cards (including R300 and R400 cards) using the open-source radeon driver which supports GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap since Spring 2007.

NVIDIA's binary-drivers (since Version 1.0-9629) support GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap on standard X.Org server.

Merge of the Compiz and Beryl communities

On March 30, 2007 the discussions between the Beryl (a fork of Compiz) and Compiz communities have led to a merge of the two communities which results in two new software packages:

  • Compiz, (also Compiz-core) which contains only the core functionality of compiz and base plugins
  • Compiz Fusion, consisting of the plugins, decorators, settings tools and related applications from the Beryl and Compiz communities. Its main activity is focused in installation, configuration and additional plugins to be added to the core functionalities of Compiz.


It has been also agreed to create code review panel consisting of the best developers from each community who will see that any code included in a release package meets the highest standards and is suitable for distribution in an officially supported package.[1][2][3]

Features

Internal

  • translucency, dimming, desaturation

Included plugins

Compiz in Film Reel mode, displaying multiple desktop workspaces at once. On the left is an office workspace, in the center an internet workspace, and on the right an administrative workspace.
  • Annotate: draw things on top of all windows
  • Clone: duplicate output on two screens
  • Cube: each virtual desktop becomes a face on a cube
  • Decoration: a plugin to communicate decoration settings to a decorator
  • Dbus: dbus interfacing
  • Fade: windows fade in and out
  • Gconf: settings come from GNOME
  • Ini: Text based configuration
  • Inotify: an inotify plugin which allows plugin developers to easily access inotify. It is currently used to notify settings programs when new plugins are added to the plugins directory.
  • Minimize: windows minimize (and maximize) with an animation effect
  • Move: window moving
  • Place: placement of new windows
  • Png: allows plugin developers to load PNG files as textures without worrying about the image format.
  • Resize: window resizing
  • Rotate: the desktop cube can be rotated
  • Scale: an overview of all open windows (similar to Mac OS X's Exposé)
  • Svg: allows plugin developers to load svg files as textures. Other image plugins can be added so that extra image types will be seamlessly supported.
  • Switcher: active window can be chosen with Alt-Tab
  • Video: accelerated video output
  • Water: ripples trailing mouse and rain effect
  • Wobbly: windows wobble while they move
  • Zoom: magnifies a part of screen

Community Plugins (Compiz Fusion)

  • Animation: animation effects for window events
  • Benchmark: plugin to gauge performance
  • Bs: brightness and saturation control
  • Crashhandler: crash handling through gdb and recovery
  • Cube Reflection: Draws a reflection of the cube
  • Group And Tabs: group windows and access them through a tab bar similar to the well-known feature in browsers
  • Negative: inverts color of a window or screen
  • Put: moves windows using key binds
  • Reflection: watermarks window decorations, similar to Aero-Glass by default
  • Screenshot: mode to capture screen regions with the mouse
  • State: set default opacity and other options for types of windows
  • Trailfocus: unfocused windows fade with time
  • Mousegestures: advanced mouse gestures to control effect

Decorators

Compiz uses small programs called decorators which draw the window borders with the usual minimize, maximize and close buttons. Compiz provides two window decorators.

  • gtk-window-decorator uses either a basic cairo based rendering engine or can use metacity themes.
  • kde-window-decorator uses native KDE themes

In addition, Emerald, Beryl's custom decorator with its own theme format, has been ported to Compiz as part of the Compiz Fusion project (see below) and is available in unofficial packages.[4]

Patches

Along with plugins, the Compiz community developers often release code patches for existing plugins when the feature does not warrant a plugin of its own; or when it utilizes many of the portions of an existing plugin. Code patches can then be sent to the mailing list for eventual inclusion in the main Compiz distribution. The community provides a valuable testing ground for new ideas.

Deployments

Compiz is currently available in the following Linux distributions (either officially or through a third party):

Compiz (Aiglx and XGL) can also be set up on almost any other GNU/Linux-based distribution if the code is compiled correctly; however, there is no support available for this and it is not always a straight-forward procedure.

See also

References

  1. ^ Storm, Quinn. "[beryl-dev] Merge On (details still to be decided)". Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  2. ^ Carr, Robert. "[beryl-dev] Beryl and Compiz Merge: What's actually going on?". Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  3. ^ Laramie, Jeffrey. "[compiz] Compiz and Beryl are Reuniting". Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  4. ^ OpenCompositing forums - Compiz and Compiz Fusion GIT repository for Ubuntu. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
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