Manual section

1

Author

Kristian Lyngstol

Date

21-11-2014

Version

0.8.11

compiz [--display DISPLAY] [--bg-image PNG] [--refresh-rate RATE]
       [--fast-filter] [--indirect-rendering] [--no-detection]
       [--keep-desktop-hints] [--loose-binding] [--replace]
       [--sm-disable] [--sm-client-id ID] [--only-current-screen]
       [--use-root-window] [--debug] [--version] [--help] [PLUGIN]...

Compiz is a plugin-based compositing window manager for the X desktop.

It provides a visually pleasing way to manage your window, with features ranging from basic window movement, resizing and placement, to signature plugins such as the rotating cube and wobbly windows.

This particular repository is a work in progress to merge various Compiz-components and make things easier for users and developers alike.

--display DISPLAY

The X display to run at. E.g. --display :0.0

--bg-image PNG

Default background image if none is set.

--refresh-rate RATE

Set the screen refresh rate to RATE. Useful if you are using multiple monitors with different refresh rates.

--fast-filter

Force using a fast filter. This will give a visually jagged, but smooth experience. Does not significantly impact performance in most cases.

--indirect-rendering

Force indirect rendering, even when direct rendering is seemingly possible.

--no-detection

Do not attempt to detect screen sizes and refresh rates. Will most likely result in a semi-broken desktop until you can configure it manually.

--keep-desktop-hints

Use desktop hints to determine amount of desktops and which one is the current one at startup.

--lose-bindings

Don't use strict binding for textures.

--replace

If an other window manager is running, try to replace it. This also works if compiz is already running and you wish to restart.

--sm-disable

Disable session management.

--sm-client-id ID

Session ID.

--only-current-screen

Only start compiz on the current X Screen. Most setups today only use a single X screen, even for multiple monitors. Multiple X screens are mostly obsoleted and has the major drawback of not allowing you to move windows between one screen and an other.

--use-root-window

Don't use the compositing overlay window (cow) for the root window.

--debug

Enable certain debug output.

--version

Print the compiz version.

--help

Print basic usage.

[PLUGIN]

One or more plugin to load. You most likely want to load a configuration plugin, then do the rest of the configuration through that. Example: gconf, ccp, ini. Without some plugins, compiz will just sit there and you will not be able to do anything like move windows or change viewports. See compiz-plugins(7) for an overview.

Compiz has two types of configuration. The command line arguments (see OPTIONS above) and metadata. Most configuration is done through metadata.

Because Compiz is also plugin-driven, there is no single standard way of configuring it. There is a number of configuration-plugins, each adapted to either a storage backend or library (e.g. gconf and ini).

The recommended plugin is ccp, and configuration can then be done using the Compiz Config Settings Manager (ccsm).

compiz --replace

Start compiz with the default set of plugins and make sure any running window manager is replaced. The default set of plugins provides all essential window management features, without being too extravagant about it.

compiz --replace ccp

Starts compiz with the CompizConfig plugin. Configuration can then be done through ccsm.

compiz --replace move mousepoll png cube rotate ezoom staticswitcher 
       resize decoration &
gtk-window-decorator &

Starts compiz with a set of plugins and a GTK window decorator. This will give you a functional desktop, but no way of changing the configuration of the plugins from the default values.

Compiz has a somewhat turbulent history that involves forking into Compiz and Beryl, then merging to Compiz Fusion and Compiz, then being re-implemented in C++, and now this.

This version is based on the code base as it existed right before it was re-implemented in C++. For the user, there are few actual differences between the 0.8-code base (C), and the later 0.9 code base (C++). The main difference is that one supports Unity (0.9) and the other does not.

This 0.8.11-based code-base is undergoing some significant changes. Changes between the 0.8.9-code(which is almost identical to the released 0.8.8) and 0.8.11:

• bcop now included directly and built/distributed. Plugins don't need the bcop-binary, just the xslt. See staticswitcher in plugins/Makefile.am.
• plugins-main now integrated directly into plugins/, still needs testing.
• Significant work on the build system to reduce cruft
• Change coding style from stupid to clever
• Introduce a simpler approach to logging, but to ensure it's a mess, leave the old one.
• Add default plugins, configurable at build-time.
• Silent building
• autogen.sh does NOT run configure now. Run it by hand. (Tip: ./autogen.sh; mkdir build; cd build; ../configure; make ... Now you have out-of-tree building).
• README.rst which actually has useful information, and is shipped as a manual page.
• We will probably need to address versioning sooner or later.

Compizconfig will also be imported, but that has not been done just yet.

There are a number of well-known issues with Compiz. Please file bugs at https://github.com/KristianLyng/compiz for now. This page also lists TODO-items.

• gtk-window-decorator(1)
• ccsm(1)
• compiz-plugins(7)

This document is licensed under the MIT license, same as most of Compiz. See COPYING for details.

• Copyright 2014 Kristian Lyngstol <kristian@bohemians.org>