Is Compiz worth it?
 

I am using Slackware 12.1 and I have read I thread on Slackware and Compiz, stating that I would have to do all kinds of compiling, building, and configuring that I would have to do. I now ask the ulitmate question. Is it worth it? Is it worth installing, if I want stability and stuff like that.?

It is very cool to have, but I lost interest after awhile, so I disable it from starting at boot time. It does take some resources depending on how many effects you enabled.

Try a distro that has it preinstall, for example mandriva. You can run compiz from the mandriva live cd as well.

Is compiz worth it, only you can decide that...

- Cheers

thanks.. I think I will leave wut is already good, good. and later, dual boot ubuntu or sumthin...


Thanks!

I never even looked at it; I absolutely hate any distractions like "special effects" when windows go away and so on - I just want them to appear or disappear as quick as possible. I don't think there's much point in asking what other people think of it since everyone will have a different opinion; it's just one of those things that you have to try yourself.

I think Ill just tweak Fluxbox and be happy!!! I barely know how to compile CLI programs.... Ill just chill till later!! thanks anyway!

Not for me...I was interested at first, but when the light slowly began to glimmer and I realised that it only offered eye-candy and not usability inprovements, then my well-developed 'why bother?' response kicked in.

It doesn`t worth it... it`s fun to play with, but when you have work to do it`s irritating.

Debian

I've never tried it, but I should think that once the novelty's worn off it's useless eye-candy.

My wife is one of those people that think everything a computer does is magic. So if something happens that she doesn't expect it must be because something broke.

She hasn't figured out tabs in Firefox, so she typically has a dozen or so instances of FF on her desktop, then gets lost trying to find her way around. So she starts poking around the taskbar and finds herself on another desktop where she might have last weeks FF windows. Of course that means that she "lost" all of her work and will call me at work (usually when I'm in a meeting) to help her find everything.

I've tried to explain the concepts of the multiple desktops, but her understanding never took root until I installed compiz fusion with the rotating cube. Now that she can visualize where her screens go, she doesn't have to call me anymore. She still opens up many instances of FF, but at least she can find them wherever they are distributed around her cube.

Well, IMO, compiz is not worth it, it's not stable either. But, if you enjoy visual effects, try it out.

Have you tried using slackbuild scripts? These are scripts submitted by slackware users to compile and build a binary package. Once the package is built, you use the installpkg command to install the package. This is how it works.


Download the script and the package. Be aware that the script and the source will have the same name. The script will be like so name.tar.gz and the source, the package, will be name.xxx.tar.gz. The xxx is the version of the program.

Extract the compressed script file with
tar xvf name.tar.gz

Move the name.xxx.tar.gz source program to the directory of the extracted script file.

Optional: If you got the different version of package from the one
that on the script, you can easily edit the
*.Slackbuild file to change the version. Note that it
doesn't always work, but yes, most are working with no cry.

Change directory to the extracted script directory.
Run the script by typing ./name.Slackbuild
It will produce a file called name.tgz in the /tmp directory by default.

Install the package by typing installpkg /tmp/name.tgz

And you're done.

http://slackbuilds.org

ok thanks! I might try it... but have you tried it?

Compiz is cool for 5 minutes. Just like Windows Aero. Sure, you can bring it up and show off for some friends or whatever, but it's a novelty. It's not something that you're going to use because it has purpose.

Not completely useless. The enhanced zoom utility is invaluable for anyone who's eyes aren't what they used to be. My father thinks its the best thing ever invented.

I've used slackbuild scripts to build other packages in the past. But, I have not tried it with compiz.

Another benefit to slackbuild scripts is that if you ever need to reinstall slackware, you can reinstall the packages that slackbuild created. No need to compile again. Just backup the *.gz files and use installpkg to install them.

- Cheers