Best DE to run with Compiz?
 

Hey!

There are plenty of desktop environments to choose from today. Gnome 2, Gnome 3, KDE3, KDE4, MATE, Cinnamon, XFCE, LXDE, etc. Soon I am going to setup Arch linux on my main computer, and I would like to setup a decent linux desktop (yes, this means cool desktop effects). I've tried a number of DE's but I'd like to know how they all compare when running with compiz. Which one has the least trouble? I heard somewhere that Gnome 3 shell is a no-no. I know that some window managers have similar effects to what compiz offers, but I do not wish to use them.

Personally I like XFCE because it's very simple. The new Gnome 3 is just horrible and KDE4 seems bloated with junk... widgets, activities, etc.


Thoughts, suggestions?

Why compiz?
kde effects are great.

If you can try
the latest and fastest KDE in kubuntu-12.10 via

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports -y
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

KDE-4.10 : http://kde.org/announcements/4.10/
http://dot.kde.org/2013/02/06/410-re...pment-platform
ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/4.10.0/src/
ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/

Have a look at Fuduntu. That ships with the latest version of Compiz. You have to turn it on, as Fuduntu out of the box concentrates on power saving and lightness, but that's just 4 clicks:
http://www.fuduntu.org/wiki/index.ph...mes_on_Fuduntu

It's also a very good distro!

I have the same opinions about XFCE, KDE4 and Gnome. That's why I've been using XFCE with compiz for about three years now without any problems.

Oh, c'mon! If you don't want widgets, don't use it. If you don't want activities, don't use it. But KDE is not bloated anymore. Try KDE 4.10 and think for yourself, not biased and old FUD about KDE. And compiz has a dark future, lead developer sees no Compiz future under Wayland, for example.

I'm not too keen on using the KDE effects. Perhaps the latest KDE has improved somehow, but compiz has been really close to my heart ever since it was released. If I'm not mistaken it even offers some more diverse effects than kwin, and I'm really looking for 1337 eyecandy here to impress my friends :)

I'm going to use Arch linux on my main PC, but I have a spare laptop and I'm currently installing xubuntu on it. Perhaps I can also install compiz and give it a spin. Too bad you didn't reply earlier, I would have chosen fuduntu instead :)

Whe whole configuration of the KDE4 was driving me nuts last time I used it. It was an older version of KDE, and understand the newest version may have improved a lot. Perhaps I will give it a go some day. I just don't understand all those extra features that KDE offers. What the heck are activities supposed to be?

Afaik, compiz is still being maintained. There's currently a 0.9.x branch - it's a c++ rewrite (currently a beta) that I hope to use some day. I know compiz is not going to be ported to wayland, but even wayland is still far off from being complete. Maybe in a few years I'll switch to wayland after it matures. I'm certain wayland has a bright future, but I'll stick with X for now. Don't get me wrong, I completely love it where wayland is going. It's just that its time has yet to come.

Activities aren't for everyone, and KDE lets you ignore them if you choose. But I've just started using activities, and I found most useful the ability to place in each activity an open browser with the appropriate tabs open for that activity. Or to have a linked energy profile to an Activities, for example, to never shutdown or resume in one Activity, to view presentations/films/whatever. Take a look on that if you want more information:
http://cristalinux.blogspot.com.es/2...ctivities.html
But not only you don't have only activities and widgets, kde is much more than that... you have the powerful swiss-army knife that is krunner (alt+F2), all panel configurations you could imagine (like gnome2, like unity, like...), the best file manager in linux (see the winner poll here in linuxquestion), and now, AT LAST, nepomuk is functional and very useful at last, you can tag everything in your computer and navigate with the kioslave (tags://).. impressive thing.

And with kde, if you want to impress your friends, well, you have also the cube thingy, the whobbly windows, and try or search about Dreamdesktop or QML animated wallpapers.
But, if you want the old compiz, its up to you... Spilsbury basically sees no reason to continue developing Compiz. "I think it is fairly obvious at this point onwards that as a project in itself, its no longer viable to continue development of compiz. Lots of people still use it though, so its is worth maintaining for those that use it, but nothing more than that."

My point is that I read a lot of people with old, biased reason to not even try KDE anymore in their lives... and I think its so unfair, imho KDE is the most advanced desktop on linux, and its a shame that people thrasing about it without even try it lately.

I do not want to disparage KDE, but there needs to be some clarification. I have had KDE on my machine thrice with three different systems. Every time my machine was very slow. After clicking anything, I spent long periods of time watching a dancing icon, while waiting for a menu or application to open. The reason? Probably because I have "only" 512MB of RAM. I have noticed that almost (or all?) people who post how well KDE runs on their machines have at least IGB of RAM.
Naturally, different people will have different ideas of bloat and leanness, but there is justification to call a GUI that needs at least 1GB of RAM to work properly bloated. And on a completely objective level, compared to GUIs like Openbox and Fluxbox, DEs like Gnome and KDE are bloated. Whether or not they are too bloated is a subjective opinion based on personal preferences and one's hardware.