CompositeManager,Xgl,AIGLX

Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 11:32 am. 0 comments

CompositeManager

Xgl and AIGLX are both VERY alpha software and should not be used on production machines. They do have bugs and do not always play nice with other programs. You have been warned.

Recently there has been a lot of interest in running 3d accelerated composite managers on X servers. This is commonly refered to as Xgl or Compiz, though both of these two packages are really just means to an end (and can be replaced).

There are two steps involved in setting up a 3d accelerated composite manager:

1.Setting up an X Server which supports it.
2.Setting up the composite manager itself.

Instructions for each of these are found below.

X Server

Composite managers require an X server capable of making 3D acceleration available to the window manager. There are currently two options available to achieve this:

1.CompositeManager/Xgl which runs on top of a separate Xorg server. More information about it [WWW] here
2.CompositeManager/AIGLX, which runs as part of Xorg. More information about it [WWW] here

XGL is a temporary solution that adds support for indirect 3d rendering to any video card.
AIGLX is the long-term solution, but it requires that your video card driver include an additional extension.

Composite Manager

When running AIGLX or Xgl, all windows are rendered to an off-screen buffer. The composite manager is then responsible for drawing the windows to the screen, and has the opportunity to manipulate them, adding in cool effects such as transparency and wobbliness.

There are currently two composite managers available.

*CompositeManager/Compiz - A combination window manager and composite manager from Novell.
*CompositeManager/Beryl - A fork of Compiz that adds some additional features. It is generally much less stable than Compiz.

via CompositeManager

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