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3
votes
1
answers
2725
views
XFCE way to view open windows like macOS Exposé, GNOME Activities
I want a button in XFCE to show me open windows (minimized and maximized) like * *Exposé* (later *Mission Control*) on macOS * *Activities* in GNOME or * *Task View* in Windows 10. I found some tools like *Xfdashboard* and *Skippy-xd*, but they need compiling from source and I get errors from c...
I want a button in XFCE to show me open windows (minimized and maximized) like
* *Exposé* (later *Mission Control*) on macOS
* *Activities* in GNOME or
* *Task View* in Windows 10.
I found some tools like *Xfdashboard* and *Skippy-xd*, but they need compiling from source and I get errors from compiling them, and I am new to Linux.
Now I use the *compiz* scale. It is good actually, but it only shows maximized windows. It doesn't show minimized windows and the shift switcher compiz has two modes, "cover" and "flip". Both of them aren't my interests. I want them to show like a grid.
Finally, I want to say the Activities button is needed for fast switching windows and productivity.
My Linux is MX Linux 21_x64 wildflower Xfce-desktop.
I have only 4GB of RAM, Gnome and Ubuntu use too much memory. That's why I use Xfce and this is what I want a button to open running applications like these:
hiwa kurdi
(31 rep)
Feb 14, 2022, 10:22 AM
• Last activity: Jul 29, 2025, 02:08 AM
3
votes
1
answers
2250
views
How to use my existing custom GTK theme (Arc) with gtk-window-decorator when using Compiz?
I'm currently using Compiz 0.8 to get blur effects and transparency, in place of xfwm4. I had been using Emerald to provide window borders, but I was unhappy with the selection available there. I would prefer to use my GTK theme window borders (the ones I get when I run `xfwm4 --replace` in the term...
I'm currently using Compiz 0.8 to get blur effects and transparency, in place of xfwm4. I had been using Emerald to provide window borders, but I was unhappy with the selection available there. I would prefer to use my GTK theme window borders (the ones I get when I run 
I'm running Arch Linux with XFCE. The Arch Linux wiki provided me with the same answer that a lot of other pages did - to use gsettings to change some entries. This didn't work, probably because (as the wiki page says, albeit without any elaboration) that Compiz-reloaded, the project that represents the continued maintenance of the Compiz 0.8 project, have switched to using Marco instead of Metacity.
So that leaves me at a loss. The change was rather recent, and Compiz is pretty far past its prime, so I can't find much on how to deal with this issue with the recent changes.
xfwm4 --replace in the terminal).
It turns out you can pass the command gtk-window-decorator --replace to use the standard GTK window borders. However, these use some sort of default theme that looks really out of place. I have no idea how to change it.
I'm running Arch Linux with XFCE. The Arch Linux wiki provided me with the same answer that a lot of other pages did - to use gsettings to change some entries. This didn't work, probably because (as the wiki page says, albeit without any elaboration) that Compiz-reloaded, the project that represents the continued maintenance of the Compiz 0.8 project, have switched to using Marco instead of Metacity.
So that leaves me at a loss. The change was rather recent, and Compiz is pretty far past its prime, so I can't find much on how to deal with this issue with the recent changes.
Jay
(43 rep)
Feb 14, 2017, 10:16 PM
• Last activity: Jul 9, 2025, 12:07 AM
0
votes
0
answers
44
views
Is it possible to use Compiz as a bare compositor, aside of another window manager?
On my newer notebook, running Xorg in Suse Tumbleweed, I have spent some time to configure a window manager, customizing the toolbar, the keyboard shortcuts, etc etc, and to add a bit of eye candy I used `picom`. `picom` can dim windows (I find it useful) and make them translucent (thank you, but no...
On my newer notebook, running Xorg in Suse Tumbleweed, I have spent some time to configure a window manager, customizing the toolbar, the keyboard shortcuts, etc etc, and to add a bit of eye candy I used
picom.
picom can dim windows (I find it useful) and make them translucent (thank you, but no thank you), but it cannot zoom on part of my desktop, something that's very convenient when I want to show, e.g., a detail of a graph during a presentation.
I've previously asked on this site ["Which X compositors, if any, support zooming?"](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/786738/which-x-compositors-if-any-support-zooming) and I was addressed to Compiz.
I'm familiar with Compiz as a window manager and compositor (my older Debian notebook _runs on Compiz_ and everything it's OK), but…
I wonder if it is possible to use Compiz as a compositor only.
gboffi
(1376 rep)
Nov 23, 2024, 12:48 PM
• Last activity: Nov 23, 2024, 01:11 PM
10
votes
3
answers
3442
views
How to zoom/magnify on linux without compiz (bspwm)
I'd like to have the functionality described in [this video](https://youtu.be/sACNU_819TU?t=2m40s). Basically, use super+scrollup/down or pinch in/out on my touchpad to zoom in a certain area of the screen like on a phone or tablet. Sadly I need compiz to get the described effect. How can I zoom in...
I'd like to have the functionality described in [this video](https://youtu.be/sACNU_819TU?t=2m40s) . Basically, use super+scrollup/down or pinch in/out on my touchpad to zoom in a certain area of the screen like on a phone or tablet.
Sadly I need compiz to get the described effect. How can I zoom in without using compiz?
I'm using Arch Linux with bspwm + compton.
What I've tried:
*
xzoom, which can zoom but spawns a new window instead of zooming in on the spot. Not what I want.
* KDE's kmag, pretty much the same as xzoom but with a nice GUI.
* Magnifier , where you can mouse over an area to zoom that area of the screen, which is not really what I want. I want to actually zoom in the whole screen like in the video above.
There's are open issues in compton's repositories:
* https://github.com/chjj/compton/issues/188 (dead repo)
* https://github.com/yshui/compton/issues/43 (new fork)
zjeffer
(495 rep)
Jul 6, 2019, 09:43 AM
• Last activity: Nov 15, 2023, 11:10 AM
1
votes
0
answers
194
views
Compiz has no window decorations
I have installed Debian Minimal (bullseye, without gui). I want to install X11 and Compiz. I installed `compiz`, `xinit`, `emerald`. After that I've just created the ~/.xinitrc file with the following contents: #!/bin/bash xterm & exec compiz --replace But when I start xorg (tried to replace the exe...
I have installed Debian Minimal (bullseye, without gui). I want to install X11 and Compiz.
I installed
compiz, xinit, emerald.
After that I've just created the ~/.xinitrc file with the following contents:
#!/bin/bash
xterm &
exec compiz --replace
But when I start xorg (tried to replace the exec with: compiz --replace, compiz --ccp, emerald --replace, compiz-decorator --replace) I get no window decoration.
I also started ccsm and Window Decorations seems to be enabled.
What can I do?
No errors are shown.
Thanks!
ITChristian
(247 rep)
Apr 3, 2023, 04:29 PM
1
votes
2
answers
747
views
How to remove painted red marks/lines on the screen?
There is some weird feature of either Compiz or KDE which allows to paint on the screen with the shortcut Win + Alt +left mouse clicks. How do I undo, erase or remove these markings?
There is some weird feature of either Compiz or KDE which allows to paint on the screen with the shortcut Win+Alt+left mouse clicks.
How do I undo, erase or remove these markings?
kenorb
(22004 rep)
Oct 7, 2014, 04:01 PM
• Last activity: Oct 3, 2022, 06:50 PM
1
votes
1
answers
1342
views
How can I add Chinese character support to Emerald?
I'm running Arch Linux, using the Emerald window decorator. Emerald crashes in the following situations: - A window with at least one Chinese character in the title is opened. - An open window's title changes to something with at least one Chinese character When it crashes, it gives the following `s...
I'm running Arch Linux, using the Emerald window decorator. Emerald crashes in the following situations:
- A window with at least one Chinese character in the title is opened.
- An open window's title changes to something with at least one Chinese character
When it crashes, it gives the following
stderr:
emerald: cairo-scaled-font.c:459: _cairo_scaled_glyph_page_destroy: Assertion `!scaled_font->cache_frozen' failed.
Which is immediately followed with what seems to be a standard C++ error on stdout:
Aborted (core dumped)
-----------
A few extra notes:
- I initially thought this was some problem with CJK encoding. However, it doesn't seem to happen when I load a page with Korean or Japanese in the title. Only Chinese. Of course, it's still entirely possible that some CJK package will fix my problems.
- Emerald version: 0.8.8
- Compiz version: 0.8.9
- Desktop Environment: Mate Desktop 1.6.1
- Linux Kernel: 3.12.1
- Nvidia driver version: 331.20
dotVezz
(121 rep)
Nov 25, 2013, 03:35 PM
• Last activity: Mar 29, 2022, 09:02 AM
1
votes
3
answers
1043
views
Alternative to the Mac window switcher "contexts"
I'm trying to get on board with linux as my main daily driver, and I have just about everything set up to feel really well at this point. The one thing I don't have which has become an integral part of my flow on Mac OS, is an alternative to [Contexts](https://contexts.co/). Contexts lets you open t...
I'm trying to get on board with linux as my main daily driver, and I have just about everything set up to feel really well at this point. The one thing I don't have which has become an integral part of my flow on Mac OS, is an alternative to [Contexts](https://contexts.co/) . Contexts lets you open the program with a global hotkey, then quickly switch to a different open window by typing in its name.
On Windows there's [Switcheroo](https://github.com/kvakulo/Switcheroo) , and [Switchblade](https://www.switchbladeapp.com/) which are fairly similar, but I can't seem to find anything for Linux that lets you just type the window that you want to open.
I'm using vanilla Ubuntu 20.
aduensing
(21 rep)
Aug 14, 2020, 02:57 PM
• Last activity: Aug 17, 2020, 04:37 AM
1
votes
1
answers
821
views
(Ubuntu 16.04) How to prevent they greying-out of unresponsive windows?
I've got an application running on Ubuntu. Whenever it fails to respond to system events (because threads deadlocked, or busy-looping), the windows gets greyed out. I understand this is useful in most situations. The thing is, quite often the reason it is unresponsive is that I'm currently debugging...
I've got an application running on Ubuntu. Whenever it fails to respond to system events (because threads deadlocked, or busy-looping), the windows gets greyed out. I understand this is useful in most situations.
The thing is, quite often the reason it is unresponsive is that I'm currently debugging it in gdb, looking at matrices of numbers and callstack, inspecting variables, etc...
In those situations, I want to see what was rendered on the window as it contain useful information and especially nice colors and graphs. Once greyed out, all the blue, red, green, etc... information is converted into useless grey.
**Is there any system setting I can tweak so my unresponsive window doesn't get greyed out?** Just displaying whatever was rendered last is good. Is a huge multi-person project, so I can't change the overall architecture.
(please don't answer anything about keeping the app responsive. I'm in gdb, and it will take more than a second)
The window manager used is "whatever is the default". More preceisely, I guess it's Compiz, over Gnome:
wmctrl -m
Name: Compiz
Jeffrey
(111 rep)
Feb 6, 2020, 04:49 PM
• Last activity: Feb 7, 2020, 02:24 PM
0
votes
1
answers
48
views
What is the proper syntax for running commands in CompizConfig Keybinds?
I am using linux mint I want to set a keyboard shortcut to run `sharenix-section` everytime I press ` semicolon`. My issue lies in the commands tab. In command line, I know to do: `cd Downloads` then `sharenix-section` But how do I write this into CompizConfig? (I tried `cd Downloads && sharenix-sec...
I am using linux mint
I want to set a keyboard shortcut to run
sharenix-section everytime I press semicolon. My issue lies in the commands tab.
In command line, I know to do:
cd Downloads then
sharenix-section
But how do I write this into CompizConfig?
(I tried cd Downloads && sharenix-section but that seemed to have no effect)
Andrew Wang
(111 rep)
Nov 19, 2019, 01:26 PM
• Last activity: Nov 23, 2019, 07:05 PM
1
votes
1
answers
936
views
how to determine in what viewport (compiz/unity) a window is placed?
I am writing a script that requires determining in what viewport a window is placed. My desktop is 2x2 (4 viewports); it is usually thought as being 4 virtual desktops but on compiz/unity, it is actually a viewport and only one desktop, based on `xdotool get_num_desktops`. Just to ease explaining, s...
I am writing a script that requires determining in what viewport a window is placed.
My desktop is 2x2 (4 viewports); it is usually thought as being 4 virtual desktops but on compiz/unity, it is actually a viewport and only one desktop, based on
xdotool get_num_desktops.
Just to ease explaining, see these viewports (not sure if these would be actually their IDs, though):
0 1
2 3xwininfo -all, and click on your window; you will get its ID and see the "upper-left" values are all small, like being at viewport 0, but these are actually relative to viewport 2.
Also, you find no info about at what viewport it is.
More information you can find with:
wmctrl -d that shows precise information about what viewport we are.
xdotool get_desktop_viewport will fail to be precise for viewports 2 and 3.
Aquarius Power
(4537 rep)
Nov 18, 2014, 09:00 PM
• Last activity: Aug 30, 2019, 08:17 PM
13
votes
5
answers
3439
views
Is there any way to let it snow on my linux mint destkop?
I want snow fall on my desktop really badly. Tried [Xsnow](http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/rick/Xsnow/) (with Mate/Marco, Mate/Compiz and KDE/Kwin) but doesn't work. Snow plugin for Compiz doesn't work anymore either. Snow feature of KDE was removed. Is there any other way to get the snow?
I want snow fall on my desktop really badly.
Tried [Xsnow](http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/rick/Xsnow/) (with Mate/Marco, Mate/Compiz and KDE/Kwin) but doesn't work.
Snow plugin for Compiz doesn't work anymore either.
Snow feature of KDE was removed.
Is there any other way to get the snow?
Wolf480pl
(173 rep)
Nov 14, 2012, 05:36 PM
• Last activity: Jul 23, 2019, 12:04 PM
3
votes
1
answers
1765
views
Invert color of a specific window on linux mint
I'd like to invert the colors of a specific application on Linux Mint 18.2 Cinnamon. I've tried the solutions at ask Ubuntu; [How to trigger a color inversion effect for one window?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/134668/how-to-trigger-a-color-inversion-effect-for-one-window) and the the similar qu...
I'd like to invert the colors of a specific application on Linux Mint 18.2 Cinnamon.
I've tried the solutions at ask Ubuntu; [How to trigger a color inversion effect for one window?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/134668/how-to-trigger-a-color-inversion-effect-for-one-window)
and the the similar question here; [Invert colors of the active window](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/20565/invert-colors-of-the-active-window)
But both the solutions compiz and compton fail on my system. Has anyone has solved issue for Linux Mint specifically? If so could you provide detailed instructions on how to install and configure?
James Draper
(210 rep)
Aug 27, 2017, 06:38 PM
• Last activity: Apr 23, 2019, 03:47 AM
1
votes
1
answers
1790
views
Dual-monitor setup with custom desktop environment and Compiz
I have two monitors that are both connected to my computer. I want to have them un-mirrored, and it works fine in Cinnamon (after tweaking some settings), but I can't find a way to do this in a **custom** desktop environment with Compiz. Here is the script that starts my DE: #!/bin/bash docky & comp...
I have two monitors that are both connected to my computer.
I want to have them un-mirrored, and it works fine in Cinnamon (after tweaking some settings), but I can't find a way to do this in a **custom** desktop environment with Compiz.
Here is the script that starts my DE:
#!/bin/bash
docky &
compiz
I'm running Linux Mint 17 (Based on Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr).
squirl
(287 rep)
Jan 7, 2015, 09:45 PM
• Last activity: Apr 16, 2019, 01:46 PM
0
votes
2
answers
4436
views
A quickway to unminimize all minimized via bash prompt or some installable utility?
I'm using compiz-manjaro in XFCE. Working great except for the fact that if a window is minimized in a Desktop(or Viewport as they call it in Compiz), it will not show up when using any window switching plugins restricted to that Viewport (so when switching between all the windows on all the Viewpor...
I'm using compiz-manjaro in XFCE. Working great except for the fact that if a window is minimized in a Desktop(or Viewport as they call it in Compiz), it will not show up when using any window switching plugins restricted to that Viewport (so when switching between all the windows on all the Viewports, minimized windows do show up but when you're switching between the windows of that viewport, the minimized windows don't show up).
I'm trying to work around this limitation/bug by writing a script that will restore all minimized windows but I'm not sure what's the best way to go about it.
Someone called Greg Till wrote a python script in 2009 that uses Wnck to max all the windows before iniating Compiz Scale: http://pastebin.com/mCRKZkVb (I updated it so that it would work) but it was extremely slow about doing this.
As far as I can tell, there is no function to restore minimized windows in Compiz, otherwise I would have set keystroke for that and combined both functions in the script. Is there a ready made function in bash or some kind of utility that can install that will restore minimized windows quickly?
thebunnyrules
(1157 rep)
Nov 21, 2016, 08:41 AM
• Last activity: Apr 6, 2019, 12:08 AM
2
votes
3
answers
8989
views
Arch install Compiz
I'm using arch, and want to install Xfce with Compiz. I saw on tutorials what packages to install , but when I try to install them with `pacman -S compiz-...`, I only get things like: `error: target not found: ccsm`. How do I get to the packages?
I'm using arch, and want to install Xfce with Compiz. I saw on tutorials what packages to install , but when I try to install them with
pacman -S compiz-..., I only get things like: error: target not found: ccsm. How do I get to the packages?
MadTux
(745 rep)
Aug 14, 2013, 06:45 PM
• Last activity: Jan 6, 2019, 09:37 PM
4
votes
1
answers
1674
views
Compiz & XFCE — Disagreement on Number of Workspaces / Cube Faces
## What Puzzles Me When I use XFCE with `xfwm4` I have 4 workspaces $ xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/workspace_count 4 $ but after I start Compiz (I have previously set the number of faces to 4) $ compiz --replace /dev/null 2>&1 & $ xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/workspace_count 1 $ the Cube h...
## What Puzzles Me
When I use XFCE with
xfwm4 I have 4 workspaces
$ xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/workspace_count
4
$
but after I start Compiz (I have previously set the number of faces to 4)
$ compiz --replace /dev/null 2>&1 &
$ xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/workspace_count
1
$
the Cube has four sides (as requested), but XFCE thinks it has only
one workspace — still it is possible to rotate the cube clicking in
the Workspace Switcher plugin, in the panel, that still shows 4 panes
— on the contrary the Window Menu shows one workspace only, with all
the windows in it and selecting a window on another face of the cube
doesn't work.
## My Question
I'd like to know if I'm missing something obvious (I mean "set this
option and it works" rather than "it has to be like this, because...")
or on the contrary I have a genuine bug to report to [Compiz's
Tracker](https://bugs.launchpad.net/compiz) .
### Boring details:
Debian Sid
xfce4 4.12.3
compiz 1:0.9.13.0+16
### Salutations
Thanks in advance,
gboffi
(1376 rep)
Jun 26, 2017, 12:47 PM
• Last activity: Dec 29, 2018, 05:56 PM
16
votes
3
answers
13099
views
Gnome - windows always open top left
I find this a highly annoying "feature" on a wide screen monitor that my mostly used apps - terminal and gedit always open directly under the top-left corner of my screen and I have to drag them to my eye position each and every-time. I have tried installing the CompizConfig Settings Manager and usi...
I find this a highly annoying "feature" on a wide screen monitor that my mostly used apps - terminal and gedit always open directly under the top-left corner of my screen and I have to drag them to my eye position each and every-time.
I have tried installing the CompizConfig Settings Manager and using the feature to position windows centre, but this has had no effect - the force feature here isn't working for me either:
Window Management -> "place windows" -> Fixed Window Placement -> Windows with fixed positions
example: gedit 200 200 keep-in-work-area-to-yes
I can use e.g. gnome-terminal --geometry=140x50+50+50 for the terminal but this doesn't work for gedit.
Any ideas?
Thanks
BobTodd
(263 rep)
Dec 21, 2010, 04:04 PM
• Last activity: Nov 2, 2018, 11:24 PM
2
votes
1
answers
747
views
seeking work around for compiz's "desktop zoom" for gnome ubuntu 18.04
Is there a method for achieving the compiz feature called "desktop zoom" via either a tiling or zoom enhancement for gnome ubuntu 18.04? This feature lets you shrink full screen to one quadrant of the screen, then lets you zoom in so that the 1/4 screen is now full screen. All text is magnified this...
Is there a method for achieving the compiz feature called "desktop zoom" via either a tiling or zoom enhancement for gnome ubuntu 18.04? This feature lets you shrink full screen to one quadrant of the screen, then lets you zoom in so that the 1/4 screen is now full screen. All text is magnified this way and is good for video explanations. The cursor is restricted to the zoomed tile.
Pop
(21 rep)
Aug 6, 2018, 09:49 PM
• Last activity: Oct 17, 2018, 10:18 AM
5
votes
2
answers
3447
views
No installation candidate for compiz
I tried to install 3d effect on my Debian Wheezy using command $ apt-get install compiz compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-fusion-plugins-main compiz-gnome compiz-gtk But it gives the following Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Package compiz...
I tried to install 3d effect on my Debian Wheezy using command
$ apt-get install compiz compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-fusion-plugins-main compiz-gnome compiz-gtk
But it gives the following
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package compiz is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package 'compiz' has no installation candidate
E: Unable to locate package compizconfig-settings-manager
E: Unable to locate package compiz-fusion-plugins-main
E: Unable to locate package compiz-gnome
E: Unable to locate package compiz-gtk
What should I do now?
zhangwfjh
(243 rep)
Jan 27, 2014, 10:05 AM
• Last activity: Jun 25, 2018, 09:12 AM
Showing page 1 of 20 total questions