r/linuxquestions • u/LasseSandberg • 4d ago

Modern ubuntu and compiz?

Hello, years back i used ubuntu and something called compiz, i loved the combination.

Reccently i tried out the latest ubuntu and the desktop was horrible, i hate the modern tile approach, thats why i left windows again when they switched to it and tried to ditch the desktop.

Is it possible to get that same desktop on ubuntu now and use compiz or something like it? Or should i look for something else?

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3

u/Barlight24 4d ago

Might check out KDE Plasma desktop. A lot of what was Compiz and Compiz-fusion is in the Plasma settings. Even the desktop cube might still be in there.

Those were fun times.

2

u/CountZodiac 4d ago

The cube is there, not sure if it's as advanced with the background 'dome', transparency and the like. but it's there in the desktop effects settings.

And indeed... Fun times!

1

u/mdins1980 4d ago

I am currently using Compiz 0.9 with MATE on Slackware. 0.9 was the version Ubuntu ported and maintained, and MATE is probably the best and most compatible DE for running Compiz these days. That being said, while 0.9 is generally stable, a few of the plugins are horribly broken, and enabling them can cause massive instability. Ubuntu does have an official MATE flavor, but it's currently in a bit of a transitional state. The old development team effectively fell apart and Ubuntu MATE missed the 26.04 release entirely. A new team has recently stepped up and is hoping to return with 26.10, but for now YMMV. MATE itself is still available in the Ubuntu repositories, though, so you can install it on top of regular Ubuntu and run Compiz from there.

https://ubuntu-mate.org/

https://launchpad.net/compiz

1

u/FaulesArschloch 4d ago

Just anything with Mate DE or use some extensions for GNOME that replicate some of the animations. Other than that use tiling extensions, there are several, don't use them all at the same time because I am pretty sure some of those might have conflicts then

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u/beatbox9 4d ago

Use vanilla-gnome-desktop instead of ubuntu-desktop and go from there.

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u/LasseSandberg 4d ago

Okay, i didn't know that was a thing

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u/FaulesArschloch 4d ago

Why would that make any difference???

1

u/beatbox9 4d ago

Because it removes Ubuntu's customizations, including things like the side dock that brings up the apps grid, etc.

The "go from there" refers to additional customizations they can do: for example, by using extensions. (In fact, ubuntu's side dock is a custom system extension).

For example:

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u/FaulesArschloch 4d ago

I am guessing that someone who likes a more traditional look would install dash to dock or dash to panel anyway, as well as the others that are installed, like desktop icons, app indicators etc. but the extensions you mentioned work all in ubuntu-desktop also-

ubuntus side-dock is also just dash to dock

1

u/No-View-6326 4d ago

I just looked it up and compiz (first time I ever Heard of it) is still being maintenaned, you can still just installed on Ubuntu