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  Compiz is Dying and we Need to Fix It Jan 2, 2009 - klange  
  Kristian Lyngstol brought up a very good point on the mailing list recently, and while the Phoronix article may be a little out of place, what he said may very well spell an end for Compiz if we don't do something about it.

Basically, what Kristian is saying is that Compiz lacks direction: We don't have a set plan on where we're going with the code. Every so often we add a new plugin, or change the core to fix a bug, but there is no over-arching theme to what we're doing. Then someone comes along with something like the object framework or Compiz++ and we just don't know what to do with it.

Kristian also mentioned the poor quality of the documentation on the core. It's out-dated, poorly written, and no one contributes to it except himself. If Compiz did die, it would be pretty hard for another group to pick it up without a properly documented core, so we're just screwing everyone over if we don't work on this.

One last thing Kristian said was that we're fragmented. Code is kept in two places, as are bugs and mailing lists. We need to consolidate. I for one believe our best bet is to just take the C-F ML, bug tracker and git and use them. They already have more than the Freedestkop pieces because they carry all of the Compiz-Fusion work. Personally, I think we need to drop the idea of Compiz + Compiz-Fusion, and just let it all be one again. But that's probably just me.

Anyway, Compiz isn't dead yet. Far from it. We have new plugin devs, great plans for the core, and a lot of potential direction. We just need some agreement on where we should go.


Discuss this news post here.
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klange Yay spam! Probably time to cut off guest posting...
Guest I like several underlying ideas behind compiz and I believe they have potential, and that this cause has a direction. I have often thought of video editing for example, though not too popular in linux, while keeping an eye on it through a transparent window to make sure it appears fine while still using an open side of the cube in front of you. I like reducing clutter, the same with the desktops but far less impressive. It would be nice to see some focus on utilization matched with purposes for this wonderful display.
klange
Originally posted by Guest
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Nice job. Your IP address has just been banned.
Guest The major problem I see as a user are the driver support. Compiz team is doing a great job its still of little value if it cannot reach the masses. Infact I am using Ubuntu becoz of Compiz. But with the latest Ubuntu realease-Hardy, compiz is slow and one cannot watch movies full screen. Its attributed to ATI driver. With no solution from ATI in sight, one cannot enjoy/appreciate the awesoem job done by Compiz team.
Guest i like the effects give us effects. But they are too hard to put on. for us averages. is anyone listening.
Guest help help help. How are rmal people supposed to use this thing alled ubuntu. were not all programmers you know.We just want to point and click and have the thinw,g look good like ipods you know.
Guest Compiz must not die, because the death of compiz will cause the lack of any choice. Today we have kde4 and gnome with maximum compositioning enabled, but i think, that compiz should be the lightweight alternative for these DE-s. It's not like the compizDE, it is like the openbox or fluxbox, but with compositioning enabled. I think, it will be the best way to develop.
klange Making a Compiz DE has been considered before, but it would be a massive undertaking. Though we are working on one aspect of it with SpringDesk.
Guest Here's my opinion. It might not apply to the rest of you, but these are my personal feelings. Compiz to me is a way to make Linux the ultimate OS. Linux is more stable than Windows and can run most programs from Windows thanks to Wine, but it lacks the polish and eye candy that Macintosh has. Compiz provides that. The direction I say Compiz should go in is figuring out how we can stay one step ahead of the Mac platform by providing new kinds of functionality. For example, drawing to the desktop background, or manipulating icons on the desktop and controlling where applications launch from and minimize to. That may be a job for a desktop environment, though, so why not turn Compiz into a partial DE?
klange @76.181.*.*: It's not that kind of documentation that's the issue. It's developer documentation. You can't use YouTube videos to explain a function call interface.
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