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Compiz 0.9.0 Released – Completely Rewritten in C++

I was doing some in depth research / code hacking regarding the support of multi-headed output (dual monitors) on Linux. I won’t get into details but my video is being output to my monitors as “one screen” with a virtual distinctions handled by the window manager. Because of this, figuring out which of the monitors you are on isn’t as straight forward as you might think. Originally I was looking for a way to access the c functions in compiz through python but that point is now moot (likely for the better).

The first unstable release of the Compiz 0.9 series, completely rewritten in C++. As said, this “brings a whole new developer API, splits rendering into plugins, switches the buildsystem from automake to cmake and brings minor functionality improvements. This release represents the first developer and tester preview of what will eventually make the 0.10.x stable series. Please note that as such, it is not yet ready for general use as there are a number of known ssues, regressions and incomplete functionality.”

Here is a SLIGHTLY DATED graph I got from Santiance.com.

This is a really interesting turning point for the project and I’m glad I came across this while doing my research for multi-head handling in compiz. Knowing where the future lies could drastically change where I put my efforts in developing to support them.

Fastest way to install the media essentials in ubuntu

If you’re coming from Windows, or like me, find yourself living in a live CD while you figure out which step went wrong; you’ll be interested in the essential media codecs, flash, java, Microsoft fonts, etc.

I thought I’d share the way I did this as quickly as possible in in Ubuntu 10.04 using the command line.

Open up terminal, using ctrl+alt+t (Which I’m very happy about as this has been my default since 8.04). Alternativelty from the main menu -> Applications > Accessories > Terminal

Make a backup in case you’re scared, then remove the comments from repositories you need to unlock to access the restricted (proprietary) packages.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list .
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo sed -i 's/^# deb/deb/' /etc/apt/sources.list

We do this be matching the first 2 characters with ‘# ‘ and replacing them with ” (nothing). See the diff below (> indicate original lines, < are changed).

 
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ diff sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list
18,23c18,23
< # deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid universe
< # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid universe
< # deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates universe
< # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates universe
< # deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security universe
< # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security universe
---
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid universe
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid universe
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates universe
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates universe
> deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security universe
> deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security universe
30,35c30,35
< # deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid multiverse
< # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid multiverse
< # deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates multiverse
< # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates multiverse
< # deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security multiverse
< # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security multiverse
---
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid multiverse
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid multiverse
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates multiverse
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates multiverse
> deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security multiverse
> deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security multiverse
>
 
 
<pre lang="bash">

Now that we uncommented these lines, they will be read next time we update, so lets go ahead and do that now. Once that is done, we can install the extras.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get update
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Rock and roll.

Packages for nautilus you wish were installed by default in ubuntu

Intro

Thanks to a tip I picked up at Tombuntu about nautilus, after following up on a trick to add files to mocp through nautilus scripts trackback link from Hilltop Yodler (great article), when doing a google search for GiS for nautilus-actions (apt-get install nautilus-actions). I learned about 3 kick ass additions to the nautilus menu. I realized Fedora Linux and Linux Mint had some of these in their context menus but didn’t make the connection to ubuntu until now.

On with the Show

sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal nautilus-image-converter nautilus-gksu

for some kick ass options in the context (right click) menu of nautilus (your default file manager in ubuntu). For more information, check out the tombuntu article I linked above.

pkill nautilus

to restart nautilus and have the new packages in your context menu

More

If you’re interested in this, you’ll probably also like my article about nautilus-actions.