Howto enable Compiz in Debian

Unlike Ubuntu, compiz is not enabled by default in the Debian Distribution and unfortunately
there is no gnome integrated tool to switch compiz on and off or to let compiz start after login
into a gnome session. So you have to set this up manually like everything else in Debian ;)

But no problem here! I will show you how you can archive this easily in a few steps.

First you should download and install compiz via aptitude of course. Especially if you
want to configure compiz you need the compiz config setup manager or ccsm for short.
Also make sure you have a proper video card with at least 64 MB video RAM and 3d support if
you want to use compositing effects. Nevertheless on my machine there are 256 MB RAM, so not all features may be working with compiz if you have a video card with less memory.

Now you write a little script, well its not really a script because it only wraps the command to
start the compiz window mananger.
#!/bin/bash
# simple wrapper script
# starting compiz 10 secondes after login
sleep 10
compiz --replace
exit 0

You may want to save this in /usr/local/bin/ according to FHS and make it at least readable and
executable to the user who wants to use compiz.




Next open the gnome configuration tool gnome-session-properties for setting up programs
that starting up when you log in. Add a new Item. In the Path to the binary you now specify the absolute path to your script.

Done, next time you log into a gnome session, compiz is enabled and ready to be configured using the compiz config setup manager.