XGL-Ubuntu: Difference between revisions

From cchtml.com
m (Protected "XGL-Ubuntu": Excessive vandalism ([edit=autoconfirmed] (expires 03:55, 6 February 2012 (UTC)) [move=autoconfirmed] (expires 03:55, 6 February 2012 (UTC))))
Line 1: Line 1:
== Xgl/Beryl on Ubuntu/Gnome - the Kombatant Way [updated 6/10/2006] ==
John,In the server marekt I will give it to Red Hat hands down, but in the desktop marekt, I wouldn't even consider it for my newbie users who I am constantly converting from Windows to Ubuntu. With Ubuntu, they can do the install themselves. With Red Hat, Fedora Core in this instance, I have had problems with hardware that was non-free. How professional would it be of me to tell my client, hey, this operating system I am trying to get you to use because it isn't evil, doesn't like your evil hardware, so now we need to go and un-evil (bushism right there!) they system and try and locate the hardware. My client will look at me and more than likely demand Windows 98 be put back on his system. I want the Free Hardware and Free Software world so bad, but we have to be honest with ourselves, in the desktop marekt, Free Software isn't ready. That is why Ubuntu simply provides the non-free solution because it is better than any available free solution. Now when a free solution comes around, then Ubuntu will switch to it if it's better. Ubuntu supports free software, but it also supports a users freedom to choose. To me, the user's freedom to do as he/she wishes is far more important to me. Because if they aren't happy, then they will just go back to Windows or Mac, which we are trying to prevent. I think it is unfair to go after Ubuntu just because they provide a user the freedom to choose what is best for them. It is great for the Linux community as well, because many Ubuntu users will become better Linux users and some day will end up switching to other distributions, but staying in the Linux community, and possibly supporting or developing free software and hardware. We need to stop denying the fact that free software and free hardware isn't ready for mainstream, and I am sure that RMS doesn't want to go mainstream either, seeing as he is about as eclectic as one could be. People are just way to spoiled to make them change their ways, a majority of Windows users have been so now for 10 years or more, and the are stuck in their Windows ways. If installing a non-free solution is their only solution for happiness, then let it be, and lets work towards creating a free solution that can accurately replace these non-free solutions. The reason Red Hat is wonderful in a server environment, is because companies like IBM, HP, and Dell have worked closely to create free hardware. Why? Because Linux rules the server marekt. Maybe once they see that Linux is a serious player in the desktop world, more and more free hardware will come out of it, until then, all we have is a philosophy, a movement, and a handful of serious free hacker hippies trying to push something below the standards that a majority of computer users (not enthusiasts or hacker) are used to.
 
So here we are, rewriting the whole guide, just because I found out a more bullet-proof way to do it. I've updated it too, and now instead of Compiz it uses Beryl, which imo is much better and has much more potential.
 
Before we start, I want to make clear that these instructions are targeted for those people using the ATI Proprietary Driver ("fglrx") and having '''WORKING 3D ACCELERATION'''. This is configured in your xorg.conf. To make sure you are "accelerated", running with the new driver, try typing fglrxinfo in a terminal and see what you get. If it talks about ATI then awesome... if it talks about Mesa, you still don't have your driver setup properly (xorg.conf). We have an excellent how-to here in the wiki (here: [[Ubuntu]]), which works - try it out!
 
* If you want the absolute newest stuff, then you're going to have to add some lines to your repositories. So open the /etc/apt/sources.list file as root, and add these lines in order to add the two repositories that are of interest here.
 
    #Beryl Repositories for Dapper Drake (Ubuntu 6.06)
    deb http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/ dapper main
 
or
 
    #Beryl Repositories for Edgy Eft (Ubuntu 6.10)
    deb http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/ edgy main
 
* To use the Ubuntu Dapper Drake Beryl SVN daily snapshots, add (also) those repositories:
 
    # Treviño's Beryl-SVN Ubuntu Repository
    # GPG key: 81836EBF
    deb http://3v1n0.tuxfamily.org dapper beryl-svn
 
or
 
    # Treviño's Beryl-SVN Ubuntu Edgy Eft Repository
    # GPG key: 81836EBF
    deb http://3v1n0.tuxfamily.org edgy beryl-svn
 
 
* After you add the repos in the sources.list file, issue the following commands:
 
    wget http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/root@lupine.me.uk.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
 
    sudo apt-get update
 
    sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl libgl1-mesa xserver-xorg libglitz-glx1 beryl emerald-themes
 
* If during the apt-get installation you get the error ''"trying to overwrite `/usr/share/man/man1/Xserver.1x.gz', which is also in package xserver-xorg-core"'' issue the following two commands to continue:
 
    sudo dpkg-divert --package xserver-xorg-core --divert /usr/share/man/man1/Xserver.1x.gz.xgl --rename /usr/share/man/man1/Xserver.1x.gz
 
    sudo apt-get -f install
 
* Instead of messing with gdm.conf and gdm.conf-custom, we're going to do something better. From the terminal, issue the command:
 
    sudo gedit /usr/bin/startxgl.sh
 
and add these as contents:
 
    Xgl -fullscreen :1 -ac -accel glx:pbuffer -accel xv:pbuffer &
    sleep 2 && DISPLAY=:1 exec gnome-session
 
Save it, and then issue the command:
 
    sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/startxgl.sh
 
* From the terminal again:
 
    sudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/xgl.desktop
 
and add this as its contents:
 
    [Desktop Entry]
    Encoding=UTF-8
    Name=XGL
    Exec=/usr/bin/startxgl.sh
    Icon=
    Type=Application
 
* So here's the trick. What we've done is to add a new session in GDM. This means that, when GDM loads, you can select the "Xgl" session instead of the normal session you usually use, and it'll load XGL. That way, if something goes horribly wrong, you can simply reboot, and when gdm loads , you will be able to select your normal (and working) session again without editing files all the time.
 
* After all that, we are ready. Reboot your machine (yes, reboot) and when GDM loads, look at the sessions; if you see an "XGL" session there, everything's going according to plan. Load it up (make it your default session, if you want to), and hopefully everything will be working. We're half-way there anyway. All you need to do now, is open the System->Preferences->Sessions->Startup Programs and add the following:
 
    xmodmap /usr/share/xmodmap/xmodmap.us
    gnome-settings-daemon
    beryl-manager
   
Of course, if you are using a different locale, you can substitute xmodmap.us with your appropriate file.
 
* Logout and login again. If everything is running along happily, you'll see the beryl splash screen, and the emerald-like icon of beryl in your tray. If beryl doesn't load initially, just right click the icon, and Select Window Manager->Beryl. Now right click the icon again, and load up Emerald (the window decorator) and choose the theme that you like best. You can also tinker with the settings at your heart's content.
 
Hopefully somebody will find all these useful - I will also update this with more suggested information and tips, to cover more potential problems/configurations.
Any additional suggestions will be more than welcome.
-----------------
 
=== Has anyone got this working on feisty herd 4 ? ===
yes
 
yes: after first reboot
no: since then.
and yes: again then. you need to activate desktop effects in ubuntu. this does the job.
 
=== Feedback (7.04) ===
Newbie: The Part about the Session Manager is unclear and I think my error (the No above) is related to it.
 
Newbie: How can you prove if the installation has been done right to a certain extend? My Problem is, after the first reboot it worked. Then while starting over again it did not.
 
Newbie: How can I remove a compelte Sesssion so I am able to start over again?

Revision as of 10:07, 6 October 2012

John,In the server marekt I will give it to Red Hat hands down, but in the desktop marekt, I wouldn't even consider it for my newbie users who I am constantly converting from Windows to Ubuntu. With Ubuntu, they can do the install themselves. With Red Hat, Fedora Core in this instance, I have had problems with hardware that was non-free. How professional would it be of me to tell my client, hey, this operating system I am trying to get you to use because it isn't evil, doesn't like your evil hardware, so now we need to go and un-evil (bushism right there!) they system and try and locate the hardware. My client will look at me and more than likely demand Windows 98 be put back on his system. I want the Free Hardware and Free Software world so bad, but we have to be honest with ourselves, in the desktop marekt, Free Software isn't ready. That is why Ubuntu simply provides the non-free solution because it is better than any available free solution. Now when a free solution comes around, then Ubuntu will switch to it if it's better. Ubuntu supports free software, but it also supports a users freedom to choose. To me, the user's freedom to do as he/she wishes is far more important to me. Because if they aren't happy, then they will just go back to Windows or Mac, which we are trying to prevent. I think it is unfair to go after Ubuntu just because they provide a user the freedom to choose what is best for them. It is great for the Linux community as well, because many Ubuntu users will become better Linux users and some day will end up switching to other distributions, but staying in the Linux community, and possibly supporting or developing free software and hardware. We need to stop denying the fact that free software and free hardware isn't ready for mainstream, and I am sure that RMS doesn't want to go mainstream either, seeing as he is about as eclectic as one could be. People are just way to spoiled to make them change their ways, a majority of Windows users have been so now for 10 years or more, and the are stuck in their Windows ways. If installing a non-free solution is their only solution for happiness, then let it be, and lets work towards creating a free solution that can accurately replace these non-free solutions. The reason Red Hat is wonderful in a server environment, is because companies like IBM, HP, and Dell have worked closely to create free hardware. Why? Because Linux rules the server marekt. Maybe once they see that Linux is a serious player in the desktop world, more and more free hardware will come out of it, until then, all we have is a philosophy, a movement, and a handful of serious free hacker hippies trying to push something below the standards that a majority of computer users (not enthusiasts or hacker) are used to.

Retrieved from "http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php?title=XGL-Ubuntu&oldid=9077"