Compiz

[Fudzy]

I must say I am VERY impressed with this system. I'd just to to know, how do I get the most out of it? What are the better components to use etc?

 

[sn3rd]

What do you mean by components? If you mean packages, then it really all comes down to personal taste.

Package names are in brackets.

I use Gnome with Compiz Fusion.

For web-browsing I use Firefox 3.09 ( firefox )
For general text-editing I use GEdit and SciTE ( gedit , scite )
For video, I use VLC Player ( vlc )
For music, I use Audacious ( audacious )
For disc-burning, I use Brasero ( brasero )
For a dock I use Avant Window Navigator ( avant-window-navigator )
For a PDF reader, I use Adobe Acrobat ( acroread in medibuntu repository )

Some other miscellaneous packages I usually suggest:

Startup Manager ( startupmanager ) : for configuring boot options
Compiz Config Settings Manager ( compizconfig-settings-manager ) : for more control over what Compiz does and doesn't do, and how to control it
GSynaptics ( gsynaptics ) : for configuring my touchpad (requires you to enable SHMConfig as specified in the Ubuntu Community documentation)
Nautilus Actions ( nautilus-actions ) : for customising the contextual menus of the Nautilus file browser
GPartEd ( gparted ) : for performing partition maintainence

Some other things you should check out:

1) Check what applications are started on log in:
If running 8.10 or earlier: System -> Preferences -> Sessions
If running 9.04 or later: System -> Preferences -> Startup applications
You might be running some things that you don't need; for example Bluetooth stuff if you don't have Bluetooth.

2) Check what services are running:
System -> Administration -> Services
You might be running some services that you don't need (all the time); for example Braille, Bluetooth, etc.

3) Backup your grub's menu.lst
In a terminal:

cp /boot/grub/menu.lst ~/

This will copy your menu.lst to your home directory. Useful if you bork something and need to restore it.

4) Get to know the filesystem:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard
will get you started.

Will maybe think of a few more and let you know

 

[flarkit]

From the topic, I'd guess Fudzy's referring to the components for Compiz?

I mainly use the cube and the related bits. Not interested in the bling stuff.

 

[Veroland]

I also mainly use the non bling stuff but thanks for the post sn3rd, there are a few apps you mentioned that I'm going to have to check out

 

[oronte]

I like the transition animations, all my windows close in a burst of flames!