Help with Compiz Installation: Ubuntu 7.10

[Han]

Sup guys,
I recently installed Ubuntu 7.10 over Wxp. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Linux but I cant figure out how to install compiz or this (tar.gz).... Because I'm use to .exe files.

System:
Intel Core 2 Quad 3.0 ghz
Nvidia 8600 Gts xxx
2gig PC2-5300 Ocz
Asus P5N32-e Sli

Anyone can help ? step by step info would be very helpful

Thanks for reading :)

[Deciare]

Ubuntu 7.10 has Compiz pre-installed and ready to go, so you don't need to install i t. :)

You should install ccsm, though; it's the Compiz configuration utility that most people are used to, so most of the help you'll find on these forums involves using ccsm in some way. You can find that in the compizconfig-settings-manager package.

One way you can do that is by opening a console window (go to Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and entering this command:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
Then you can enable Compiz by going to System->Preferences->Appearance->Visual Effects and selecting Custom.

You can open ccsm by entering "ccsm" into a command line, or by going to System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effect Settings. From there, feel free to tweak Compiz to your heart's content. If something breaks, you know where to go for help. ;)

If you care about the technical details of what just happened, keep reading. Otherwise, that's it. :p I'll just talk to myself here, alone in the cold.



One of the major differences between Windows and Linux is that most Windows programs are distributed as pre-compiled binaries (called "executables" or .exe files), whereas most Linux programs are distributed as source code (.tar.gz or .tar.bz2 archives).

Since figuring out what needs to be done to compile and install programs from source code isn't simple, most Linux distributions provide a package management system that allows you to install what someone else has already compiled. These pre-compiled, ready-to-go things are called "packages". Ubuntu's package management system is called "apt", and you can see some of the 20000+ packages available to Ubuntu users by running Synaptic, which can be found at System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager.

Instead of using the apt-get command I posted above, you could have opened Synaptic instead, entered "compizconfig-settings-manager" into the search box, then chosen to install it there. That's another major difference between Windows and Linux: for everything that can be done with a graphical user interface, there's a way to do it using a command line. People are less likely to make mistakes when copy/pasting command lines instead of working with vague instructions about what to do in a GUI, so you'll see a lot of command lines being tossed around in support forums like this one. ^^; Rest assured that we're talking about the quickest way, but not the only way.

Packages, likewise, are the easy way to install Compiz. To keep things simple and consistent, you should install software from packages designed for your specific Linux distribution (Ubuntu 7.10) whenever possible. How complicated can it be to do it the hard way? This complicated (http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showthread.php?t=1985). And that's a very well-written guide for a very specific situation. General-purpose guides assume you know a lot more.

[Han]

you from Toronto ?

I'm trying to figure out the Super button!! is it Shift ?

and Thanks alot man I appreciated your help

[some-guy]

Super is the 'window$' key

[Deciare]

Super is the 'window$' key
Unless you happen to have one of these (http://www.cherry.de/english/products/keyboards_master-linux.htm). ;) I don't, but if I didn't already like my keyboard so much, I wouldn't mind one. ^_^