How to install Compiz on Fedora 17

[Brombor]

EDIT: Note, these installation steps had some potential problems. See my post #7 below for the corrected steps.

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I wanted to use Compiz, though it isn't included with Fedora any more. I searched around to see how I could install it on F17, and couldn't find much info. So after a bit of tinkering, I managed to get it working with a fresh F17 install. This is what I did, and the result I got:

1.) I made sure I had all the required dependencies installed:

sudo yum install boost boost-devel pango-devel cairo-devel libjpeg-turbo-devel libGLU-devel GConf2 pkgconfig util-linux libxslt-devel libX11-devel libdrm-devel libwnck-devel libXfixes-devel libXrandr-devel libXrender-devel libXcomposite-devel libXdamage-devel libXext-devel libXt-devel libXmu-devel libICE-devel libSM-devel gnome-desktop-devel control-center GConf2-devel desktop-file-utils cmake intltool gettext dbus-devel librsvg2-devel metacity-devel mesa-libGLU-devel kdebase-workspace-devel plasma-devel fuse-devel cairo-devel libtool libxslt-devel dbus-glib-devel glibmm24-devel qt-sqlite qt-devel pkgconfig util-linux libxslt-devel libX11-devel libdrm-devel libwnck-devel libXfixes-devel libXrandr-devel libXrender-devel libXcomposite-devel libXdamage-devel libXext-devel libXt-devel libXmu-devel libICE-devel libSM-devel gnome-desktop-devel control-center GConf2-devel desktop-file-utils cmake intltool gettext dbus-devel librsvg2-devel metacity-devel mesa-libGLU-devel kdebase-workspace-devel plasma-devel fuse-devel cairo-devel libtool libxslt-devel dbus-glib-devel glibmm24-devel python-sexy

2.) I downloaded the Compiz rpm packages from the F16 repo, and installed each of them without dependencies using “rpm -ivh --no deps”

ccsm
compiz
compiz-bcop
compiz-devel
compiz-fusion
compiz-fusion-extras
compiz-fusion-extras-devel
compiz-fusion-extras-gconf
compiz-gconf
compiz-gnome
compiz-gtk
compiz-manager
compiz-plugins-main
compiz-plugins-main-devel
compiz-plugins-main-gconf
compizconfig
compizconfig-devel
compizconfig-backend-gconf
compizconfig-python

Everything installed except compiz-fusion, which complained about conflicting with the plugins-main for some reason.

3.) At this point, it looked like compiz would only work with boost and boost-devel version 1.47.0, but not with 1.48.0, which came with F17. So I made links for some of the boost modules, to get compiz working with the newer version.

sudo ln /usr/lib/libboost_serialization.so /usr/lib/libboost_serialization.so.1.47.0
sudo ln /usr/lib/libboost_serialization-mt.so /usr/lib/libboost_serialization-mt.so.1.47.0
sudo ln /usr/lib/libboost_wserialization.so /usr/lib/libboost_wserialization.so.1.47.0
sudo ln /usr/lib/libboost_wserialization-mt.so /usr/lib/libboost_wserialization-mt.so.1.47.0

4.) After rebooting, GDM gave me a new session login option: “Classic GNOME with Compiz.” And once I logged in, I had basic compiz functionality, and was able to configure most things with ccsm.

For some things though, I had to log back out, and log in through a regular “GNOME” session in Forced Fallback Mode to configure... such as creating a new bottom panel, or to create new panel shortcuts and applets. Unfortunately, a few of the applets didn't work, such as typing break and volume icon in the system tray. If anyone figured out a way to get these applets working, please let me know.

Also, I didn't install beryl, or any themes, but I have my desktop cube with wobbly windows, conky, etc.

[george_toolan]

Hint: usually linux uses soft links instead of hard links. This way it is easier to see which libraries are being used especially if you have installed several different versions:

/usr/lib64/libboost_serialization-mt.so -> libboost_serialization-mt.so.1.47.0
/usr/lib64/libboost_serialization.so -> libboost_serialization.so.1.47.0

[bob]

moved to F17 Development

[BBQdave]

moved to F17 Development

bob, your title says retired, but you don't seem retired

Are you back to admin duty? Either way, good to see you here!

[Brombor]

Hint: usually linux uses soft links instead of hard links. This way it is easier to see which libraries are being used especially if you have installed several different versions:

Code:
/usr/lib64/libboost_serialization-mt.so -> libboost_serialization-mt.so.1.47.0
/usr/lib64/libboost_serialization.so -> libboost_serialization.so.1.47.0

EDIT: Thanks George, I fixed the problem. See below

[AdamW]

Please note that this is a hideous hack and _extremely_ likely to explode in your face at any given moment. Library incompatibilities exist for a reason.

[Brombor]

Thanks for the warning Adam.

I changed the installation steps to avoid this problem. New steps are:

1.) I downloaded the Compiz rpm packages and dependencies from the F16 repo, and installed them using “yum localinstall"

boost-serialization
compiz
libcompizconfig
compizcompiz-gconf
compizconfig-backend-gconf
compizconfig-python
compiz-plugins-main
compiz-plugins-main-gconf
compiz-gtk
compiz-gnome
compiz-fusion-extras
compiz-fusion-extras-gconf
compiz-bcop
compiz-manager
ccsm

2.) I locked the boost-serialization dependency from updating, so it wouldn't break compiz. (If you don't have yum-plugin-versionlock installed, you'll need to do this first. Then run:

sudo yum versionlock boost-serialization

As far as I can tell, locking the version is the only potential drawback. (Only if you're running another program which needs the newer version of boost-serialization.)

3.) Then just reboot and log into GNOME with Compiz session. Everything works as I described above.

[Catastrophe]

have to ask.... why compiz?

[Brombor]

because I like the desktop effects