Compiz on Arch Linux

The Compiz packages are currently in the Arch User Repository. Tools like yaourt can make installing these a lot easier. But the following information and script should also yield a basic working Compiz window manager.

Dependency tree

The following tree shows the dependencies between the Compiz packages. Every package depends on the nodes in the tree above it.

• compiz-core
  • libcompizconfig
    • compizconfig-python
      • ccsm
  • compiz-bcop
    • compiz-fusion-plugins-main
      • compiz-fusion-plugins-extra

Install script

#!/bin/bash

(

set -e

work_dir="compiz-install-$(date -I)"

if [[ -d "$work_dir" ]]
then
        echo "$work_dir already exists, exiting"
        exit 1
fi

mkdir $work_dir
cd $work_dir

packages=("compiz-core" "libcompizconfig" "compizconfig-python" "ccsm" "compiz-bcop" "compiz-fusion-plugins-main" "compiz-fusion-plugins-extra")

for package in "${packages[@]}"
do
        wget "https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/$package.tar.gz"
        tar -xf "$package.tar.gz"
        cd $package
        makepkg -si
        cd ..
done

)

.xinitrc

Replace or add the exec line in ~/.xinitrc to have Compiz run as a standalone window manager.

exec compiz ccp

The above will yield a black screen with a mouse cursor. I generally combine it with the delayed start of a terminal emulator, ending up with:

sleep 1 && tilda &
exec compiz ccp