Although I was pretty damn busy this weekend, I finally managed to install (dual boot)
Ubuntu 6.10 on my main PC. All previous installs just went wrong because I could not control the way Ubuntu installed the Xserver. This all resulted in a severly garbled desktop, and I even could not get a decent console using CTRL-ALT-F1; the display was just messed up and my 17" TFT screen would just blank and say: "display mode not supported". It was a real pain in the neck, because Ubuntu just chooses itself what resolution and what Xserver it installs and it does not allow you to alter or even check the settings: you just have to see what you end up with. I my case it does not know how to handle my Nvidia Geforce 6600 GTS. I suppose it has to do with the fact that A) it is a AGP version (regular 6600 GT is PCIe) and B) I use a
KVM switch so I can use one screen and one keyboard with two PC's (the other one is my Linux webserver that runs Ubuntu 6.061 LTS which serves these webpages).
Before I never took the time to really tackle the problem: I think it is stupid for Ubuntu to just guess what the right settings are and then just hope for the best. Anyway: this time I was determined to get it running because I wanted to test
GNOME in combination with
Beryl.
I wrote about Beryl last week. I just wanted to see if I could get it running and what (if any) the benefits are of all that eye candy.
So how did I get things running?
Well, after installing Ubuntu I wound up with a blank screen. And all terminals where black too. So I decided to boot in safe mode and installed SSH server: that way I would at least be able to get a decent terminal (albeit remote). Using "/etc/init.d/gdm stop" I killed GDM, but still I did not get a terminal. Darn it.. Now, the main problem is that Ubuntu uses the wrong Xserver and accordingly uses the wrong configuration in xorg.config.
This can be fixed by installing the proprietary Nvidia drivers, but this usually is a hassle. Luckily someone decided to solve this problem and came up with a tool called "
Envy". Envy is a command line application for Ubuntu Linux written in Python which will:
1) detect the model of your graphic card (ATI and Nvidia cards are supported)
2) download the right version of the proprietary driver for your ATI or Nvidia card from ATI or Nvidia's websites
3) handle the dependencies (compilers, OpenGL, etc.) required to build the module
4) install the driver
5) set up your xorg.conf (i.e. the configuration file of the Xserver) for you
6) restart the Xserver for you (if you wish so)
Using this script I had the right Nvidia driver installed in no time. It did require me some extra stuff, like "nvidia-xconfig" and also "dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver.org" to get it all working, but afterwards I finally was able to get my GNOME desktop! Hurray!
After that I followed some online wiki guide (
for instance this one) to get Beryl running. It didn't work well at first because the windows widgets (the minimize, maximize and close buttons) would not display. But after I got the emerald-themes running the way it should, I found myself at the spanking new and pimped up GNOME desktop; Oh Yeah!
So next I started to check out
all the features Beryl has.
Without trying to imply that I thoroughly tested every option, I can say that my prelimenary 'test' has shown that 95 percent of the Beryl features are aimed at - what I would call - an excessive display of eye-candy. In that respect: just like Windows Vista.
However, amidst all the visual extra's ('burning' effect of minimizing windows, 'shivering windows' and such) I did find a few really handy things that I feel do enhance productivity and ease-of-use:
- The ALT-TAB function to go through windows is nice and displays the right kind of detail without being sluggish (on my machine at least, it will very much depend on your video card and driver);
- I very much like the F9 Expose function (a shameless rip-off from Apple's Expose option); Vista uses the windows-tab key for a similar but less usefull effect; Beryl adds drag'n'drop as well;
And, the one feature I really like a lot:
- Transparacy of windows in combination with blur effects; what it does is that it enables you to see what windows you have behind a window (
see example) and when you move your mouse over a window that is stacked behind a window, it brings it forward without really switching to it unless you click on it: this enables you to quickly see it's content and even scroll the window.
With a lot of terminals and other windows (browser, editor etc.) open, I found this really a handy feature!
I will try to post some video of that effect when I get a chance: it is hard to explain and when you see it you probably go "aha!".
Anyway: I will post a more indepth review as soon as I have time for it. So far I am just happy it works...
