• Table of contents
• Overview
• Installation
  • Debian package
  • Arch package
• Git repository
• Status
• Shortcomings
• Contribute
• Screenshots
  • Opacity plugin
  • Expose plugin
    • Expose plugin before being enabled
    • Expose plugin when enabled

A compositing manager is a piece of software running along with the window manager and where each graphical program outputs into a separate and independent off-screen buffer that can be manipulated before being shown in order to enhance user experience. Unlike a compositing window manager such as Compiz, a compositing manager does not manage windows but simply implements visual effects such as windows translucency, drop shadows, fading...

Overview¶

Unagi is a modular compositing manager (like xcompmgr) which aims to be efficient, lightweight and responsive. It is currently written in C programming language and based on XCB library client library. Any existing window manager can be used as long as it implements properly EWMH and ICCCM specifications (or at least parts of it which are necessary), which is generally the case nowadays.

This project also aims to provide a functional and stable software to improve window manager usability from an end-user point of view (for instance windows translucency, application-switcher using live thumbnails instead of plain icons, Exposé), therefore it does not intend at all to provide useless eye-candy effects.

Unagi relies on a modular architecture as the code is split up in three parts: core code, rendering backends (only one backend relying on Render X extension has been implemented so far) and effect plugins. Thus, it provides a small and fast compositing manager from a codebase and footprint point of view, besides allowing to easily write other rendering backend which would work better on certain hardware. It also tries to take advantage of the asynchronous XCB model to be able to be used through a network.

Installation¶

Further information can be found in the source:INSTALL and source:README files.

Debian package¶

Debian packages is available officially for the last released version in testing and unstable there. In addition of the main package, named unagi, there is also unagi-dev to allow development of additional rendering backends and plugins.

Arch package¶

Arch package is available from AUR there and maintained by Laurent Ollagnier.

Git repository¶

The Git repository is available there. You can clone the repository by running the folllowing command:

$ git clone git://rcs-git.duckcorp.org/projects/unagi/unagi.git

Status¶

• Core code, rendering and visual effects seem stable
• One rendering backend, based on Render X extension) has been implemented so far
• Two plugins have been implemented, namely Opacity and Exposé

Shortcomings¶

• Early stage of development
• Tested almost only with Awesome Window Manager
• Performance issues which should be better from 0.2 and are progressively being addressed

Contribute¶

If you wish to contribute, you can find further information in Master thesis: Writing an X compositing manager and general information about XCB in Bachelor thesis: Porting a window manager from Xlib to XCB. You can also have a look at the documentation generated from the source code available there.

Screenshots¶

Here are some screenshots of Unagi running with Awesome Window Manager.

Opacity plugin¶

Expose plugin¶

WARNING: this plugin is currently experimental and is currently very slow and not working well. As soon as all performance issues have been addressed, it will be improved and stabilized (see reported issues for further information).

Expose plugin before being enabled¶

Expose plugin when enabled¶