compiz & recent machines outside 1st world

[Alexandre Strube]

Hello,

I have two roles in the ubuntu community: firstly, I am working with a
computer manufacturer who sells machines with ubuntu.  (we could put
dell in shame: we already sold more than 300 thousand machines with
ubuntu in brazil)

The second is as academic: I am doing a Ph.D. on advanced parallel
computing, and I use linux daily on the research.

While some of the scientific programs work out of box with ubuntu,
several doesn't. It's not a problem of ubuntu, but instead of programs
who relies on old libraries (old for the open software world, not fot
the academia)

This, however, doesn't matter now. What I have in mind is the
compiz/fusion/whatever the name is now. I've tested gutsy with about
600 machines, all of them are regular machines, both from our research
labs and machines who are currently being sold as "office machines".

Let me tell you, we tried dozens of video card configurations, and
except nvidia and ati (with SEVERAL exceptions), they mostly suck with
gutsy when they did well for dapper or feisty.

I've googled for disabling compiz, however most of them point to a
system setting found on gnome menu. This is not enough to return the
system to a state as good as feisty. In fact, when EVERY window opens
up, it is possible to see two triangles  (faces) appearing or leaving
out for every window operation on a average machine ***

*** Two machines in my hands now where gusty sucks: A PC, experimental
16-core pentium-d machine, 8g ram, three videocards: intel 945 for the
first 4 processors (can't tell mode, nda) and two ati radeon x1800xt
512mb. This machine works fine with the ati driver, but with the intel
one, shoot me.
Another is a macbook core2duo, 2.16 gz, 2048m ram. Don't tell me this
is not enough to move a window.


-- 
[]
Alexandre Strube
surak at ubuntu.com