Eye Candy on the Linux Desktop

My crusade for a better Linux desktop continues. After reading a recent rant from someone at the Inq and recent predictions
on what Linux will look like in 4 years time, I thought I’d give
another shot at improving my Linux desktop. I’ve been using it heavily
from the command line for manufacturing media for upcoming Wind River
product using our Eclipse p2 based installer/generator and for mucking
around with ClearCase. I can do all that from putty
on my Windows machine. But it would be easier if I could just do it and
everything else I need to do right on the Linux desktop.

What I was really after was the 3D effects offered by the Compiz Fusion
compositing window manager for my GNOME desktop. After a recent bad
experience installing a security upgrade for Fedora 9 which totally
killed my machine (no boot up for you), I’m back on Ubuntu 8.04. But,
alas, I had to install the proprietary drivers for my ATI video card
before I could turn on the effects, which is another can of worms I’ll
leave for now. But once I did, I was up and flying with some wobbly
windows and spinning cubes and windows flying all over the place.

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