[compiz] window decorations explained and how to move forward

[Mike Hearn]

Here are some unqualified opinions :) Don't worry, after today I will 
run out of time and only be an observer ...

David Reveman wrote:
> The window decoration system in compiz is implemented using a decoration
> plugin and a separate window decoration drawing application (a
> decorator).

Out of curiosity why is the decorator out of process rather than being 
an integral part of the decorator plugin itself?

> I'd like to move the drawing code out of gnome-window-decorator.c and
> make it possible to plug in different drawing implementations. 

As there is nothing gnome specific about metacity themes, does it really 
make sense for this to be "gnome-window-decorator"?

> One drawing implementation that I'd like plug in here is metacity's current
> drawing code so that compiz can be used with all existing metacity
> themes. However, metacity's theme system is very limited and not design
> for what we can do today with compiz. I believe that a new theme system
> is necessary. How this theme system should be is currently beyond me,
> SVG-based and shared between gtk/qt seems appropriate, though.

Well, it's easy to say we can do better, but I think it'd be better to 
leave this until people have come up with alternatives to the boring 
strip along the top. Otherwise we just end up with a slower way to draw 
title bars.

> I'm also a long time fan of blackbox WM 

What, not Waimae? Yeah some of us remember that ;) I even remember 
people wondering where you had gone and what was going to happen with 
it. "Where is David? Was he hit by a bus?" :p

> I'll probably put some, if not all, of this on the compiz page I just
> created on freedektop wiki (http://www.freedesktop.org/Software/Compiz).

You may wish to check the writing plugin HTML page into CVS, so other 
people can find it more easily.

And finally, on a mildly related note, Xgl is currently eating a quarter 
of my system RAM. I know it's time to upgrade - can't run 2006 
technology on a box from '99 for sure - but is Xgl compressing the 
pixmaps like MacOS X does?

thanks -mike