So what is this "Beryl"?

The wiki says that it's "a combined window manager and compositing manager that runs on top of Xgl or AIGLX using OpenGL to provide effects accelerated by a 3D graphics card on the desktop."

I get that it's the thing that's responsible for the pretty. Does the wiki mean it's on the same kind of level as gnome or kde, or is it something that runs on top of them? (or below them?) How does that all fit?

 

It runs on top of KDE/Gnome. Xgl/AIGLX is a layer than runs over the top of X server to allow your GPU to render the desktop.

It's very similar to the Aero stuff from Vista. Except Aero renders using DirectX and Xgl uses OpenGL.

 

http://wiki.beryl-project.org/index.php/Install/Ubuntu/Edgy/AiGLX

 

It basically runs on top of KDE or Gnome as Lysander said, and it gives you graphical effects such as 3D desktop, window transparencies, 3D animations, and more. It basically takes a lot of the ideas from both Windows Vista and Mac OS X but adds to them and makes them readily accessible in the Linux environment. It's also MUCH more customizable than anything Microsoft or Apple offer.

But, it can also be a pain. You could possibly run into problems with it crashing on occasion, and it's not always easy to install. But I think recent releases are pretty stable on Ubuntu. I haven't tried it for a while, so I can't say.

 

Beryl is simply "Eye Candy" the way Aero Glass is for Vista.

 

Once you find a stable version though, I'd advise you to stick with it. It's still alpha software, and updates can break packages.

Although, it does add some to usability. True terminal transparencies is a boon for those copying out of wikis. The Expose effect is also very useful, as well as live previews for minimised applications. To to mention being able to watch full screen video with firefox in front of it is just so **** cool.

 

Yeah, you mentioned this yesterday. I am going to go out on a limb and say that that kind of functionality isn't really all that much - sure, I agree it adds a few things (live previews, cool boxes, alt-tab redos, dissolves) but all in all, it is classified as Eye Candy, the way Aero Glass is. No one would say that Aero adds great functionality, although it does do the live & taskbar previews.

Then again, I digress. It's not like Microsoft could EVER add functionality, even if they tried. It's over for them, really. Once on the path of the dark-side, forever will it dominate your destiny.

 

Go to youtube, and search for "beryl" and possibly include "ubuntu" or "kubuntu", and you'll find demonstrations of it running.

 

Wow, I just saw some youtube videos of Beryl in action and that's some pretty awesome stuff! Looks like it could make OSX and Vista green with envy.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7QraljRfM

Just watched it and figured that I had to share it. Incredible!!!!

It makes Aero look pitiful!

 

Hahah. Only the first poster read my post. Ah internets, I love you. Thanks Lysander. That's the sort of answer I was looking for.

So it works with the X server thingy to... reinterpret what the window manager asks for in order to provide three dimensions?

 

In a manner of speaking, yes. For more technical information, I suggest reading up on Xgl and AIGLX.

 

well, beryl actually replaces the Metacity window manager that comes with GNOME when you turn it on.

 

So is anybody here actually running Beryl? I'm kind of tempted to try it out now... it does look freakin' cool

 

yeah... runs pretty good on your (and my) laptop, you just gotta be reasonable with what you ask the ol' i915 to do. stuff like the transparent cube won't be usable, but most everything else works fine.

 

No transparent cube?! but that's the coolest part... haha. Maybe i'll give it a shot when I have some more time...

 

I've got it on both the machines in my sig. I run linux primarily any more, XP is just for toys and games It will suck battery life if you run Beryl on the battery, but I fix that by just changing back to the standard KDE window manager when running on battery. And even with Beryl running, I'll get over 2 hours of battery life, on wireless and everything.

 

Are you guys running the latest version of it? Or an older, perhaps more stable version?

 

Well, I just installed Beryl and I must say... it's pretty cool. I don't see a point to half of the features... but the cube is cool and so are the wobbly windows!

 

Great! How is it on your system resources?

 

I personally really like the expose' type feature, and it adds a level of polish to the interaction, I think. nice quick fades and such look better.

 

It's not too bad... when i'm moving windows with the wobbliness, CPU usage does tend to go up to ~60%.

 

Max CPU usage 5%, average 2%

When I clock down to 1GHz on battery however, it can reach as high as 15% usage.

And, I lose about 20 minutes battery life running Beryl, down to 3 hours from 3:20.