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Everything you wanted to know:


Why Metisse? There is plenty other 3D desktops available on Linux.
Metisse has been developped as a framework used by various projects of Insitu. Metisse work was started before 3D desktops were available on Linux and yet, Metisse provides features unique among 3D environments available to the public (like interacting with transformed windows, UI duplications). This is why Metisse is not only a 3D desktop, it adds more functionalities, not all of them being purely 3D one.

Can metisse be used for production system?
Metisse is experimental software : not all its features are complete or bug free. Moreover, since metisse is used as a testground for Insitu projects, some features might change in future versions or dropped if better alternatives are found. We do not advise to use metisse in critical environments.

Is there a 64 bit version of Metisse?
Soon.

Where is the cube? Where is Expose?
Other environments are using a cube metaphor to sort workspace. Metisse uses another metaphor "bird view" (or pager) which is similar to a "table" separated in 9 areas. One of the added value of bird view is being able to interact with applications in pager mode. Moreover, with pager mode, you can get something similar to Exposé mode.

Do I need a high-end 3D graphical card to use metisse?
No. Metisse uses basic openGL commands for most of its feature and can run on entry level 3D graphic cards. For instance, metisse is able to run (slowly) on PIII 450Mhz with TNT2 graphical chipset.

Live CD is using GNOME. Is metisse only available for GNOME? Can I use it with KDE?
Metisse is desktop agnostic. Some features in metisse are only available (or are enhanced) when accessibility support is enabled for GNOME / GTK 2.0 applications. Accessibility support for KDE applications will only be available with KDE 4. But you can use metisse with other desktop environments, like KDE. Therefore, Metisse Live CD is build with GNOME 2.16 / Mandriva 2007.0, with accessibility support enabled by default.

Can I install Metisse live CD on my system?
Yes. Open a terminal when you are logged on metisse liveCD and run /usr/sbin/draklive-install

Can I install metisse on Mandriva Linux 2007?
It is possible but not supported by Mandriva Linux. Please refer to Mandriva Community Wiki for more information.

It seems metisse is using fvwm. Can I use another window manager with metisse?
Not at the moment. Currently, metisse compositor is a fvwm plugin, connected to a modified version of fvwm and it can't be used with another window manager instead. However, fvwm being quite flexible, it should be able to replace any window manager without changing user experience. If it isn't, please, let us know.

What is this strange focus you are using? Why can't I click on window to activate them, as usual?
Metisse is using sloppy follow mouse focus, where active window is latest window where mouse was positionned. This focus style is needed for some metisse features and users are usually used to it after one week of use. But if you really want old "click to focus" style, modify ~/.fvwm-metisse/styles and replace "SloppyFocus" by "ClickToFocus" on line "Style * ...".

My keyboard doesn't have a Super (or Windows/Linux) key, how can I use metisse keybindings?
You need to modify ~/.fvwm-metisse/bindings-functions and choose another key combinations (for instance, Ctrl-Shift) to replace Super key. Explanations are available at the top of config file.

I've tried metisse but I logout and now, I can't login.
Metisse architecture uses a second X window server but this server is not always stopped when logging out. As a workaround, you can run "killall Xmetisse" to be able to login back. This problem will be fixed in future release.

I'm not seeing mouse cursor when mouse is not moving or area around mouse cursor is garbled.
Some old graphic cards (like i810) have this problem. To workaround it, you need to modify /etc/sysconfig/composition-wm to enable the following option : COMPOSITING_WM_ARGS="-- -C --"

I click on window on screen but mouse cursor doesn't seem to have any effect.
We have found some ATI R300 cards to have this problem when using opensource r300 driver. Using fglrx driver fixed the issue. If you have another card with this problem, let us know.