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I recently migrated from Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 20.04 and one of the things I am missing is the Compiz Config Settings Manager. I used the "window grid" functionality of this application very much. It would allow me to quickly move a window to a quadrant (top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right) or a half (top-half, bottom-half, right-half, left-half) using a keyboard shortcut like Ctrl+NumPad (1-9). This application seems to no longer be supported in 20.04 and right now I can only use the mouse to move a window to the left or right half which is very limited.

I am using Gnome X11.

Are there any replacements for this application that works in 20.04?

Swaranga Sarma
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4 Answers4

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The tiling possibilities in Gnome Shell are, and remain, indeed, very limited, limited to tiling half left and half right only. As always, Gnome Shell extensions can come to the rescue.

WinTile: Windows 10 window tiling for GNOME by Fmstrat changes Super+Arrow keys to present tiling similar (allegedly, cannot confirm) to what is available in Windows 10. With one or two keypresses, you easily tile a window half or quarter, e.g. Win+Left will tile a window to the left half. An additional Win+Down will tile it to the lower left quarter.

Other tiling extensions are ShellTile by emasab and gTile by scherepanov.

Note that Compiz is not applicable for Ubuntu Desktop using Gnome Shell. Gnome Shell can only use its own window manager, Mutter. You can install Compiz and configure it, but none of this will have effect. Other Ubuntu desktops, including Xfce and Mate, can run on Compiz.

vanadium
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  • Thank you. WinTile seems to work more or less (the keyboards shortcuts are a little weird although I can get used to them). The other option was to go back to Unity but I am not much of a fiddler and Gnome otherwise seems to work well and I like the dark mode. – Swaranga Sarma Jul 20 '21 at 19:15
  • OMG. This is what I really wanted. Thank you. – Jiho Choi Nov 23 '21 at 15:37
  • gTile is useful! You can locate the window in specific grid into your screen using keyboard or mouse. You can read the specs here. – Rogelio Prieto May 16 '23 at 17:16
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You still can use Compiz but on MATE, not on GNOME.

MATE is installable by

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop^

Some other interesting plugins are available here from CCSM, for example - Annotate:

Annotate plugin

N0rbert
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Disclaimer: This works for Xubuntu or Lubuntu, not for Gnome. So this does not answer the question of the OP.

I'll leave it as documentation for non Gnome DEs.

If you need the "grid", install it:

sudo apt install compiz-plugins-main

enter image description here

kanehekili
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  • I installed this plugin and enabled the "grid" in the settings manager but the grid feature still does not work. Do I need anything else? – Swaranga Sarma Jul 19 '21 at 21:56
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    It certainly will work with Xubuntu or Lubuntu (Using both with compiz and grid). Honestly I've overlooked the "gnome" part, so the answer of @vanadium is correct. I'll keep the answer for possible seekers of non Gnome environments – kanehekili Jul 20 '21 at 21:11
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Gnome Shell is now the default Ubuntu desktop. As others have stated, you cannot use CompizConfig with Gnome Shell. However, the Unity desktop is still available. Of course, you can use CompizConfig with Unity.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ubuntu-unity-desktop compiz-plugins-main compiz-plugins-default compiz-plugins-extra compizconfig-settings-manager

You will have the option to switch to lightdm display manager but it's up to you and not necessary. Although, it does match the Unity theme. If you decide to change the display manager in the future, you can run the following command:

sudo dpkg --configure lightdm

Then, follow the prompts and make your choice between GDM, LightDM or whatever else is available.

To use the Unity desktop, log out of Gnome Shell and before you log back in, select the Unity desktop from the gear menu or by clicking next to the password bar (depending on your display manager).

mchid
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