Transparency effects in Xfce4

[Markus Robert Kessler]

Hello everyone!

In desktops like Xfce4 or Gnome you can make use of composite /
transparency effects. These still work in today's versions, but if
activated, they cause severe trouble during screen recording and desktop
sharing (Jitsi, Teams etc.).

Someone created a bug report, see here

https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=29405

Does anybody know which component / package is responsible for
transparent window frames, panels etc.?

So, one could try to fix the issue, since it once worked (in MGA6 it was
ok, but from MGA7 on trouble started).

Thanks!

Best regards,

Markus

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by Markus Robert Kessler
Hello everyone!
In desktops like Xfce4 or Gnome you can make use of composite /
transparency effects. These still work in today's versions, but if
activated, they cause severe trouble during screen recording and desktop
sharing (Jitsi, Teams etc.).
Someone created a bug report, see here
https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=29405
Does anybody know which component / package is responsible for
transparent window frames, panels etc.?
So, one could try to fix the issue, since it once worked (in MGA6 it was
ok, but from MGA7 on trouble started).

Each desktop environment that has it implements transparency in it's own packages.
There is no shared lib that handles it for them.

What ever has changed it's up to the recording software to handle, or at least
document that it should be disabled. It may be changes in the recording software
that has caused the issue rather then changes in how transparency is implemented.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[Markus Robert Kessler]

On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 13:18:57 -0500, Markus Robert Kessler

Post by Markus Robert Kessler
Hello everyone!
In desktops like Xfce4 or Gnome you can make use of composite /
transparency effects. These still work in today's versions, but if
activated, they cause severe trouble during screen recording and
desktop sharing (Jitsi, Teams etc.).
Someone created a bug report, see here
https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=29405
Does anybody know which component / package is responsible for
transparent window frames, panels etc.?
So, one could try to fix the issue, since it once worked (in MGA6 it
was ok, but from MGA7 on trouble started).

Each desktop environment that has it implements transparency in it's own packages.
There is no shared lib that handles it for them.
What ever has changed it's up to the recording software to handle, or at
least document that it should be disabled. It may be changes in the
recording software that has caused the issue rather then changes in how
transparency is implemented.

Thanks, Dave!

So, the malfunction in xfce4 and in kde/plasma are two different things,
happening at the same time.

Well, in the case of xfce4 I now installed compton as a replacement, and
it can be easily started automatically by just activating the checkbox
for compton in xfce4's autostart section, and, xfce4's built-in composite
engine can be deactivated.

This works as expected, except that this solution is terribly slow when
dragging around windows on the desktop.

In many forums this has been discussed, but people can only guess, why
this occurs, but there seems to be no solution.

Is there any other compositor, which can be loaded instead in xfce4?

Best regards,

Markus

[David W. Hodgins]

Post by Markus Robert Kessler
Is there any other compositor, which can be loaded instead in xfce4?

I normally disable composting as I find it annoying. I'm not aware of what
options there are other then the defaults.

Regards, Dave Hodgins