5 Make Beryl Start Automatically

Of course, you don't want to start Beryl manually each time you log in to your desktop. Fortunately, there's a way to make it start automatically.

First, we create the file /usr/bin/startberyl.sh:

sudo gedit /usr/bin/startberyl.sh

#!/bin/sh
beryl-manager
sleep 4
exec gnome-session

Then we make it executable:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/startberyl.sh

Afterwards, we create the file /usr/share/xsessions/Beryl.desktop:

sudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/Beryl.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Beryl
Exec=/usr/bin/startberyl.sh
Icon=
Type=Application

Then we log out of our current desktop session. On the login screen, go to Options > Select Session..., choose Beryl and click on the Change Session button. Then log in with your username and password. You will then be asked:

Do you wish to make Beryl the default for future sessions?

You can choose between Just For This Session and Make Default. If this is your first try, I recommend to select Just For This Session to see if Beryl really starts automatically. If it works, you can select Make Default at the next login.

6 Customize Beryl Behaviour And Window Themes

If you like to modify Beryl's behaviour and effects, you can go to Applications > System Tools > Beryl Manager. In the menu that comes up, select Beryl Settings Manager. You can then customize Beryl:

To change window decorations and themes, you must start the Emerald Theme Manager by going to System > Preferences > Emerald Theme Manager:

7 Screenshots

Here are some further screenshots of Beryl in action, this time with a beautiful wallpaper instead of Ubuntu's default brown background:

8 Links

• The ATI Radeon open-source driver HowTo: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver
• Install Beryl on Ubuntu Feisty with AIGLX: http://wiki.beryl-project.org/wiki/Install_Beryl_on_Ubuntu_Feisty_with_AIGLX
• Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com
• Beryl: http://www.beryl-project.org