This Compiz plugin keeps certain windows (as specified by a window match option) static during transformation, e.g. the rotating desktop cube, or sliding around on the desktop wall.
Git master (below) has now been updated to work with more recent versions of Compiz. It works on the version of Compiz shipped with Ubuntu 8.04.
Get the source out of git:
git clone http://www.efaref.net/git/compiz/plugins/static.git
or download a source tarball:
You will need to be able to build compiz plugins, the easiest way to do this for Ubuntu 7.10/8.04 is:
sudo apt-get build-dep compiz-fusion-plugins-main
sudo apt-get install libtool
Then run make ; make install to install the plugin. Run the CompizConfig Settings Manager and enable the "Static Windows" plugin.
By default it only works on windows of type "Dock", which usually means things like the gnome panel. I also like it to work with sticky windows and the notification bubbles that pop up, plus tooltips, as they fade as soon as you switch desktop anyway. To do this, change the window match option in the CompizConfig Settings Manager options for Static Windows to something like:
Dock | Tooltip | ( state=Sticky & !Desktop ) | class=Notification-daemon
You will need the regex plugin for this to work properly. Sticky windows
will leap to the front as you start the animation, and drop back to
their place when you finish (this is because the plugin cheats and
just draws the stuff it wants to keep static at the end after the
transformation has been removed). This works well with cube rotation,
but looks a bit odd for the desktop wall.