diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 974a0fe3d..f39d5d491 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2003-11-15  Havoc Pennington  <hp@redhat.com>
+
+	* src/main.c (main): fix warning
+
+	* src/compositor.c: add a new file to contain compositing manager
+	functionality; not yet implemented at all.
+
 2003-11-15  Rob Adams  <readams@readams.net>
 
 	Inherit visual from frame window so that metacity will work with
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 1ef70a161..af00938fc 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(sm,       [  --disable-sm             disable metacity's session m
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(startup-notification,   [  --disable-startup-notification             disable metacity's startup notification support, for embedded/size-sensitive custom non-GNOME builds],,enable_startup_notification=auto)
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(compositor,   [  --disable-compositor             disable metacity's compositing manager],,enable_compositor=auto)
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(xsync,       [  --disable-xsync             disable metacity's use of the XSync extension],,enable_xsync=auto)
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(shape,       [  --disable-shape             disable metacity's use of the shaped window extension],,enable_shape=auto)
@@ -175,6 +177,32 @@ else
   echo "Building without libstartup-notification"
 fi
 
+XCOMPOSITE_VERSION=1.0
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([Xcomposite >= $XCOMPOSITE_VERSION])
+if $PKG_CONFIG --atleast-version $XCOMPOSITE_VERSION xcomposite; then
+   have_xcomposite=yes
+else
+   have_xcomposite=no
+fi
+AC_MSG_RESULT($have_xcomposite)
+
+if test x$enable_compositor = xyes; then
+   have_xcomposite=yes
+   echo "CompositeExt support forced on"
+elif test x$enable_compositor = xauto; then
+   true
+else
+   have_xcomposite=no
+fi
+
+if test x$have_xcomposite = xyes; then
+  echo "Building with CompositeExt"
+  METACITY_PC_MODULES="$METACITY_PC_MODULES xcomposite >= $XCOMPOSITE_VERSION xfixes xrender"
+  AC_DEFINE(HAVE_XCOMPOSITEENSIONS, , [Building with compositing manager support])
+else
+  echo "Building without compositing manager"
+fi
+
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(METACITY, $METACITY_PC_MODULES)
 
 AC_PATH_XTRA
@@ -399,6 +427,7 @@ metacity-$VERSION:
 	XFree86 Xinerama:         ${use_xfree_xinerama}
 	Solaris Xinerama:         ${use_solaris_xinerama}
 	Startup notification:     ${have_startup_notification}
+	Compositing manager:      ${have_xcomposite}
 	Session management:       ${found_sm}
 	Shape extension:          ${found_shape}
 	Resize-and-rotate:        ${found_randr}
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index ef337d742..391a79d37 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ metacity_SOURCES= 				\
 	bell.h					\
 	bell.c					\
 	common.h				\
+	compositor.c				\
+	compositor.h				\
 	constraints.c				\
 	constraints.h				\
 	core.c					\
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 4b3f26ed8..ef8218beb 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   
   if (!meta_ui_have_a_theme ())
     {
-      gchar  *dir_entry = NULL;
+      const char *dir_entry = NULL;
       GError *err = NULL;
       GDir   *themes_dir = NULL;