kompmgr is based upon xcompmgr, Keith Packards reference composing implementation for the use of the new X features.
A composite manager catches the output of the X windows and renders them into a single picture that will be displayed on the screen. The advantage of doing so is that you can do basically anything with the windows contents, including blending them together (translucency) or attaching shadows. You could also tint them, add a nasty advertise on any window, squeeze them, fract them, add scanlines, or anything else you can imagine, limited by your hardware.
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