Comment 35 for bug 32194

Note that gnome-session since Intrepid starts the session in phases, with the phase being specified in the autostart desktop file for the application. By default, Compiz is started in the "windowmanager" phase, which means that it is guaranteed to be running before anything else that starts in the later phases ("panel", "desktop", "applications"). That means the Compiz issue mentioned earlier is not an issue in Intrepid or Jaunty, as Compiz is guaranteed to be started before anything else.

Most things start in the "application" phase, including any launchers you add with gnome-session-properties. There is currently no way to specify the order in which applications start within any particular phase. The only thing that is currently guaranteed is that all applications starting in one phase will be started before the next phase starts.