Ah, yes, this does appear to be a compiz bug. I can actually see compiz moving the nautilus window out of the way of the launcher instead of making the launcher draw over it. It's pretty clear when you switch the launcher auto-hide on and off.
** Package changed: nautilus (Ubuntu) => compiz (Ubuntu) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/936958 Title: Nautilus is now placing desktop icons far away from the launcher To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/compiz/+bug/936958/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs