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- From: jwz@lucid.COM (Jamie Zawinski)
- Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
- Subject: xscreensaver 1.0 now available
- Message-ID: <9208171447.AA20799@expo.lcs.mit.edu>
- Date: 17 Aug 92 14:47:51 GMT
- Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
- Organization: Lucid, Inc., Menlo Park, CA
- Lines: 61
-
- Get it from export.lcs.mit.edu in the file contrib/xsaver.tar.Z.
-
- The xscreensaver program waits until the keyboard and mouse have been idle
- for a period, and then runs a graphics demo chosen at random. It turns off
- as soon as there is any mouse or keyboard activity.
-
- This is not a screen locker, like xlock -- it does not prevent others from
- using your terminal. Its purpose is to display pretty pictures on your
- screen when it is not in use, in keeping with the philosophy that unattended
- monitors should always be doing something interesting, just like they do in
- the movies.
-
- The benefit that this program has over the combination of the xlock and
- xautolock programs is the ease with which new graphics hacks can be
- installed: you don't need to recompile this program to add a new display
- mode, you just change some resource settings. Any program which can be
- invoked in such a way that it draws on the root window of the screen can
- now be used as a screensaver without modification [*]. The programs that
- are being run as screensavers don't need to have any special knowledge
- about what it means to be a screensaver.
-
- The XIdle extension will be used if you have it (win win.) If you haven't
- installed XIdle, you need to change a line in the Imakefile.
-
- Also included are several graphics hacks for use as screensavers. There's
- nothing magic about these: they're just programs that draw on the root
- window, which are pointed at by the screensaver's default resource settings.
-
- qix - My own implementation of this, with many more options
- than you would have thought qix could have.
- helix - Generates spirally "stringart" patterns.
- rorschach - Random inkblot patterns.
- attraction - A bouncing ball demo, or a qix-like demo, or a wild
- color-cycling thing, with some odd rules.
- greynetic - Random colored/stippled rectangles.
- rocks - Flying through an asteroid field.
- pyro - Fireworks. Looks a lot like the version in xlock.
- hopalong - Fractals. I snarfed this code from xlock.
- noseguy - A guy with a big nose wanders around the screen saying
- things. I snarfed this code from xnlock.
-
- All of these will pop up their own window unless given that -root option.
- See their man pages for more details.
-
- Other reasonable things to use as screensavers, if you have them, are
-
- xdaliclock -root -builtin2 - melting digital clock
- xswarm -r 2>&- - swimming sperm
- xwave -root - random 3d graphs
- xbouncebits - bounce arbitrary bitmaps around
- ico -r - it's dull, but it's there
- xv -root file.gif -quit - they don't all have to animate!
-
- You can get all of these from export.lcs.mit.edu. If you know of (or write)
- any other interesting programs that can be used as screensavers, please let
- me know!
-
- -- Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>
-
- [*] It may be necessary to include "vroot.h" in the program, but that would
- be necessary for it to work with virtual-root window managers anyway.
-