4 a screen saver and locker for the X window system
13 The `configure' shell script will attempt to figure out which options are
14 appropriate for your system, and will create config.h and the various
15 Makefiles for you. Run `configure --help' to see how to override these
16 choices, or to specify things like the default installation directory.
17 The file `INSTALL' gives a general overview of use of these sorts of
18 configure scripts (those generated by the GNU autoconf system.)
19 The most important hint is probably this:
21 ./configure --includedir=/opt/Motif/include --libdir=/opt/Motif/lib
23 To build on VMS, see README.VMS.
25 If you think you've found a bug, please let me know; but first, read
26 the enlosed `README.debugging' file to find out what kind of information
27 would be most helpful to include in your bug report.
31 You can try out xscreensaver like so:
34 xscreensaver-command -demo
36 After a few seconds, the screen should go black, and a dialog box should
37 appear in the upper right corner. This is "Demo Mode".
39 Note: unlike `xlock', xscreensaver has a client-server model: the
40 `xscreensaver' process is a daemon that runs in the background; it is
41 controlled by the foreground `xscreensaver-command' program.
43 xscreensaver has an extensive manual -- please read it!
47 The xscreensaver program waits until the keyboard and mouse have been idle
48 for a period, and then runs a graphics demo chosen at random. It turns off
49 as soon as there is any mouse or keyboard activity.
51 The purpose of xscreensaver is to display pretty pictures on your screen
52 when it is not in use, in keeping with the philosophy that unattended
53 monitors should always be doing something interesting, just like they do
56 However, xscreensaver can also be used as a screen locker, to prevent
57 others from using your terminal while your are away.
59 The benefit that this program has over the combination of the xlock and
60 xautolock programs is the ease with which new graphics hacks can be
61 installed: you don't need to recompile this program to add a new display
62 mode, you just change some resource settings. Any program which can be
63 invoked in such a way that it draws on the root window of the screen can
64 now be used as a screensaver without modification. The programs that
65 are being run as screensavers don't need to have any special knowledge
66 about what it means to be a screensaver.
68 The XIDLE, MIT-SCREEN-SAVER, and/or SGI SCREEN_SAVER server extensions
69 will be used if you have them.
71 The dialog boxes (for locking and demo-mode) look best using Motif or
72 Lesstif, but can be configured to use Athena widgets instead.
74 Also included are numerous graphics hacks for use as screensavers. There's
75 nothing magic about these: they're just programs that draw on the root
76 window, which are pointed at by the screensaver's default resource settings.
78 qix - My own implementation of this, with many more options
79 than you would have thought qix could have.
80 helix - Generates spirally "stringart" patterns.
81 pedal - Draws a different kind of spirally pattern.
82 rorschach - Random inkblot patterns.
83 attraction - A bouncing ball demo, or a qix-like demo, or a wild
84 color-cycling thing, with some odd rules.
85 greynetic - Random colored/stippled rectangles.
86 rocks - Flying through an asteroid field.
87 blitspin - Rotate a bitmap using bitblts.
88 imsmap - Generates random maps or cloud formations.
89 hypercube - 2d projection of a hypercube rotating on all four axes.
90 slidescreen - Divides the screen into a grid and plays a 16-puzzle on it.
91 decayscreen - A melting effect.
92 jigsaw - Turns the screen into a jigsaw puzzle and shuffles it.
93 halo - Random circular patterns.
94 pyro - Fireworks. Looks a lot like the version in xlock.
95 hopalong - Fractals. I snarfed this code from xlock.
96 flame - Fractals. Also from xlock.
97 noseguy - A guy with a big nose wanders around the screen saying
98 things. I snarfed this code from xnlock.
99 maze - This is the X maze demo modified to take a -root option
100 so that it works with xscreensaver.
101 lmorph - morphing line drawings.
102 bubbles - condensation forms on your monitor, then pops.
103 deco - Generates Brady-Bunch-era wall paneling.
104 moire - Circular interference patterns.
106 kaleidescope - Groovy, man.
107 swirl - Swirly color-cycling patterns.
108 bouboule - Spinning bubbles on a transparent ball.
109 braid - Draws random color-cycling braids around a circle.
110 drift - Drifting recursive fractal cosmic flames.
111 vines - Small, curvy geometric patterns.
112 galaxy - Spinning, colliding galaxies.
113 grav - Orbital simulation and/or cloud chamber.
114 ifs - Spinning, colliding iterated-function-system shapes.
115 julia - Animated rendition of the Julia set.
116 laser - Moving radiating lines.
117 lightning - Crackling fractal lightning bolts.
118 penrose - Quasiperiodic tilings.
119 sierpinski - two-dimensional Sierpinski triangle.
120 slip - Sucks your desktop through a jet engine.
121 spiral - Circular color-cycling interference patterns.
122 strange - Animating strange attractors.
123 flag - A waving flag of an arbitrary bitmap or text.
124 sphere - Draws a bunch of shaded spheres.
125 forest - grows a fractal forest.
126 lisa - draws animated full-loop lisajous figures.
127 lissie - another lisajous path.
128 goop - Squishy transparent oil-and-bubble images
129 starfish - Radially-symmetric throbbing colormap-hacking blobs.
130 munch - The classic 1962-vintage "munching squares" hack.
131 rd-bomb - Reaction-diffusion fractals.
132 coral - Simulation of coral growth, sort of.
133 fadeplot - Draws a swimming ribbon.
134 mountain - Generates mountains on a square grid.
135 triangle - Generates mountains on a triangular grid.
136 worm - Draws wiggly worms.
137 rotor - Draws a rotating spiral pattern.
138 ant - A cellular automaton.
139 xjack - Simulates a schizophrenic typist.
140 xlyap - Calculates and displays Lyapunov exponents.
141 flow - More strange attractors.
142 epicycle - Spiral patterns based on pre-Copernican cosmologies.
143 interference - More groovy colored fields.
144 truchet - Nonrepeating planar tilings.
145 bsod - Simulates the system crashes of various other OSes.
146 crystal - A kaleidoscope of moving polygons.
147 discrete - Various fractal-ish "discrete map" forms.
148 distort - A moving lens wanders around the screen, magnifying it.
149 kumppa - Spinning 3D color fields, kinda.
150 gears - Draws interlocking rotating gears (GLX only.)
151 morph3d - Draws shiny shape-changing 3d forms (GLX only.)
152 superquadrics - More shiny shape-changing 3d forms (GLX only.)
153 pipes - Generates a field of intertwined plumbing (GLX only.)
154 rubik - Solves a Rubik's Cube (GLX only.)
155 sproingies - Marble Madness meets Q-Bert (GLX only.)
156 stairs - Draws Escher's infinite staircase (GLX only.)
157 cage - Draws Escher's impossible cage (GLX only.)
158 moebius - Draws Escher's Moebius Strip II (GLX only.)
159 atlantis - Draws swimming mammals (GLX only.)
161 All of these will pop up their own window unless given that -root option.
162 See their respective man pages for more details.
164 Other reasonable things to use as screensavers, if you have them, are
166 xdaliclock -root -builtin2 - melting digital clock
167 xswarm -r 2>&- - swimming sperm
168 xwave -root - random 3d graphs
169 xbouncebits - bounce arbitrary bitmaps around
170 ico -r -p8 -faces -sleep 1 - it's dull, but it's there
171 xv -root file.gif -quit - they don't all have to animate!
172 xsplinefun - bouncing splines
173 xfishtank -c black -d -r 1 - fish (use version 2.0 or later)
174 xmountains -b - very realistic generated mountains
175 xtacy -root - various eye candy
176 xearth -wait 0 -timewarp 400 - the earth as seen from space
177 /usr/demos/bin/bongo - an SGI GL demo
178 /usr/demos/bin/ep -S - another: the stunning ElectroPaint.
179 (Compile hacks/xscreensaver-sgigl.c
180 to use these with xscreensaver.)
182 You can get most of these from the contrib directory on ftp.x.org. If you
183 know of (or write) any other interesting programs that can be used as
184 screensavers, please let me know!
186 The latest version of xscreensaver is always available on the web at
187 http://people.netscape.com/jwz/xscreensaver/.
189 -- Jamie Zawinski <jwz@netscape.com>
192 Changes since 2.23: * Tweaked the order of the -L options again.
193 * Cleaned up configure's --help message.
194 * Added `kumppa' hack.
195 * Smarter maze-solving algorithm in `maze'.
196 * Took `xlyap' out of the default list of hacks, since
197 it's just incredibly buggy (and slow.) Maybe someday
198 someone will fix it...
199 * Added `distort' hack, but didn't add it to the default
200 list (yet) because it's still too slow.
201 * Made the Athena demo dialog look more like the Motif
202 version; it has a text-entry field now, too.
203 * Made the Athena password dialog echo asterisks, like
204 Motif does, instead of using a flyspeck font.
205 * Some random configure tweaks.
206 * Added a `timestamp' resource that makes the `-verbose'
207 messages include the time at which they were printed.
208 Changes since 2.22: * The fix for SGI's "scheme" nonsense broke things, and
209 let the user's "*background" resource show through.
210 Fixed it in a different way.
211 Changes since 2.21: * Added support for the DPMS server extension (Display
212 Power Management System.)
213 * Made configure advertize the --enable-subdir option a
214 little more, since that seemed to cause some people
215 stress. Also, made that directory be built into the
216 xscreensaver executable, as a hardcoded prefix to
217 $PATH. (Might help, shouldn't hurt.)
218 * Made configure prefer the two-arg gettimeofday to the
219 one-arg version, since AIX doesn't have any prototypes.
220 * Made it work with Xaw3d (the 3D Athena library.)
221 * Made "make install" create directories as necessary.
222 * New version of lmorph from Sverre.
223 * Added `crystal' and `discreet' hacks from xlockmore.
224 * Added a new mode to `bsod'.
225 Changes since 2.20: * Made "xscreensaver-command -time" use different words.
226 (It now describes the two states as "screen blanked
227 since..." and "screen non-blanked since..." instead of
228 "active since..." and "inactive since..." which a lot
229 of people interpreted as meaning the opposite of what
231 * Improved some error messages, in the hopes of making
232 the distinction between the xscreensaver and
233 xscreensaver-command programs more obvious.
234 * Rewrote (and reorganized) parts of the xscreensaver and
235 xscreensaver-command manual pages.
236 * Renamed xscreensaver's "-lock" command-line option to
237 be "-lock-mode", to avoid confusion with the "-lock"
238 option to xscreensaver-command, which does a totally
240 * Removed xscreensaver's "-demo" command-line option for
241 a similar reason; use "xscreensaver-command -demo"
243 * Disabled SGI's "scheme" nonsense in a better way than
244 fully-qualifying the background colors in every single
246 * Fixed some other minor cosmetic problems when *sgiMode
248 * Fixed an X error in `bsod -root' (how ironic...)
249 Changes since 2.19: * Fixed a bug that caused the mouse to sometimes not be
250 grabbed properly (meaning the window manager menu could
251 pop up over the demo-mode display.)
252 * Fixed a bug that made the stderr output sometimes get
254 * Fixed a bug that made the demo-mode scrollbar move too
256 * Protected against a possible buffer overflow.
257 * Made `vidwhacker' not leave stray xv windows around.
258 * New version of `ant' so that Bagley doesn't calve.
259 * Make configure on AIX get XShm from the right library.
260 Changes since 2.18: * One file was missing from the tar file. Fixed.
261 Changes since 2.17: * Oops, atlantis wasn't being built by default. Fixed.
262 * Added `epicycle' hack.
263 * Added `interference' hack.
264 * Added `truchet' hack.
266 * Added some new modes to `vidwhacker'.
267 Changes since 2.16: * Added a -window-id argument to most hacks, so that they
268 can draw on arbitrary externally-provided windows.
269 * Synched with xlockmore 4.11a01.
271 * Added `atlantis' GL hack.
272 * Renamed `puzzle' hack to `jigsaw', since xlock already
273 had a different mode called `puzzle'.
274 * Made it self-configure properly when Motif 2.1.0 is
275 being used (requires -lXp now, sigh...)
276 Changes since 2.15: * Made `flag' able to do XPM images.
277 * New look for the xscreensaver logo (`xroger').
278 * Fixed compilation error on Suns with adjunct passwords.
279 * Got multi-architecture builds working again.
280 * Some configure tweaks for building on HPUX and Solaris.
281 * Fixed bug in decayscreen.
282 * Fixed typo in passwd.c.
283 * Made `cynosure' not die when colormap is full.
284 Changes since 2.14: * Added `cynosure' hack.
285 * Added `moire2' hack.
286 * Tweaked `erase.c' some more.
287 * Made unfading a bit smoother.
288 * Added `vidwhacker' hack (not installed by default.)
289 * Added `stairs' hack.
290 * Split `escher' into `cage' and `moebius', as per
292 * Changed subprocess handling to use sigaction() instead
293 of signal() if it's available (this is necessary for
294 SCO but should work fine on other systems too.)
295 * Various other tweaks.
296 Changes since 2.13: * Better fix for the Motif drag-and-die lossage.
297 * Put in some kludges to work around a LessTif bug.
298 * XScreenSaver is known to work with LessTif 0.82 now.
299 * Made fading work on high-end SGI video hardware.
300 * Fixed another SGI-specific bug in screen grabbing;
301 will the madness never cease?
302 * Fixed another crash in `xlyap'.
303 Changes since 2.12: * Made `decayscreen' do directions other than down.
305 * Fixed a crash in `xlyap'.
306 * Added CDE info to the man page, removed `cde.txt'.
307 * Configure tweaks for Zippy.
308 * Turned off the signal handling in `bubbles' because
309 it was sometimes failing to die.
310 * Added `hacks/xscreensaver-sgigl.c' to make it possible
311 to run SGI's ElectroPaint hack (/usr/demos/bin/ep)
312 with xscreensaver. Finally!
313 * Fixed a buffer overrun in the locking code that some
314 wily, malicious cracker must have slipped in.
315 * Disabled Motif drag-and-drool in the dialog box
316 buttons, since it's broken in some old versions of
318 Changes since 2.11: * Added `README.debugging'.
319 * Added `puzzle' hack.
320 * Added `xlyap' hack.
321 * Added "default-n" as a visual name, so that one can
322 have -install on by default, but turn it off for
323 certain poorly-behaved hacks (like xv.)
324 * Added support for grabbing frames of external video
325 (on SGI) to the screen-grabbing hacks (decayscreen,
326 slidescreen, slip, blitspin, and puzzle.)
327 * Improved look of tiles in `slidescreen'; fixed its
328 color allocation problem.
329 Changes since 2.10: * Tweaked `blitspin', added it to the default list.
330 * Added `lissie', `mountain', `triangle', `worm',
331 `rotor', and `ant' from xlockmore.
332 * Updated `sierpinski', `galaxy', and `lisa'.
333 * Thickened the lines in `braid' and `lmorph'.
334 * Updated VMS makefiles.
335 * Renamed `fract' to `vines'.
336 * Added `xjack' hack.
337 * Made a few more hacks use erase.c, and added a few
339 * Fixed compilation problem with Sun's version of OpenGL.
340 * Added ability to use sigaction() instead of signal()
341 to work around a SCO kernel bug.
342 Changes since 2.09: * Fixed colormap bugs in `rd-bomb'; sped up `coral'.
343 * Configure tweaks for *BSD.
344 Changes since 2.07: * New hacks `rd-bomb' and `coral'.
345 * New version of `maze' with some new algorithms.
346 * New colorized version of `rocks'.
347 * Fixed a bug in qix on 64-bit machines.
348 * Fixed a bug in the -time option.
349 * Fixed a bug in configure related to LessTif.
350 Changes since 2.06: * Minor header tweaks in windows.c and flag.c.
351 * Made multi-architecture (VPATH) builds work properly.
352 * Merged new GL stuff from xlockmore (rubik, morph3d.)
353 * Fixed intermittent crashes in `imsmap' and `munch'.
354 * Added `fadeplot' hack from xlockmore.
355 Changes since 2.05: * Merged in VMS support from Patrick Moreau.
356 Changes since 2.04: * Fixed a MIT-SCREEN-SAVER-related crash, and tweaked
357 configure to detect the extra-random -Xss library.
358 Changes since 2.03: * HP configure tweaks. Detect and warn about LessTif.
359 * Fixed low-color behavior of `goop', `pyro', `starfish',
360 `greynetic', `flame', `halo', and `moire'.
361 Changes since 2.02: * Fixed flicker in `pipes'. Fixed 3d in `bouboule'.
362 * Added `munch' hack.
363 * Added basic dependencies to the Makefile.in files.
364 Changes since 2.01: * Fixes for compiling with the MIT saver extension.
365 * Made the yow/fortune program be a configure option.
366 * Various configure tweaks.
367 Changes since 2.00: * Added `goop' and `starfish' hacks.
368 * Added colomap cycling to `halo'.
369 * Made `attraction' use the new colormap allocator.
370 * Added better $PATH diagnostics.
371 * There was a bug in frand! Color selection should be
373 Changes since 1.34: * Converted to use `configure' instead of `imake'.
374 * ANSI C is now required.
375 * Added Kerberos locking support, from Nat Lanza.
376 * Made the stderr text use overlay planes, if possible.
377 * Reworked the xlockmore compatibility stuff again.
378 * Added `gears', `superquadrics', `escher', `pipes',
379 and `sproingies' hacks (depend on OpenGL.)
380 Changes since 1.33: * Fixed some bugs, made fading be a little smoother.
381 Changes since 1.32: * Made it work with multi-headed displays.
382 * Generalized sub-process management (Unix sucks!)
383 * Added interactive mouse frobbing to Julia.
384 * Added (untested) support for HPUX shadow passwords.
385 * Made normal non-shadow passwords be checked if the
386 shadow passwords aren't accessible for some reason.
387 Changes since 1.31: * Removed *colorPrograms and *monoPrograms resources:
388 made it possible to specify the desired visual on a
390 * Cleaned up / restructured the driver: no more globals.
391 * Made the Motif and Athena dialogs share more code.
392 * Probably fixed some Athena colormap-installation bugs.
393 * Fixed screen grabbing (cmap) on SGI 12-bit PseudoColor.
394 * Fixed divide-by-zero in bright random colormaps.
395 * Added an improved version of xlock's `flag' hack.
396 * Made unfading work better, and not flicker on SGIs.
397 * Added `sphere', `forest', `lisa' hacks from xlockmore.
398 * Added (untested) support for SunOS Adjunct passwords.
399 Changes since 1.30: * Improved colors and colormap cycling of many hacks.
400 * Cleaned up xlockmore compatibility layer.
401 * Made `blitspin' able to grab an image off the screen.
402 * Ported `swirl' and `bouboule' hacks from xlockmore.
403 * Made the driver more careful about not leaving bits on
404 the screen, or allowing other windows to raise
405 themselves: it now re-blanks the screen every so often.
406 * Added `-time' option to `xscreensaver-command'.
407 * Improved SGI screen-grabbing some more: now it can grab
408 TrueColor screens into PseudoColor windows and have the
409 colors still come out semi-reasonably.
410 Changes since 1.29: * Made `slidescreen' and `decayscreen' work better on
411 SGIs when windows of different visuals are present, by
412 using the XReadDisplay() extension to get a true 24-bit
413 image out of the frame buffer.
414 * Made `noseguy' be in color, if compiled with XPM.
415 * Ported `braid', `drift', `fract', `galaxy', `grav',
416 `ifs', `julia', `laser', `lightning', `penrose',
417 `sierpinski', `slip', `spiral', and `strange' hacks
419 * Merged `hopalong' hack with a more recent version.
421 Changes since 1.27: * Added `deco', `moire', and `kaleidescope' hacks.
422 * Merged in support for non-Motif locking and demo mode.
423 * Made `blitspin' and `bubbles' work in TrueColor.
424 * Fixed a stupid bug I introduced in `imsmap'.
425 * Added `poly' and `gravity' options to `qix'.
426 Changes since 1.26: * Added support for SGI SCREEN_SAVER extension.
427 * Made `fade' and `unfade' work on 8-bit SGIs.
428 * Made the dialog boxes more Motify.
429 * Added `bubbles' hack.
430 Changes since 1.25: * Added `lmorph' hack.
431 * Added viscosity and mouse-control to attraction.
432 * Fixed possible bad color choices in qix and attraction.
433 * Added ramp-mode to halo.
434 * Added a new RNG, which is faster and more portable
435 than using the RNG in libc.
436 * Made locking work on SCO.
437 * Various other minor tweaks that I don't remember.
438 Changes since 1.24: * Made it capture the stdout/stderr of its subprocesses
439 and present them on the screensaver window itself.
440 * Made demo mode work correctly with non-default visuals
441 and color maps, instead of always using the defaults.
442 * Added -visual argument to all included screenhacks.
443 * Support for the R6 MIT-SCREEN-SAVER server extension.
444 * Made the demo mode list scroll properly.
445 * Added `pedal' hack.
446 Changes since 1.23: * Fixed some private-colormap oddities in slidescreen,
447 decayscreen, and xroger. Fixed apparent conservation-
448 of-mass problem in pyro; made the shrapnel round.
449 Changes since 1.22: * Minor tweaks for IRIX5; fixed locking race condition.
450 Changes since 1.21: * Minor tweaks for X11R6.
451 * Fixes for non-default visuals.
452 Changes since 1.20: * Fixed bug in color blitspin; added default image.
453 * Added diagnostics to noseguy. Fixed off-by-one
454 error in flame. Added some missing casts.
455 Changes since 1.18: * Added `flame' hack.
456 * Fixed a minor Motif dialog text field bug.
457 * Fixed yet another XPointer-not-defined-in-R4 bug.
458 Changes since 1.17: * Added support for shadow password files.
459 * Fixed some Motif-related locking bugs.
460 * Added diagnostics when locking is disabled.
461 * Made blitspin able to use the XPM library.
462 * Added `decayscreen' hack.
463 Changes since 1.16: * Added `halo' hack.
464 Changes since 1.15: * Portability fixes.
465 Changes since 1.14: * Broke the driver up into more source files.
466 * Moved the hacks into their own directory.
467 * Made all `time' parameters accept the 00:00:00 syntax,
468 so that even the parameters which are normally read as
469 minutes can be specified in seconds.
470 * Added colormap cycling to `imsmap'.
471 * Made hyper work with K&R compilers.
472 Changes since 1.13: * Added `orbit' option to `attraction' hack.
473 * Added `lock-timeout' option.
474 * Cleaned up options of `maze' hack.
475 Changes since 1.8: * Added demo mode, and locking.
477 * Added `norotate' option to `rocks' hack.
projects / xscreensaver / blob