XSETROOT(1)

✨ XSETROOT(1) ✨

💖 NAME

okay so the manual name is xsetroot, and it's a root window parameter setting utility for X 🖥️✨

🎀 SYNOPSIS

xsetroot [-help] [-version] [-def] [-display display] [-cursor
cursorfile maskfile] [-cursor_name cursorfontname] [-xcf cursorfile
cursorsize] [-bitmap filename | -mod x y | -gray | -grey | -solid color]
[-bg color] [-fg color] [-rv] [-name string] [-d display]

🦋 DESCRIPTION

bestie, this is the program that lets you glow up the background ("root") window on an X workstation display 🌈💅 Normally you just keep messing with xsetroot until you find a look that's so you, and then you copy that exact command into your X startup file so it's always there for you 🥹✨

If you don't pass any options, or you pass -def, the window gets reset to its default state 🫶 -def is lowkey special because you can stick it alongside other options. When you do that, only the stuff you didn't specify gets reset to default, and everything you did specify stays put 💜

Only one of the background color/tiling changing options can be used at a time: -solid, -gray, -grey, -bitmap, and -mod. Pick one bestie, no cap 🙅‍♀️

🌸 OPTIONS

Here's the whole menu, periodt 💅

• -help — prints a usage message and bounces 👋
• -version — prints a version message and bounces 🔢
• -def, -default — resets whatever you didn't specify back to the defaults. This brings back the familiar gray mesh background and the hollow x shaped cursor 🥰
• -cursor cursorfile maskfile — swaps the pointer cursor for whatever you want, but only when the pointer is outside any window 🖱️✨ Cursor and mask files are bitmaps (tiny little pictures), and you can make them with the bitmap(1) program. Honestly? Keep the mask file all black until you get the hang of how masks work 🙈
• -cursor_name cursorfontname — picks one of the standard cursors from the cursor font 🌟 Check appendix B of the X protocol for the names. The XC_ prefix gets dropped for this option, so just the bare name 💀
• -xcf cursorfile cursorsize — loads a cursor from an Xcursor file (as defined by libXcursor) at the size you ask for 🧚
• -bitmap filename — uses the bitmap in that file as the window pattern 🎨 You can craft your own with bitmap(1). The whole background becomes repeated "tiles" of your bitmap, so it's giving wallpaper energy 🌷
• -mod x y — gives you a plaid-ish grid pattern 🧺 Both x and y are integers from 1 to 16. Try different combos, it's giving experiment 🔬 Zero and negative numbers get treated as 1 🤓
• -gray, -grey — makes the entire background gray, which is easier on the eyes 🩶
• -bg, -background color — uses color as the background color 🌤️
• -fg, -foreground color — uses color as the foreground color 🔥 Heads up: foreground and background colors only matter when you're also using -cursor, -bitmap, or -mod, so they're kinda side characters otherwise 🫠
• -rv, -reverse — swaps the foreground and background colors 🔄 Normally the foreground is black and the background is white, so this flips that tea ☕
• -solid color — sets the root window background to a solid color 🎨 This one's only useful on color servers, so keep that in mind 🖍️
• -name string — names the root window string 🏷️ There's no default value here. Usually a window gets a name so the window manager can show a text version when it's iconified, but this option is unused because you can't iconify the background 😭
• -d, -display display — picks which server to connect to. See X(7) for the deets 🖥️

🧚 SEE ALSO

Your next stops, bestie 🗺️✨ X(7), xset(1), xrdb(1), Xcursor(3)

👑 AUTHOR

Mark Lillibridge, MIT Project Athena 🎓💜

🌈 Sign-off time! 🌈 This page is from the X Version 11 crew, covering xsetroot version 1.1.3, and it lives under the manual name XSETROOT(1) 🫶 Go make your desktop iconic ✨💅