beats(6)

📦
version 6.15 · 2 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable

💖 beats(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it a group chat 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to beats from the XScreenSaver manual. it's giving chaos, it's giving art, it's giving balls. literally. let me tell you everything 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

beats — create offset beating figures. that's the whole vibe ngl 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

beats [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
      [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--count number] [--cycle
      number] [--wireframe] [--fps]

look at that lineup. iconic behavior only 👑

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so the beats program draws balls, right? and each ball moves around at a slightly different rate from all the other balls. and because of that tiny little difference, you get these absolutely unhinged chaotic patterns that somehow also turn into ordered, gorgeous beating patterns. it's the duality of woman, honestly 💀

here's the slay part: every single cycle / pattern is created so that it finishes as one single line of balls at the top of the screen. so the patterns can smoothly transition into each other. no awkward jump cuts, just seamless main character energy ✨

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

  • --visual visual — specify which visual to use. legal values are the name of a visual class, OR the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. pick your fighter 🦋
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing, this is what you get 💖
  • --root — draw on the root window. go big, go fullscreen-adjacent 🌸
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. yes, that one. you know the one 🔥
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default is 30000 (which is 0.03 seconds, for the people following along at home) ⭐
  • --count number — number of balls. default 30. thirty balls, thirty little guys, all doing their thing 🎀
  • --cycle number — cycle type to use. default is -1, and here's the menu bestie:
    • -1 — pseudo-random based on current time
    • 0 — clockwise
    • 1 — rain dance
    • 2 — metronome
    • 3 — galaxy

rain dance and galaxy are lowkey my favorites, don't tell the others 🙈

  • --tick | --no-tick — add a tick for 'clockwise' and 'galaxy' patterns. just for those two, okay?? they're special 💜
  • --blur | --no-blur — add motion blur to the ball movement. cinematic. ate and left no crumbs 🍓
  • --wireframe | --no-wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. transparent queen behavior 🧚
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers! stats! we love a data moment ⭐

🦋 ENVIRONMENT 🦋

yes, it reads from the environment. very eco-friendly of it 🌱

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number.
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

X(1), xscreensaver(1) — go read those too bestie, iykyk 💅

Copyright © 2020 by David Eccles.

and the legal bit, because we respect intellectual property in this house: permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. no representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. it is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. okay that's the whole thing, no cap 💖

🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

David Eccles (gringer) <hacking@gringene.org>, 2020-Feb-04. an actual icon, periodt 👑

💫 and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one's X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — so you know it's fresh. go make some balls beat, you got this 🫶💖✨
📦 where this page comes from