blinkbox(6)

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

Okay so real talk: this is page blinkbox(6) from the XScreenSaver manual, and it is lowkey the most soothing little screensaver ever. Let's get into it 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

blinkbox — bestie, it literally shows a ball inside a box. That's the whole vibe. 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

blinkbox [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
[--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--wireframe] [--boxsize
number] [--dissolve] [--fade] [--no-blur] [--fps]

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

So picture this: there's a ball, right? And it's contained inside a bounding box — like a little glass cube of main character energy. And every time the ball smacks into one of the edges, colored blocks go blink and pop in. 🔥

That's it. That's the whole screensaver. It's giving "hypnotic desk toy" and honestly? Obsessed. 🌈

🦋 OPTIONS 🦋

  • --visual visual — tells it which visual to use, bestie. What counts as legal though? Either the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex, your choice, we don't judge) of one specific visual. 💜
  • --window — draws on a newly-created window. This is the default, iykyk. ✨
  • --root — draws on the root window instead. 🖥️
  • --window-id number — draws on the window you specify. That exact one. No cap. 🎯
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, measured in microseconds. Default: 30000, which is 0.03 seconds. (Yes, microseconds. She's precise like that. 💅)
  • --wireframe | --no-wireframe — renders in wireframe instead of solid. Skeleton mode. 😌
  • --boxsize — sets the size of the colored boxes. Should be between 1 and 8. Default: 2. 📦
  • --dissolve | --no-dissolve — makes the boxes shrink instead of just vanishing. So much more dramatic. 😭
  • --fade | --no-fade — makes the boxes fade to transparency instead of just vanishing. Ghosty. 👻
  • --blur | --no-blur — enables or disables motion blur on the ball. Default: blurry. 🌸
  • --fps — shows the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. Stats girlies rise. 🔥

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

  • DISPLAY — used to get the default host and display number. ✨
  • XENVIRONMENT — used 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)

Copyright © 2003 by Jeremy English. 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.

⚠️ Fr fr, that "as is" bit matters — no warranty, express or implied. Read it, don't skim it, bestie. 🙈

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Jeremy English. Motion blur by John Boero. 🫶

Alright that's the whole page — X Version 11, 6.15 (30-Mar-2026), blinkbox(6), and that's the official footer, so you know it's legit. Go forth and watch the little ball bounce, you gorgeous nerd 💅🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from