bsod(6)

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

💀 bsod — Blue Screen of Death emulator 💀

okay bestie, welcome to bsod(6), a page from the XScreenSaver manual, and honestly? it's giving "museum of every way a computer has ever let you down." sit down, we're gonna vibe through it together 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

bsod — the Blue Screen of Death emulator. yes, that's the whole name. iconic behavior only 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bsod [--display host:display.screen] [--foreground color] [--background
color] [--window] [--root] [--window-id number][--mono] [--install]
[--visual visual] [--delay seconds] [--fps]

like, that's the whole invocation. type it, add flags, watch the tragedy unfold 😭

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

The bsod program is, and I quote, the finest in personal computer emulation. no cap. it's literally the peak of the craft.

here's the tea: bsod steps through a whole set of screens, and each one is a recreation of a different failure mode of an operating system. it's a whole runway of crashes, one look after another 💅

the systems depicted include Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, MS-DOS, AmigaDOS 1.3, Linux, SCO UNIX, BSD UNIX, HPUX, Solaris, Tru64, VMS, HVX/GCOS6, IBM OS/390, OS/2, MacOS (MacsBug, Bomb, Sad Mac, and OSX), Atari ST, Apple ][+, VMware and NCD X Terminals.

that's a lot of eras of pain. a full historical tour of things going wrong. we stan a comprehensive archive 🎀

💅 OPTIONS 💅

bsod accepts the following options, bestie. one at a time, please, we're not animals:

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this one is the default, so if you do nothing, congrats, this is what you get ✨
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. yeah, full-screen situation, whole desktop is about to be a tragedy.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the victim 🎯
  • --mono — if you're on a color display, this tells it to pretend we're on a monochrome display. delusion, but make it retro 🖤
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window.
  • --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.
  • --delay delay — the duration each crash-mode is displayed before selecting another. so, how long you sit in the sadness before the next sadness arrives 😭
  • --only which — tell it to run only one mode, e.g., --only HPUX. commitment. monogamy. one crash and one crash only 💖
  • --fps — display the current frame rate and CPU load. for the performance girlies who need the numbers 📊

🌸 ENVIRONMENT 🌸

  • 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.

🦋 X RESOURCES 🦋

so the notable X resources supported include the following, and these bad boys control which hacks are displayed and which aren't. very main character energy, they decide who makes the cut ✨

the complete list, no skips, no cuts:

doWindows, doNT, doWin2K, doWin10, doRansomware, doAmiga, doMac, doMac1, doMacsBug, doMacX, doSCO, doAtari, doBSD, doLinux, doSparcLinux, doHPPALinux, doBlitDamage, doSolaris, doHPUX, doApple2, doOS390, doTru64, doVMS, doMSDOS, doOS2, doHVX, doVMware, and doATM.

each of these is a Boolean resource, and they all default to true — with the exception of doAtari, doBSD, doSparcLinux, and doHPPALinux, which are turned off by default. why? because they're really not all that interesting looking unless you're a fan of those systems. shade!! but honestly fair 💀

and yes, there are command-line options for all of these: e.g., --bsd, --no-bsd. (also note the --only option, bestie, it's right there.)

🎀 BUGS 🎀

unlike the systems being simulated, bsod does not require a reboot after running. i know. shocking. the one crash that doesn't take your whole day hostage. we love a low-maintenance queen 🫶

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

X(1), xscreensaver(1)

⭐ TRADEMARKS ⭐

okay this is the legal part, so buckle up and read it, it's kind of a journey:

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows 95, and Microsoft Windows NT are all registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Apple Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. Amiga is a registered trademark of Amiga International, Inc. Solaris is a trademark of Sun Microsystems. HP-UX is a trademark of HP Hewlett Packard Group LLC. Nvidia is a tradmark of Nvidia Corporation. VMS is probably a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation. Atari ST is probably a trademark, too, but it's hard to tell who owns it. SCO is probably still a trademark of somebody these days, I guess. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds, but it isn't his fault. OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. Android is a trademark of Google LLC. GladOS is a trademark of Aperture Science Incorporated.

Copyright © 1998-2022 by Jamie Zawinski.

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. No animals were harmed during the testing of these simulations. Always mount a scratch monkey. 🐒

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Concept cribbed from Stephen Martin <smartin@mks.com>. This version is by Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, with contributions from many others. legends, honestly, both of them 🫶

and that's the whole page, bestie! so go forth, run bsod, and enjoy the finest in personal computer emulation 🦋✨

okay so final sign-off — this was X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026, and it's a bsod(6) moment fr fr. mwah 💋💖

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