coral(6)

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

💅 coral(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition

okay so this is coral, and it lives in the XScreenSaver manual (that's the manual name, fyi — you're welcome ✨). it does exactly one thing and it does it slowly, and honestly? iconic.

🌊 NAME 🌊

coral — simulates coral growth, albeit somewhat slowly.

yes she's a slow girl. she's a coral girl. let her cook. 🪸

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

coral [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
[--root] [--window-id number] [--delay2 number] [--delay number]
[--density number] [--seeds number] [--fps]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Simulates coral growth.

that's it. that's the whole vibe. no cap. 🌸

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --visual visual — tell it which visual to use, bestie. legal values are either the name of a visual class, or the id number of a specific visual (decimal or hex, we don't discriminate 💅).
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing, this is what you get. main character energy 🫶
  • --root — draw on the root window. going full wallpaper mode, we love to see it.
  • --window-id number — draw on the exact window you point at. very "i know what i want" of you.
  • --delay2 number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default: 1000 (that's 0.001 seconds, and yes the original really does end that sentence with a period right after the paren, we stan a punctuation icon).
  • --delay number — Duration. range: 1 – 60. default: 5.
  • --density number — Density. range: 1 – 90. default: 25.
  • --seeds number — Seeds. range: 1 – 100. default: 20. more seeds = more lil coral babies, iykyk 🌱
  • --fps — displays the current frame rate and CPU load. a little stats moment for the data girlies 📊

🌈 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. literally the group chat of window IDs.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

X(1), xscreensaver(1)

both absolute legends, go read them, fr fr.

Copyright © 2002 by Frederick Roeber.

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.

translation bestie: free to use, no fee, but keep the copyright notice in there and don't come for them if it breaks. it's giving generous and honest 💀

🧚 AUTHOR 🧚

Frederick Roeber.

(one name, no notes. a singular serve. 🍓)

kk that's the whole page, you're officially a coral expert, and for the record this was X Version 11, version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) 🌸 byeee, drink some water, ily 🫶✨

📦 where this page comes from