deco(6)

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

💅 deco — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition

ok so you're reading the deco(6) page from the XScreenSaver manual and honestly? iconic choice. sit down, grab a strawberry 🍓, let's get into it.

✨ NAME ✨

deco — it draws tacky 70s basement wall panelling. yeah. that's the whole job. and it ate. 💅

🫶 SYNOPSIS 🫶

deco [--display host:display.screen] [--foreground color] [--background
color] [--window] [--root] [--window-id number] [--mono] [--install]
[--visual visual] [--delay seconds] [--max-depth int] [--min-width int]
[--min-height int] [--line-width yIint] [--smooth-colors]
[--golden-ratio] [--mondrian] [--fps]

(and yes, yIint is literally what it says up there, no cap, I'm not touching it 😭)

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so deco just... subdivides rectangles and colors them. randomly. that's it. that's the vibe. 🦋

it looks kind of like Brady-Bunch-era rec-room wall paneling — like, highkey the aesthetic your grandma's basement had going on. and Raven says: "This screensaver is ugly enough to peel paint." 💀 brutal but she's not wrong.

the good news? you can also produce more aesthetically pleasing displays via options. glow-up available. slay. ✨

🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

deco accepts the following options, bestie — all of them, no skipping:

  • --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.
  • --window-id number — Draw on the specified window. you pick the window, it draws there. simple as.
  • --mono — If on a color display, pretend we're on a monochrome display. delusion, but make it intentional. 🙈
  • --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. iykyk.
  • --delay seconds — How long to wait before starting over. Default 5 seconds. so you get five whole seconds of paneling before it resets. soak it in.
  • --max-depth integer — How deep to subdivide. Default 12. go deeper if you dare. 🌀
  • --min-width integer
  • --min-height integer — The size of the smallest rectangle to draw. Default 20x20. (these two share a description, they're a package deal 🫶)
  • --line-width integer — Width of lines drawn between rectangles. Default zero (minimal width). thin lines, minimal drama.
  • --smooth-colors
  • --no-smooth-colors — Whether to use a smooth color palette instead of a random one. Less jarring. Default False. tbh your eyes will thank you.
  • --golden-ratio
  • --no-golden-ratio — Whether to subdivide rectangles using the golden ratio instead of 1/2. This ratio is supposed to be more aesthetically pleasing. Default false. math girlies rise 🌈
  • --mondrian
  • --no-mondrian — Whether to imitate style of some famous paintings by Piet Mondrian. Overrides --line-width and colormap options. Default false. main character energy fr fr 🔥
  • --fps — Display the current frame rate and CPU load. for the performance girlies who need the numbers.

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

the environment variables it peeks at:

  • 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, they're literally right there.

Copyright © 1997 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.

🫶 that's the whole legal bit, verbatim — not me paraphrasing a license, obviously.

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 26-Apr-97, based on code by Michael D. Bayne <mdb@go2net.com>. Golden ratio and Mondrian settings by Lars Huttar. absolute legends, all of them. 🎀

and that's the page!! footer tea: this is X Version 11, and it's version 6.15 dated 30-Mar-2026, filed under deco(6). mwah, go draw some ugly panelling 💋✨

📦 where this page comes from