fliptext(6)

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

💫 fliptext(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition 💫

Okay so real talk: this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual, and today's main character is fliptext. Buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

fliptext — draws pages of text whose lines transparently flip around 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

fliptext [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root]
[--window-id number] [--visual visual] [--delay microseconds] [--program
command] [--size integer ] [--columns integer] [--left | --center |
--right] [--lines integer] [--speed float] [--delay usecs] [--font xlfd]
[--wireframe] [--fps]

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

So fliptext is literally a whole vibe: it runs another program to generate a stream of text, and then it animates the lines of that text, transparently flipping in and out in 3D. Yes, in 3D. Iconic behavior, no notes 💅

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

fliptext accepts the following options, and bestie, there are a lot of them, so let's go:

  • --window — Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default, so if you do nothing, congrats, this is what you get 👑
  • --root — Draw on the root window instead.
  • --window-id number — Draw on the specified window. You pick the window, it draws there. Very "you're the main character" of you.
  • --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.
  • --program sh-command — This program will be run periodically, and its output will be the text that is displayed. Default xscreensaver-text.

You can configure the text printed through the "Advanced" tab of xscreensaver-settings(1), or by editing your ~/.xscreensaver file. Slay 🫶

  • --size integer — How large a font to use, in points. (Well, in some arbitrary unit we're calling "points" for the sake of argument.) Default: 20. Not gonna lie, the "arbitrary unit" thing sends me 😭
  • --columns integer — At (approximately) what column to wrap lines. Default 80. Wrapping is done by pixels, not characters, and lines will always wrap at the edge of the screen regardless. So like, it's a suggestion, not a promise 💀
  • --left | --center | --right — Whether to align the text flush left, centered, or flush right. The default is to choose randomly each time a new screen of text is displayed. Chaos alignment, honestly obsessed 🌈
  • --lines integer — How many lines of text should be shown at once. Default 8.
  • --speed ratio — Change the animation speed; 0.5 to go half as fast, 2.0 to go twice as fast.
  • --delay usecs — The delay between frames of the animation; default is 10000 (1/10th second.)
  • --font font-name — The name of the font to use. For best effect, this should be a large font (at least 36 points.) The bigger the font, the better looking the characters will be. Note that the size of this font affects only the clarity of the characters, not their size on the screen: for that, use the --size or --columns options.

Default: -*-utopia-bold-r-normal-*-*-720-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1

(That X logical font description string is giving ancient scroll energy and I respect it 🧚)

  • --fps — Display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. Numbers! Stats! We love a metrics moment 🔥

🦋 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.

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

xscreensaver(1), xscreensaver-text(6), fortune(1), phosphor(6), apple2(6), fontglide(6), ljlatest(6), dadadodo(1), webcollage(6), driftnet(1) EtherPEG, EtherPeek

(A whole friend group of screensavers. iykyk ✨)

Copyright © 2005 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.

Heads up bestie: "as is" means no warranty, fr fr. No promises, no take-backs 🙈

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>

And that's the whole page! 🌈 This was X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — a fliptext(6) moment for the history books. Stay flipping, stay transparent, stay 3D 💅💖🎀

📦 where this page comes from