flyingtoasters(6)

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

💖 flyingtoasters(6) 💖

ok so real talk, bestie — this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual, section 6 (games/screensavers, the fun section, obviously), and it's about the most iconic screensaver concept of all time. buckle up 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

flyingtoasters — 3d space-age jet-powered flying toasters (and toast). like, literally what it says. toasters. flying. in space. with jets. and toast. 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

flyingtoasters [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual]
[--window] [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--speed number]
[--ntoasters number] [--nslices number] [--no-texture] [--no-fog]
[--wireframe] [--fps]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so picture this: a whole squadron of shiny 3D space-age jet-powered flying toasters, plus their associated toast, absolutely booking it across your screen. that's it. that's the program. it's giving 1993 screensaver nostalgia but make it polygons. no cap, it's iconic 👑

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --visual visual — tells it which visual to use. legal values are either the name of a visual class, or the id number of a specific visual (and yes, that number can be decimal or hex, she's flexible like that 💅)
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, it's the main character behavior ✨
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. going full desktop-background mode.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the window, she'll draw on it. specific queen behavior.
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, measured in microseconds. Default: 30000 (0.03 seconds.) — tiny tiny pauses between frames, that's the whole vibe.
  • --speed number — how fast the toasters fly. larger for faster. Default: 1.0.
  • --ntoasters number — how many toasters to draw. Default 20.
  • --nslices number — how many slices of toast to draw. Default 25.
  • --no-texture — turns off texture mapping. for slow machines, bestie 😭 your poor little laptop is doing its best.
  • --no-fog — turns off fog, meaning distant toasters do not fade out. no atmospheric perspective. we see everyone. no escape.
  • --wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. structural, skeletal, lowkey haute couture.
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers! metrics! a little dashboard for your toasters 📊

💜 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 🔥

X(1), xscreensaver(1) AfterDark

Copyright © 2003 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.

okay so now we get into the lore 📜 and ngl it's a whole saga.

the original After Dark flying toasters, with the fluffy white wings, were a trademark of Berkeley Systems. Berkeley Systems ceased to exist some time in 1998, having been gobbled up by Sierra Online, who were subsequently gobbled up by Flipside and/or Vivendi (it's hard to tell exactly what happened when.) 💀 like genuinely a corporate food chain. toaster eat toaster out here.

and then, direct quote energy: I doubt anyone even cares any more, but if they do, hopefully this homage, with the space-age 3D jet-plane toasters, will be considered different enough that whoever still owns the trademark to the fluffy-winged 2D bitmapped toasters won't get all huffy at us. 🙈 please don't be huffy. it's an homage. it's love. it's 3D now.

🧚 AUTHOR 🧚

Code by Jamie Zawinski. Object models by Baconmonkey. absolute legends, both of them 🫶

and that's the whole page!! this dropped as X Version 11, version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) — so yeah, the toasters are still out there flying, decades deep, unbothered, moisturised, in their lane 🌈💖✨

📦 where this page comes from