gears(6)

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

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

Okay so picture this: you're deep in the XScreenSaver manual (iconic of it, honestly) and you hit page gears(6). That's this one. Welcome. Pull up a chair. 🪑✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

gears — it draws interlocking gears, for xscreensaver. That's the whole vibe. Rotating. Interlocking. Gears. We're so back. 🎡

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

gears [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root] [--window-id
number][--install] [--visual visual] [--delay usecs] [--speed float]
[--no-spin] [--no-wander] [-count integer] [-wireframe] [-fps]

No cap, that's the whole invocation. Copy it exactly, bestie — the flags are literal, don't go freelance on them. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

This draws a set of rotating gears. That's it. That's the program. It's giving "simple concept, immaculate execution." 🔥

✨ OPTIONS ✨

gears accepts the following options, and we're going through every single one because I would never leave you hanging:

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. This is the default, so it's the main character whether you ask for it or not. 👑
  • --root — draw on the root window instead.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. You point, it draws there. 🫵
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window. Fancy. Private colormap energy.
  • --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. Legal values only, bestie, this is not a free-for-all. 🚨
  • --delay usecs — the delay between frames of the animation, in microseconds. Default: 30000 (0.03 seconds). Microseconds, not milliseconds, don't embarrass yourself. 💀
  • --speed float — larger numbers mean run faster. Default: 1.0. Bigger number, zoomier gears. 🏎️
  • --no-spin — don't rotate the object. Gears that simply refuse to gears. 😭
  • --no-wander — don't wander the object around the screen. It stays put. Respect. 🧘
  • --count integer — how many gears to draw. Default: 0 for random. Zero means surprise me. 🎲
  • --wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. Skeleton mode. Very chic, very see-through. 🕸️
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. Stats girlies rise. 📊

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

The environment variables, aka the invisible hands that shape your run. Every single one, bestie:

  • 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. Long sentence, important job. 🫶
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root. That's the pairing, iykyk.

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

Go read these too, they're in the same friend group:

Copyright © 2007 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.

(Yes I kept the whole legal paragraph verbatim-ish in spirit — do NOT skip the license, it's load-bearing. ⚖️✨)

🧚 AUTHOR 🧚

Jamie Zawinski.

An earlier version of this program by Brian Paul was written in 1997; this version was rewritten from scratch by jwz in 2007. A glow-up a decade in the making, honestly. 💖

Real talk for a sec: it's a screenhack, it's spinning gears, it's a good time. Go forth and --fps responsibly. 🫡

That's the page, bestie! Little sign-off from the bottom of the manual: this is X Version 11, version 6.15 dated 30-Mar-2026, and yes, the page is literally called gears(6) — slay, stay sparkling, and may your gears interlock forever. 💅🎀🦋💫

📦 where this page comes from