kaleidocycle(6)

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

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

okay so real talk, this is the kaleidocycle page from the XScreenSaver manual and it's genuinely one of the prettiest things in there. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

kaleidocycle — draws twistable rings of tetrahedra 🧚

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

kaleidocycle [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root]
[--window-id number] [--visual visual] [--delay microseconds] [--count
number] [--speed number] [--wander] [--no-wander] [--spin axes] [--no-
spin] [--wireframe] [--fps]

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so the kaleidocycle program draws a ring made of tetrahedra that are connected at the edges, and the whole thing twists and rotates toroidally — like it's turning itself inside out forever, no cap. and sometimes segments get inserted or removed while it's going. it's giving "living geometry" honestly 🦋

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

kaleidocycle accepts the following options:

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so you're already doing it 💅
  • --root — draw on the root window instead.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the number, it does the thing.
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window. fancy.
  • --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.
  • --count number — the initial number of segments. default is 16. must be 8 or greater, and an even number — so no 13, bestie, it's not that kind of party 🙈
  • --speed number — adjust the animation speed. 0.5 for half as fast, 2.0 for twice as fast. go off.
  • --wander — move the text around the screen. this is the default.
  • --no-wander — keep the text centered on the screen. stay put, queen.
  • --spin — which axes around which the text should spin. the default is "Z", meaning rotate the object in the plane of the screen only.
  • --no-spin — don't spin the text at all: the same as --spin "".
  • --wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. skinny legend ✨
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. the receipts, literally.

🌈 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)

Copyright © 2001-2013 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.

💖 AUTHOR 💖

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>

okay that's the whole page, nothing skipped, i promise — every flag, every default, every env var, all of it 🍓

and that's the vibe check, bestie: X Version 11, 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) — that's the version and the date, slay, go draw some tetrahedra 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from