lament(6)

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

💅 lament(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition

okay so real talk: this page lives in the XScreenSaver manual, and honestly? it's giving "cursed little puzzle box" and we're obsessed. let's get into it 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

lament — she animates the Lament Configuration. that's it. that's the whole thing. 🧚

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

lament [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root] [--window-id
number][--install] [--visual visual] [--delay microseconds] [--fps]
[--texture] [--no-texture] [--wireframe]

no cap, that's literally the whole invocation shape right there 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so lament draws an animation of a particular puzzle box repeatedly solving itself. that's the vibe. it just... solves. over and over. main character energy from a box. ⭐

💅 OPTIONS 💅

lament accepts the following options, and yes we're going through all of them, i don't skip:

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, bestie, it's already what's happening 💖
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. bold. iconic.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specific window you point at. you pick, she paints.
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window. fancy private palette moment ✨
  • --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. pick your fighter 🎀
  • --texture — use texture maps. this is the default. correct behaviour.
  • --no-texture — do not use texture maps. per the manpage: this is boring and wrong. i'm not sugarcoating it, that's a direct quote from the source of truth 💀
  • --wireframe — only draw outlines. skeleton-mode. lowkey gorgeous actually.
  • --delay microseconds — how long to pause between frames. default is 20000, or 0.02 second. (yes, microseconds, keep up 😭)
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers go brrr 🔥

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

these bad boys get read from your environment, no arguments needed:

  • 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.

💀 BUGS 💀

okay so, the tea:

  • this hack is glacially slow on machines lacking hardware texture support. like, actual ice age speeds. not a vibe, but it's canon 🙈
  • occasionally opens doors, admitting theologians of the Order of the Gash. i'm just the messenger. that's what the page says. do with that what you will 👑

🍓 SEE ALSO 🍓

Copyright © 1998 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.

(translation: go off, just keep the notice, and no promises are being made 💜)

🎀 AUTHOR 🎀

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 25-Jul-98. legend behaviour, fr fr.

ok that's the whole page, nothing skipped, nothing invented, every flag accounted for 🌸

and a lil sign-off for the girlies: this one's from X Version 11, version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026), and it's lament(6) — puzzle box out, doors possibly open, slay 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from