loop(6)

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

💫 loop(6) — the cellular automaton one 💫

okay so real talk, this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual, and it's about loop — genuinely one of the prettiest little screenhogs out there. buckle up bestie, we're learning cellular automata 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

loop — a cellular automaton. (yes. that's the whole name. short king energy 👑)

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

loop [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
     [--root] [--window-id number] [--cycles number] [--delay number]
     [--ncolors number] [--size number] [--fps]

like, that's the whole vibe check right there. run it, pass it some flags, watch the little colonies do their thing 💅

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so it's another cellular automaton (we have so many and honestly? we eat every time). but THIS one is special because it produces loop-shaped colonies that spawn, then age, then eventually die 😭 it's giving whole life cycle in a screensaver. birth, growth, demise. main character energy fr fr.

it's literally just vibes and loops. no cap. 🌀

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

here's where it gets good. every single flag, coming right up:

  • --visual visual — specifies which visual to use. legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. (yes, decimal or hex, she's flexible 💅)
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing, congrats, you already got it 🎀
  • --root — draw on the root window. big "i live on your desktop background" energy.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the window, it draws there. simple as that ✨
  • --cycles number — timeout. range is 0 - 8000. default: 1600. that's a lot of cycles bestie, pace yourself 🫶
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default: 100000 (which is 0.10 seconds, for the people who don't speak microsecond 😭).
  • --ncolors number — number of colors. default: 15. a whole palette, we love to see it 🌈
  • --size number — size. range is -50 - 50. default: -12. yes, negative is legal, don't @ me 💀
  • --fps — displays the current frame rate and CPU load. for the girlies who like to watch the numbers go 📈
heads up: --cycles only goes from 0 to 8000, and --size only goes from -50 to 50. stay in your lane, iconically.

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

the environment variables it reads, no skipping:

  • 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. (iykyk 🫶)
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root.

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

go read these next, bestie, they're iconic:

Copyright © 2002 by David Bagley.

and here's the legal bit, verbatim energy: 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. (read it, don't skip it, it's literally the rules 💀)

🦋 AUTHOR 🦋

David Bagley. that's the whole thing. shoutout to David 💖

so yeah, that's loop. it's from X Version 11, release 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — and that's the whole manual, bestie. now go run it and watch the little loops spawn, age, and pass away 😭🫶 slay.

📦 where this page comes from