menger(6)

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

💖 menger — the 3D menger gasket fractal, bestie edition 💖

okay so real quick, this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual, and it's all about menger — the screensaver that eats your GPU for breakfast, no cap.

✨ NAME ✨

menger — a 3D menger gasket fractal. that's the whole name, she's simple, she's iconic 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

menger [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
       [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--speed number] [--depth
       number] [--no-wander] [--no-spin] [--spin [XYZ]] [--wireframe] [--fps]

literally just run menger and it does the thing. the flags are optional, she's low maintenance 🫶

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so basically this draws the three-dimensional variant of the recursive Menger Gasket — which is this cube-based fractal object that's the vibes-equivalent of the Sierpinski Tetrahedron. like yes bestie, they're cousins 🧚✨

it's giving infinite cubes inside cubes inside cubes. main character energy fr fr.

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --visual visual — pick which visual to use, bestie. legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex, we don't gatekeep) of a specific visual. slay 💅
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing, congrats, this is already what's happening ✨
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. very desktop-ambience of you.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you know exactly which one. go off 👑
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default: 30000 (that's 0.03 seconds. — yes there's a period at the end in the original, she's quirky like that 💀).
  • --speed number — number of frames before changing shape. default: 150. she's a patient queen.
  • --depth number — max depth to descend. default: 3.
🚨 real talk: you probably don't have enough memory for 6. like. don't. your machine will simply pass away 😭💀
  • --wander | --no-wander — whether the object should wander around the screen. is it a wanderer or a homebody? your call 🦋
  • --spin [XYZ] — around which axes should the object spin? X, Y, Z, pick your fighter(s).
  • --no-spin — none. absolutely no spinning. stillness. zen mode 🧘
  • --wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. skinnier, crunchier, gorgeous.
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers go brrr 📈🔥

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number. classic.
  • 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 🦋

X(1), xscreensaver(1) — go read those too, bestie, they're the whole ecosystem 🌸

Copyright © 2002 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 wild, just keep the notice, and don't come for her if something breaks 🙈)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Jamie Zawinski. an absolute legend, fr fr 🔥

okay that's the whole page!! this lil beauty is from X Version 11, ships as part of XScreenSaver 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — and it's the menger(6) page, mwah 💋✨ go make some cubes, bestie 🎀💖

📦 where this page comes from