mirrorblob(6)

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

💅 mirrorblob(6) — the wobbly blob page, but make it cute

okay so bestie, welcome to mirrorblob(6), the XScreenSaver manual page. gather round, because this one is a whole vibe ✨

🌈 NAME 🌈

mirrorblob — draws a wobbly blob that distorts the image behind it. that's it, that's the whole pitch, and honestly? iconic.

🫶 SYNOPSIS 🫶

mirrorblob [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
[--root] [--window-id number] [--wire] [--delay number] [--fog]
[--walls] [--colour] [--texture] [--offset-texture] [--blend]
[--antialias] [--resolution number] [--bumps number] [--fade-time
number] [--hold-time number] [--zoom number] [--fps]

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so what does it do? it draws a wobbling blob 🫧 — and this blob is lowkey a whole production: it's out here using alpha blending, fog, textures, and lighting, plus a literal "frames per second" meter so you can tell exactly how fast your graphics card is. ngl that's kind of a flex. 💪

heads up bestie: it requires OpenGL. no OpenGL, no blob. periodt.

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --visual visual — pick which visual to use. the legal values are either the name of a visual class, or the id number of a specific visual (and yes, decimal or hex both work, she's flexible 💅).
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing, this is what you get. main character energy as always.
  • --root — draw on the root window instead.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window, bestie. you pick the window, it draws there.
  • --wire — render in wireframe instead of solid. skeleton-mode blob, very see-through, very editorial 🦋.
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default: 10000 (that's 0.01 seconds, for the record).
  • --fog | --no-fog — whether to enable fog. spooky. 🌫️
  • --walls | --no-walls — add walls for the blob to hit. it's giving bumper car, fr fr.
  • --colour | --no-colour — draw a coloured blob. and if it's also textured, the texture will have color mixed in. cute combo, obsessed.
  • --texture | --no-texture — whether to wrap a texture image on the blob.
  • --offset_texture | --no-offset_texture — whether to offset the texture calculations to only use a region of the image under the blob. this works well with a semi-transparent blob, iykyk.
  • --blend | --no-blend — whether to draw a transparent blob. (see also offset_texture up there 👆 they're besties)
  • --antialias | --no-antialias — whether to antialias lines. smooth edges, no crunchy pixels 💖
  • --resolution number — resolution of the tessellation used to calculate and draw the blob. larger numbers give a smoother blob but increase calculation times exponentially. so like… gorgeous, but she will eat your CPU 🔥
  • --bumps number — number of bumps used to distort the blob. bumpy queen 👑
  • --hold-time number — time until loading a new image.
  • --fade-time number — time taken to transition between images.
  • --zoom number — size multiplier for the blob. make her big. make her small. your call.
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers!! we love numbers!! 📊

🌸 ENVIRONMENT 🌸

  • DISPLAY — used to get the default host and display number.
  • XENVIRONMENT — used 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) — go read those too, bestie, they're the supporting cast 🫶

Copyright © 2003 by Jon Dowdall.

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: it's free, just keep the notice, and nobody's promising it'll behave 😭)

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Jon Dowdall. legend behavior, honestly. 👑

and that's the page!! this little beauty comes to you from X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — so jot that down, screenshot it, put it in the group chat, whatever you gotta do 💖✨🎀
📦 where this page comes from