queens(6)

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

👑 queens — the n-queens screensaver, bestie edition

okay so like, this whole page lives in the XScreenSaver manual, and honestly? it's a little icon. let's get into it 💅

✨ NAME ✨

queens — the n-queens screensaver. that's it, that's the vibe. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

queens [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root] [--window-id
number] [--install] [--visual visual] [--delay microseconds]
[--wireframe] [--fps]

like literally just type it and go, no cap 🦋

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so here's the whole thing: queens solves the n-queens problem — and in this program, N is between 5 and 10 queens, so it's a manageable little puzzle, not a whole nightmare ✨

it does this with a straightforward backtracking algorithm. very demure, very classic.

and the actual problem it's solving? here's the lore, straight up:

how may one place N queens on an NxN chessboard such that no queen can attack a sister?

that's the entire task. queens being polite. queens minding their own business. iconic behavior only 👑🫶

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

queens accepts the following options — and yes, we're going through every single one because i would never skip 💀

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so it's basically the main character energy of the options 🌈
  • --root — draw on the root window instead.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the window, it draws there. slay 🎀
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window.
  • --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. so you got options fr fr 💅
  • --wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. giving sketch-mode, giving see-through 🦋
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. stats girlies rise 😭

and in the synopsis you also clocked --display host:display.screen and --delay microseconds — those live up top with the rest of the invocation, so don't forget 'em ⭐

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

the environment variables it reads, because yes it does have them:

  • 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 bestie, warning time, and this one's real:

It's not unknown for this and other OpenGL hacks to fail under hardware accelaration (UtahGLX) and take the X server with them. Texture images must be 16x16 or 32x32 or 64x64 etc.

so yeah — (and yes, accelaration is spelled exactly like that in the original, not me being messy 🙈) — it can genuinely wreck the X server on hardware accel. dramatic. be aware. also, texture images must be 16x16 or 32x32 or 64x64 etc. no random sizes. periodt.

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

go read these next, iykyk:

X(1), xscreensaver(1) xscreensaver-settings(1), xscreensaver-getimage(6)

Copyright © 2002 by Blair Tennessy. 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.

(that's the whole legal bit, verbatim vibes, don't skip it just because it's mom-jeans boring 💅)

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Blair Tennessy <tennessb@unbc.ca>, 20-April-2002. legend behavior, honestly 🫶

aaaand that's the page! it all comes from X Version 11, version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) — so when you're out there reading queens(6), just know it's that era of the manual, mwah 💖✨

📦 where this page comes from