razzledazzle(6)

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

💅 razzledazzle — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it cute

okay so bestie. this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual, and the program is called razzledazzle. yes that's really its name. no i'm not kidding. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

razzledazzle — it's a screen saver. that's it. that's the whole name section. slay 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

razzledazzle [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual]
[--window] [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--speed
number] [--ncolors number] [--density number] [--thickness number]
[--mode string] [--fps]

like, copy that exactly bestie, don't freestyle it 🌸

👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

so what does it actually do. okay. it generates an infinitely-scrolling sequence of dazzle camouflage patterns. infinitely. scrolling. camouflage. the main character energy is unreal.

and here's the lore, because the lore is everything 🔥 — Dazzle Ships were military vessels during World War I and early in World War II that were painted not to conceal but to confuse: with these Cubist overlapping stripes, it was very hard to estimate their size, range and heading. and that was a big deal before the invention of Radar. iykyk. not me genuinely obsessed with warships that got their own art movement 😭💖

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

one bullet per flag, no skips, no shortcuts. we eat the whole menu 🍓

  • --visual visual — picks which visual to use. legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number of a specific visual (decimal or hex, both work 🫶).
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this one is the default, so like. it's giving default. it's giving confident.
  • --root — draw on the root window. whole screen vibes ✨
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick, we paint 💅
  • --delay number — the per-frame delay, in microseconds. default is 30000 which is 0.03 seconds. tiny little pause, big little vibes ⭐
  • --speed number — animation speed. 2.0 means twice as fast, 0.5 means half as fast. math but make it fashion 🔥
  • --ncolors number — colors. default: 2. two. iconic minimalism 💜
  • --density number — thickness of the grid, and overall complexity. range is 1 - 10. default is 5.0. yes it's a float, no i don't make the rules 🦋
  • --thickness number — thickness of the lines. range is 0.05 - 1.0. default is 0.1. skinny legend 🎀
  • --mode string — the options are Random, Ships or Flat. default is Random. pick your fighter 🌸
  • --fps | --no-fps — whether to show a frames-per-second display at the bottom of the screen. --fps = show it, --no-fps = don't 🙈

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

the environment variables said "we're also main characters." respect it 💅

  • 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 🔍

go read your siblings bestie, they're literally family:

Copyright © 2018 by Jamie Zawinski.

and here's the whole legal bit, verbatim energy, because you do not paraphrase a license, periodt:

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.

🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

Jamie Zawinski. the icon. the legend. the moment. 👑

and that's the whole page bestie!! 🫶 the source is X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — so go forth, dazzle some ships, and remember: the stripes aren't hiding you, they're confusing the enemy. slay 🎀✨💖

📦 where this page comes from