shadebobs(6)

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

💫 shadebobs(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition 💫

okay so real quick, this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual and the star of the show is shadebobs, a little program that makes the most gorgeous wiggly glowing shapes and honestly? iconic.

✨ NAME ✨

shadebobs — oscillating vapor trails. that's the whole vibe. 🌀

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

       [--root] [--window-id number] [--ncolors number] [--count number]
       [--delay number] [--cycles number] [--fps]

copy it exactly like that, bestie, don't freestyle the brackets 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so what does it actually do? it draws smoothly-shaded oscillating oval patterns that look something like vapor trails or neon tubes. that's it. that's the whole thing. and like… it's giving laser tag, it's giving 2000s screensaver nostalgia, it's giving main character energy on your desktop. genuinely obsessed 🫶

🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

  • --visual visual — picks which visual you wanna use. legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. iykyk 💜
  • --window — draws on a newly-created window. this is the default, so like, it's already doing this unless you say otherwise ✨
  • --root — draws on the root window instead. going full wallpaper mode 🌈
  • --window-id number — draws on the specified window. you pick the window, we pick the window, everybody picks a window 💅
  • --ncolors number — number of colors. default: 64. sixty-four little shades of slay 🎨
  • --count number — count. range 0 - 20. default: 4. more bobs = more chaos, lowkey 🌀
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default: 5000 (that's 0.005 seconds, bestie, tiny). small number = fast vibes 🔥
  • --cycles number — duration. range 0 - 100. default: 10. how long the whole thing rides out ~ ⭐
  • --fps — displays the current frame rate and CPU load. nerd stats on, we love a transparent queen 📊👑

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number. this is how it knows where to even put the pixels 🖥️
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property. fancy override stuff, no cap 💅
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root. so when you're in --root mode, this is the window it actually draws into 🪟

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go read those if you want the full lore, fr fr 📚

Copyright © 2002 by Shane Smit. 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: use it, love it, just keep the copyright notice and the permission notice in there, and don't come for anyone if it breaks. the "as is" is doing heavy lifting, bestie 😭

🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

Shane Smit. legend behavior, honestly 🙌

and that's the whole page!! 🎀 this was X Version 11, version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) — big thank you to the XScreenSaver manual for the source, mwah 💋 go make some neon vapor trails, you've earned it 🦋✨

📦 where this page comes from