splodesic(6)

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

💥 splodesic(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it cute 💥

okay bestie so real quick — this page lives in the XScreenSaver manual (that's the manual name, folding it in right here like a lil name tag 🎀), and it's about a geodesic sphere that just... keeps exploding. iconic behavior, honestly.

✨ NAME ✨

splodesic — a geodesic sphere experiences a series of eruptions.

(ngl the original name line has a stray k sitting in front of it, like it tripped on the way in 💀 we're keeping it, we don't erase history)

🫶 SYNOPSIS 🫶

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

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

A geodesic sphere experiences a series of eruptions.

that's it. that's the whole vibe. a ball. and then 💥💥💥. lowkey the most main character energy in the whole screensaver collection fr fr.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

okay here's the full menu, no skips, no cuts:

  • --visual visual — pick 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 like, you can name it or you can hit it with the raw number, dealer's choice ✨
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing, this is what you get 🎀
  • --root — draw on the root window. full screen, all up in your desktop's business.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. yes, that exact one. that one right there 👀
  • --wander | --no-wander — whether the object should wander around the screen. does it roam? or does it stay put like a good lil sphere?
  • --spin | --no-spin — whether the object should spin. rotation: on or off, your call 💫
  • --fps | --no-fps — whether to show a frames-per-second display at the bottom of the screen. for the numbers girlies 📊
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default is 30000 (that's 0.03 seconds, for the record ⏱️).
  • --speed number — frequency of eruptions. 2.0 means twice as often, 0.5 means half as often. crank it if you want chaos 🔥
  • --depth number — depth (frequency) of the geodesic. range is 0 - 5. default is 4. (yes, that's what it says — "frequency" in the depth description, we're not asking questions, we're just reporting the facts 🧚)
not me noticing the synopsis only lists --no-wander and --no-spin while the options section gives you both sides. that's just how the page is written, bestie — I'm not here to fix it, I'm here to deliver it 💖

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

the environment variables, bestie, they matter:

  • 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.

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

X(1), xscreensaver(1) — go read those too, iykyk 🫶

Copyright © 2016 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 off, use it, sell it, just keep the notice. and it comes with zero promises, like every good situationship 😭)

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Jamie Zawinski. legend behavior, honestly 👑

and that's the page!! 💜 this was X Version 11, page dated 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) — mwah, take care of her, and go watch a sphere explode 🍓💥

📦 where this page comes from