swirl(6)

๐Ÿ“ฆ
version 6.15 ยท 2 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable

๐ŸŒ€ swirl(6) โ€” the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition

okay so you found swirl in the XScreenSaver manual and you're like "what does this even do" โ€” don't worry, I got you ๐Ÿ’–

โœจ NAME โœจ

swirl โ€” draws swirly color-cycling patterns ๐ŸŒ€โœจ

like... that's it. that's the whole gig. and it ate.

๐ŸŒธ SYNOPSIS ๐ŸŒธ

swirl [--display host:display.screen] [--foreground color] [--background
      color] [--window] [--root] [--window-id number][--mono] [--install]
      [--visual visual] [--ncolors integer] [--delay microseconds] [--count
      integer]

      [--fps]

no cap, that's a lot of brackets, but each one is just a little optional garnish on your command ๐Ÿซถ

๐Ÿ’… DESCRIPTION ๐Ÿ’…

The swirl program draws swirly color-cycling patterns. literally the name. iconic behavior, no notes ๐Ÿ’€๐ŸŒ€

๐ŸŽ€ OPTIONS ๐ŸŽ€

swirl accepts the following options, and yes I'm listing every single one because you deserve the full picture, bestie:

  • --window โ€” Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default, so if you're not sure, congrats, you already picked it โœจ
  • --root โ€” Draw on the root window. main character energy: it covers your whole desktop ๐Ÿ’…
  • --window-id number โ€” Draw on the specified window. you point at a window, it draws there.้žๅธธ็ฎ€ๅ• ๐Ÿฆ‹
  • --mono โ€” If on a color display, pretend we're on a monochrome display. delulu era, but make it aesthetic ๐Ÿ–ค
  • --install โ€” Install a private colormap for the window. very "I brought my own vibes" of it ๐Ÿ‘‘
  • --visual visual โ€” 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 like, a name or a number, your call ๐Ÿงš
  • --ncolors integer โ€” How many colors should be used (if possible). Default 200. two hundred little color besties ๐ŸŽจ
  • --count integer โ€” (the manpage gives this one zero explanation. it's in the list, it's real, it's just mysterious. mysterious = mysterious, I'm not gonna make something up ๐Ÿ™ˆ)
  • --fps โ€” Display the current frame rate and CPU load. the vibe check, quantified ๐Ÿ“Š๐Ÿ”ฅ
lowkey important: --foreground color, --background color and --delay microseconds show up in the SYNOPSIS but the OPTIONS section doesn't describe them. that's just how the page is, so I'm telling you how the page is. fr fr ๐Ÿ’–

๐ŸŒˆ ENVIRONMENT ๐ŸŒˆ

  • DISPLAY โ€” to get the default host and display number.
  • XENVIRONMENT โ€” to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW โ€” The window ID to use with --root.

three little env vars, each one doing its thing. love that for them ๐Ÿ’œ

๐Ÿฆ‹ SEE ALSO ๐Ÿฆ‹

X(1), xscreensaver(1), xlock(1) โ€” the friend group. go say hi ๐ŸŒธ

Copyright ยฉ 1994 M. Dobie.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.

(translation: it's free, just keep the receipt, bestie ๐Ÿงพ๐Ÿ’–)

๐Ÿ‘‘ AUTHOR ๐Ÿ‘‘

M.Dobie <mrd@ecs.soton.ac.uk>, 1994.

Ability to run standalone or with xscreensaver added by Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 13-May-97.

shoutout to the 1994 girlies and to jwz for the standalone glow-up ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿซถ

okay that's the whole page, every flag and every fine-print line accounted for, nothing skipped ๐Ÿ’… and for the sign-off: this beauty lives in X Version 11, manual version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026) โ€” date stamped and everything ๐ŸŽ€โœจ go make something swirly ๐ŸŒ€

๐Ÿ“ฆ where this page comes from