unicrud(6)

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

💖 unicrud(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition 💖

okay so picture this: it's a page from the XScreenSaver manual, manual section 6, and it's about a tiny little program called unicrud that literally just… bounces a Unicode character around your screen. that's it. that's the whole vibe. and honestly? iconic. ✨

🦋 NAME 🦋

unicrud — bounces a random Unicode character on the screen. yes, really. no cap, that's the entire job description and she does it beautifully. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

unicrud [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
        [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--speed number]
        [--block string] [--no-titles] [--no-wander] [--no-roll] [--fps]

run her with no args and she just goes. run her with args and she goes differently. either way she goes. 🫶

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so what she does is: she picks a random Unicode character, slaps it on the screen full screen, and then shows you some information about it. that's the whole bit. one character, big as heck, plus the lore. it's giving "main character energy" but make it typography. 👑

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --visual visual — tells her which visual to use, bestie. legal values are either the name of a visual class, or the id number of a specific visual (decimal or hex, whichever you vibe with).
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so like, she's already doing this unless you say otherwise. 💅
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. bold choice. love that for you.
  • --window-id number — draw on the window you specify. you're the boss, you pick the window. 🪟
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, measured in microseconds. default is 20000, which is 0.02 seconds, in case you were about to do math. i did it for you. you're welcome. 😭
  • --speed number — animation speed, babes. 2.0 means twice as fast, 0.5 means half as fast. go feral. 🏃‍♀️
  • --titles | --no-titles — whether to describe the character that's currently being shown. default true, because knowing the lore is the whole point, obviously.
  • --wander | --no-wander — whether the object should wander around the screen. she's a free spirit.
  • --roll | --no-roll — whether the object should rotate. it's a Boolean, so it's a yes/no situation, no in-between. 🌈
  • --block string — which block or blocks of Unicode characters to display. default is "all", and if you wanna see the full list just say --block help and she'll spill the whole tea. 🍵
  • --fps | --no-fps — whether to show a frames-per-second display at the bottom of the screen. numbers going up = serotonin, ngl. 🔥

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

  • 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. fancy stuff, iykyk.
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go read them. or don't. i'm not your mom. 💜

Copyright © 2016 by Jamie Zawinski.

okay so the legal bit, and i'm gonna say it straight because it's literally what it says: 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. so like… it's free, but you gotta keep the notice, and if it breaks something that's a you problem. 🙈

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Jamie Zawinski. what a legend. 🏆

💌 and that's the whole page, bestie — no crumbs left behind.

this was brought to you by X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026. mwah. 🎀💋

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