XScreenSaver(6)

📦
version 6.15 · 9 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable

💅 XScreenSaver(6) — the girlies' guide to xscreensaver-gfx 🎀

okay bestie, so this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual — yes, the actual manual name, we're being official here — and it's lowkey a short one. buckle up, it's giving "blink and you'll miss it." ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

xscreensaver — the extensible screen saver and screen locking framework, aka the thing that makes your screen go all pretty and then judgy about your password. 👑

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

xscreensaver-gfx [--display host:display.screen] [--version]

that's it. that's the whole vibe check. 💜

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so the xscreensaver(1) daemon is the main character here — it launches this program, xscreensaver-gfx, to blank the screen and render the graphics. so iconic of it. 💫

this program's whole job? launching the graphics demos as subprocesses. it's like a little manager for a bunch of tiny chaotic artists. 🧚

⚠️ do NOT run this program directly. fr fr. it's not for you to touch. it's backend business. the daemon drives, you don't grab the wheel. 😭

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

go read these next, bestie, they're all connected:

Copyright © 2021-2026 by Jamie Zawinski. 🌈

and here's the legal part, which we are absolutely keeping because rules are rules (iykyk):

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 <jwz@jwz.org> — the icon, the legend, the moment. ⭐

and that's the whole thing! 💖 cute little sign-off for you: this was X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026, and yep — filed under XScreenSaver(6). periodt. 💅🎀

📦 where this page comes from