esper(6x)

📦
version 6.17 · 10 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 esper(6x) — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it iconic 💖

okay bestie, sit down, because we're about to talk about the Esper Machine, and it is the moment. this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual, and it's giving peak 1982 sci-fi forensics energy. no cap. ✨

✨ NAME ✨

esper — Enhance 224 to 176. Go right. Enhance 57 19. Track 45 left. 🕵️♀️

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

esper [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
      [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--speed number]
      [--titles] [--fps]

that's the whole thing, bestie. every flag exactly where it belongs. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

"Enhance 224 to 176. Pull out track right. Center in pull back. Pull back. Wait a minute. Go right. Stop. Enhance 57 19. Track 45 left. Gimme a hardcopy right there."

okay so THIS quote? iconic. legendary. the vibe check heard round the world. 🌈

The Esper Machine was a voice-controlled forensic device used by the LAPD in 2019, as documented in the 1982 film, Blade Runner. and like… it was lowkey unhinged in the best way: it could enhance photographs to an extreme degree, and it could even reconstruct different viewpoints within the space from the reflections on various objects in the photograph. reflections!! bestie, it's giving main character energy for a piece of tech. 😭💖

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --visual visual — pick which visual to use. legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of one specific visual. slay responsibly.
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so it's basically the factory setting, the OG, the no-thought-needed choice. ✨
  • --root — draw on the root window.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the window, it draws there. simple as.
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. default: 20000 (that's 0.02 seconds for the math girlies). yes, microseconds. not millis. don't get it twisted. ⏱️
  • --speed number — animation speed. 2.0 means twice as fast, 0.5 means half as fast. girl math but make it speed. 🔥
  • --titles | --no-titles — show file names. boolean. on or off, babe, no in-between. 🎀
  • --fps | --no-fps — whether to show a frames-per-second display at the top of the screen. for the stats-obsessed among us (it's me, I'm the stats-obsessed one). 📊

🌸 ENVIRONMENT 🌸

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number. it's how it knows where to show up. 💫
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property. yes, it's a whole override situation. very "we're doing it my way" of it.
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root. the little helper that makes --root work behind the scenes. 🫶

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

go read those too, bestie. iykyk. 💜

Copyright © 2017 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.

fr fr read that part. "as is" means as is. no promises. no warranty. that's the whole deal. 🚨

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Jamie Zawinski. king behavior. ✨

and that's the tea, bestie! 🍓 this whole cute little number comes from X Version 11, release 6.17-1.fc44, dated 13-Oct-2026. periodt. 🎀💖🦋

📦 where this page comes from