glmatrix(6x)

📦
version 6.17 · 10 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 glmatrix — the manual, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the glmatrix page from the XScreenSaver manual and it's literally the coolest thing in here. it's a screenhack, it's a vibe, it's giving cinema. let's go 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

glmatrix — simulates the title sequence effect of the movie

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

glmatrix [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root]
[--window-id number][--install] [--visual visual] [--delay usecs]
[--speed ratio] [--density pct] [--no-fog] [--no-waves] [--no-rotate]
[--binary] [--hexadecimal] [--dna] [--clock] [--timefmt fmt]
[--wireframe] [--fps]

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so the glmatrix program draws that 3D "digital rain" effect — you know the one — exactly as seen in the title sequence of the Wachowski brothers' film, "The Matrix". iconic behavior honestly. 💚

also, heads up bestie: go see xmatrix(6x) if you want a 2D rendering of the similar effect that appeared on the computer monitors actually in the movie. yes, there are two, and yes, they are different, and yes, you need both. iykyk 🌈

✨ OPTIONS ✨

glmatrix accepts the following options:

  • --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.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you're picking the exact window, no cap.
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window.
  • --visual visual — 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.
  • --delay usecs — the delay between frames of the animation, in microseconds. default 30000.
  • --speed ratio — how fast the glyphs should move; default 1.0. so 2.0 means twice as fast, and 0.5 means half as fast. math is math 🧮
  • --density percentage — the approximate percentage of the screen that should be filled with characters at any given time. default 20%.
  • --no-fog — by default, glyphs are dimmer the farther away they are. this argument disables that. bye bye depth cue 😭
  • --no-waves — by default, waves of color roll down the columns of glyphs. this argument disables that too.
  • --no-rotate — by default, the scene slowly tilts and rotates. this argument disables that. (not me turning off the main character energy…)
  • --binary — instead of displaying Matrix glyphs, only display ones and zeros. 01001000 core.
  • --hexadecimal — instead of displaying Matrix glyphs, display hexadecimal digits.
  • --dna — instead of displaying Matrix glyphs, display genetic code (guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine.) biology girlies rise 🦋
  • --clock — hide a clock displaying the current time somewhere in the glyphs.
  • --timefmt strftime-string — how to format the clock when --clock is specified. default " %l%M%p ". note the lil spaces, bestie, they're part of it ✨
  • --speed ratio — less than 1 for slower, greater than 1 for faster. default 1. (yes, it's listed twice in this manual. no, i'm not merging them. both are here. periodt 👑)
  • --wireframe — just draw boxes instead of textured characters.
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. the little stats girlies stay winning 💀

✨ ENVIRONMENT ✨

  • 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 ✨

xmatrix(6x), X(1), xscreensaver(1)

Copyright © 1999-2003 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.

✨ AUTHOR ✨

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 8-Jun-2003.

and that's the whole page bestie 🫶 this one shipped as part of X Version 11, version 6.17-1.fc44, dated 13-Oct-2026. go run it, take the red pill, whatever 💊✨

📦 where this page comes from