lavalite(6x)

📦
version 6.17 · 10 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 lavalite(6x) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the XScreenSaver manual, and today's main character is lavalite — the chillest, glowiest lil screenhack in the whole suite. 🫧✨

✨ NAME ✨

lavalite — a 3D OpenGL simulation of a Lavalite, no cap. 🌋

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

lavalite [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root]
[--window-id number] [--visual visual] [--delay microseconds] [--fps]
[--style style ] [--spin xyz ] [--no-spin ] [--speed float ]
[--resolution integer ] [--count integer ] [--no-smooth ] [--wireframe ]
[--impatient ] [--lava-color color ] [--fluid-color color ] [--base-
color color ] [--table-color color ] [--fluid-texture filename ]
[--base-texture filename ] [--table-texture filename ]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So. The lavalite program puts a 3D simulation of the famous lamp of the same name on your screen. You know the one. The one from every waiting room and every cool aunt's living room. 🛋️🔥

It needs a fast computer with fast OpenGL support — like, this is not the vibe for a potato laptop, fr fr. Give it real GPU energy and it will eat. 💅

💅 OPTIONS 💅

lavalite accepts the following options, and there are a LOT of them, so buckle up babes:

  • --window — Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default. 👑
  • --root — Draw on the root window.
  • --window-id number — Draw on the specified 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.
  • --style style — Specify which model of lamp to draw. Available models are: Classic, Giant, Cone, and Rocket. Default: random. 🚀
  • --spin xyz — Around which axes the model should auto-spin. Defaults to "Z", meaning it rotates horizontally, but otherwise pitch or roll.
  • --no-spin — Same as --spin ''. (yes, empty string. it just. doesn't spin. icon behavior honestly.) 🙈
  • --speed float — A number controlling the frequency at which new blobs launch: you can think of this as being related to the the heat of the lightbulb in the base. Default: 0.003. 🔥
  • --delay usecs — The delay between steps of the animation; default is 30000 (0.03 second.)
  • --resolution integer — The size of the grid from which the mesh is created that is used to polygonize the blobs. higher values will give very smooth looking blobs, at the expense of speed. Default: 40.

and ngl, the options -resolution 10 -no-smooth look kind of interesting. a little crunchy, a little retro. do with that what you will. 👀

  • --fps — Display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count.
  • --count integer — The maximum number of blobs that can be in motion at once. Default: 3.
  • --no-smooth — Turn off smoothing: the objects in the scene will be facetted.
  • --wireframe — Render all objects in wireframe instead of as solids.
  • --impatient — Provide this option if you are. This will pre-warm the lamp, so when it starts up, the first frame will show a blob already halfway up the lamp. (no waiting, we simply do not have the time 💀)
  • --lava-color color — Specifies the color of the blobbies. Default: red. 🌋
  • --fluid-color color — Specifies the color of the fluid that the blobbies float in. Default: light blue. 🩵
  • --base-color color — Specifies the color of the lamp base, and the cap on top of the bottle. Default: very dark gray.
  • --table-color color — Specifies the color of the table that the lamp is sitting on. Default: black (meaning it is invisible.) 🫥
  • --fluid-texture filename — An image file to wrap around the glass.
Note that on most systems, GL textures must have dimensions that are a power of two. 📐
Note also that colors and textures are both applied: so, if you apply a texture and it isn't showing up, try specifying the corresponding color as "white". Otherwise, the combination of the two might be too dark to see. 🕶️
  • --base-texture filename — An image file to wrap around the base of the lamp, and the cap on top of the bottle.
  • --table-texture texture — An image file to spread across the table that the lamp is sitting on.

🌈 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 🦋

Copyright © 2002 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.

LAVA LITE® and the configuration of the LAVA® brand motion lamp are registered trademarks of Haggerty Enterprises, Inc. The configuration of the globe and base of the motion lamp are registered trademarks of Haggerty Enterprises, Inc. in the U.S.A. and in other countries around the world. ⚖️

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org> 🐐

okay and that's the whole page bestie!! this one's from X Version 11, version 6.17-1.fc44, dated 13-Oct-2026 — go forth and make your screen glow like it's 1999 💖✨🌋 stay hydrated, fix your posture, and remember: it's not a bug, it's ambient. 🎀

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