moebiusgears(6x)

📦
version 6.17 · 10 versions
, in fedora 44

okay so moebiusgears is a screenhack from the XScreenSaver manual — section 6x, aka demo/game territory — and it does one (1) thing and does it gorgeously: it draws a closed, interlinked chain of rotating gears, and the whole layout of those gears follows the path of a moebius strip 🎡⚙️. gears + a one-sided surface?? it's giving math girlboss, no cap.

✨ NAME ✨

moebiusgears — draw a moebius strip of interlocking gears. 🌀💖

💫 SYNOPSIS 💫

moebiusgears [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root]
[--window-id number][--install] [--visual visual] [--delay usecs]
[--speed float] [--no-spin] [--no-wander] [--no-roll] [-count integer]
[-teeth integer] [-wireframe] [-fps]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

The moebiusgears program draws a closed, interlinked chain of rotating gears. The layout of the gears follows the path of a moebius strip. that's it, that's the whole vibe, and honestly? slay. 🫶

💅 OPTIONS 💅

moebiusgears accepts the following options:

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, bestie, so if you say nothing at all, this is what you get 🪟✨
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. 🖥️
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you point, it draws, iconic 👉
  • --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 (that's 0.03 seconds) ⏳
  • --speed float — larger numbers mean run faster. default: 1.0 🏃‍♀️💨
  • --no-spin — don't rotate the object. 🚫🌀
  • --no-wander — don't wander the object around the screen. 🚫🚶‍♀️
  • --no-roll — don't slowly roll the moebius strip inside out. (this is literally the main character move of the whole hack, so like… think before you toggle it off 😭)
  • --count integer — how many gears to draw. default: 17. minimum 11, must be odd.
  • --teeth integer — how many teeth to draw on each draw. default: 15. minimum 7, must be odd. (yes it says "on each draw," we love a lil typo, it's charming 🎀)
  • --wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. skeleton mode activated 💀✨
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers go brrr 📊🔥
heads up bestie: --count and --teeth must be odd. don't come at me with an even number, the manpage said what it said. 🙈

🌈 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 👑

X(1), xscreensaver(1)

Copyright © 2007 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 appears 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.

and that's the entire page, bestie — shipped as part of X Version 11, version 6.17-1.fc44, dated 13-Oct-2026. go forth and spin your gears 💜⚙️🧚

📦 where this page comes from