qix(6x)

💅 qix (6x) — the XScreenSaver manual, bestie edition 🎀

okay so you're reading the qix page from the XScreenSaver manual and honestly? iconic choice. let's get into it ✨

---

🌈 NAME 🌈

qix — it bounces colored lines around a window. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🦋

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

qix [--display host:display.screen] [--foreground color] [--background
color] [--window] [--root] [--window-id number][--mono] [--install]
[--visual visual] [--segments int] [--spread pixels] [--size pixels]
[--count int] [--color-shift degrees] [--delay usecs] [--random]
[--linear] [--solid] [--hollow] [--xor] [--no-xor] [--transparent]
[--non-transparent] [--additive] [--subtractive] [--poly int]
[--gravity] [--no-gravity] [--fps]

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so qix bounces a whole series of line segments around its window. simple concept, absolutely unhinged number of ways to do it.

like, this is truly the swiss army chainsaw of qix programs, no cap. the manpage literally says so and the author is out here challenging the world: if you know of one with more display modes, he wants to know about it. 💀 that's main character energy fr fr.

---

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

qix accepts the following options, bestie — buckle up, there's a lot:

• --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so like, you don't even gotta say it. 🫶
• --root — draw on the root window instead.
• --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick it, it draws there. 💅
• --mono — if you're on a color display, just pretend we're on a monochrome display. delusion as a feature. 🙈
• --install — install a private colormap for the window. fancy.
• --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. 🦋
• --segments integer — how many line segments should be drawn. default 50.
• --spread integer — how far apart the endpoints of one segment should be from the next. default 8.
• --size integer — the maximum distance one endpoint of a segment is allowed to be from the opposite end of that segment. default 0, meaning unlimited. ✨
• --count integer — how many qixes to draw. default 1. yes you can have more, yes it gets chaotic.
• --color-shift degrees — if you're on a color display, the color of the line segments will cycle through the spectrum. this specifies how far the hue of each segment should be from the next, in degrees on the HSV wheel. default 3. 🌈
• --delay microseconds — how much of a delay should be introduced between steps of the animation. default 10000, or about 0.01 seconds.
• --random — the qix will wander around the screen semi-randomly. this is the default. little guy has no sense of direction 💀
• --linear — the opposite of --random: the qix will travel in straight lines until it reaches a wall, and then it will bounce. very demure, very mindful.
• --solid — if this is specified, then the area between the line segments will be filled in with the appropriate color, instead of the qix simply being composed of one-pixel-wide line segments. this option looks really good in color. 🔥
• --hollow — the opposite of --solid; this is the default.
• --xor — if this is specified, then qix segments will be drawn and erased with xor, instead of being drawn in some color and erased in the background color. this implies --mono, in that only two colors can be used.
• --transparent — if this is specified, and --count is greater than 1, then each qix will be drawn in one color, and when they overlap, the colors will be mixed. this looks best in conjunction with --solid. 👑
• --non-transparent — turns off --transparent.
• --additive — if --transparent is specified, then this option means that the colors will be mixed using an additive color model, as if the qixes were projected light. this is the default. ⭐
• --subtractive — if --transparent is specified, then this option means that the colors will be mixed using a subtractive color model, as if the qixes were translucent filters. 🧚
• --poly int — how many vertices each qix-line should have: the default is 2, meaning the traditional qix line shape. 3 will yield triangles, and so on. 🔺
• --gravity
• --no-gravity — whether there should be downward attraction. for example, the options --gravity --linear will make everything move in nice smooth parabolas. gravity is off by default. 🍓

ngl the manpage literally lists --gravity and --no-gravity as one bullet with a shared description, so we're keeping that energy. team effort fr.

• --fps — display the current frame rate and CPU load. number go brrr, you can watch it. 📊

---

🌸 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)

like, go read those too, iykyk 💜

---

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright © 1992 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.

so yeah — free to use, but keep the notice, and no promises that it'll be good for anything specific. that's the deal. 💖

---

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 13-aug-92.

and a shoutout 💐 to Ariel Scolnicov for the --poly and --gravity options — king behavior honestly.

---

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this version is X Version 11, release 6.09, dated 07-Jun-2024 — so go forth and bounce those line segments 🎀✨💅