xscreensave...timage-file(6x)

📦
version 6.17 · 7 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 xscreensaver-getimage-file 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this one's a lil helper script living in the XScreenSaver manual section (6x), and she's doing the absolute most behind the scenes so your screensaver can serve looks. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

xscreensaver-getimage-file — she picks a random image file for the screen savers to vibe with. no cap, that's the whole job. 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

xscreensaver-getimage-file [--verbose] [--no-cache] [--flush-caches]
directory-or-URL

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So xscreensaver-getimage-file is a helper program for the xscreensaver hacks that manipulate images, okay? It's not out here living its own life — it gets invoked by xscreensaver-getimage(6x) whenever it's needed. supporting role, main character energy. 💅

What it actually does: it prints the name of a randomly-selected image file. The directory gets searched recursively (yes, it goes all the way down, she's thorough 🫶). Non-image files get excluded, and so do images smaller than 500x500 — tiny pics, you are NOT invited to this party. sorry not sorry. 🙈

Oh and the directory can also be the URL of an RSS/Atom feed?? iconic honestly. Any images enclosed in that feed get downloaded and cached locally. 🌈

Also: the contents of the directory are cached, for performance. That cache gets re-generated once 3 hours have passed. she's got a little memory, and she refreshes it. periodt. 💜

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

xscreensaver-getimage-file accepts the following options (yes, she has options, she's that girl):

  • --verbose — print diagnostics. she tells you what's going on. yapper mode: ON. 🗣️
  • --no-cache — ignore the cache when searching for images. heads up tho: this may be slow. like, actually slow. 😭
  • --flush-cache — discard all caches immediately. they'll be re-generated as needed, don't worry, she'll rebuild. 🧹
  • directory-or-URL — the star of the show, two vibes in one:
    • If it's a pathname, it'll be searched recursively for images. 🔍
    • If it's a URL, it should be an RSS or Atom feed, or an HTML page whose metadata links to its feed. Every image in the feed gets downloaded to a local cache. And the URL gets re-polled periodically — new images come in, expired ones get yeeted out. 👑

🍓 FILES 🍓

Depending on your operating system, the filename cache will be one of these:

$HOME/.cache/xscreensaver/xscreensaver-getimage.cache
$HOME/tmp/.xscreensaver-getimage.cache
$HOME/.xscreensaver-getimage.cache
$HOME/Library/Caches/org.jwz.xscreensaver.getimage.cache

And images from feeds will be downloaded and cached at one of these:

$HOME/.cache/xscreensaver/SUBDIR/
$HOME/tmp/.xscreensaver-feeds/SUBDIR/
$HOME/.xscreensaver-feeds/SUBDIR/
$HOME/Library/Caches/org.jwz.xscreensaver.feeds/SUBDIR/

💫 SEE ALSO 💫

go read these next, bestie, they're the extended universe:

X(1), xscreensaver(1), xscreensaver-settings(1), xscreensaver-getimage(6x)

Copyright © 2001-2022 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, no promises, she is what she is. 💀

🌸 AUTHOR 🌸

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 14-Apr-2001. 🫶

and that's the whole page!! this one's from X Version 11, version 6.17-1.fc44, dated 13-Oct-2025, and your girl is gonna go pick a random picture now. slay, bye bestie 💅✨🎀🌈

📦 where this page comes from