Name

xscreensaver — stdin  stdout  - file  -- opt  --help  --version

Synopsis

xscreensaver

The xscreensaver system is a versatile screen saver with hundreds of animations available. KDE and GNOME have their own screensavers and options, but if you prefer, you can run xscreensaver manually.

xscreensaver runs in the background, and you can control it in various ways:

After a period of inactivity.

You can configure xscreensaver to run automatically after a period of inactivity, such as five minutes.

As a screen locker.

xscreensaver can also lock your screen on request. Your display will remain locked until you enter your login password.

On the command line.

Run xscreensaver-demo to preview the many animations and set things up the way you like. Then run xscreensaver-command to control the program’s behavior:

$ xscreensaver-command -activate Blank now
$ xscreensaver-command -next     Choose next animation
$ xscreensaver-command -prev     Choose previous animation
$ xscreensaver-command -cycle    Choose random animation
$ xscreensaver-command -lock     Lock the screen now
$ xscreensaver-command -exit     Quit

Get Linux Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.