Xtra Screen Hacks

Xtra Screen Hacks is a fun collection of graphics display modes designed to work with a daemon like XScreenSaver. It’s perfect if you want to jazz up your screen when you're away from your computer!

Cool Features of Xtra Screen Hacks

One of the coolest hacks is called Daisy, which creates spinning flowers on your screen. Another one, Twinkle, makes a twinkling star field that looks super nice! These graphics really add some personality to your workspace.

Getting Started with Installation

The installation for Xtra Screen Hacks relies only on xlib. Now, here's the catch: the configure script isn’t ready yet. So, you’ll find that the Makefiles and config.h are modified versions created from what was generated on the author’s machine. If your system isn’t like theirs (which was i686 Debian GNU/Linux), it might not work right away unless you tweak those files yourself.

Building Your Binaries

If everything looks good with the Makefiles and config.h, simply run:

$ make

This will create the binaries that you'll find in the hacks directory. If you've installed XScreensaver from a tarball, just type:

$ make install

If not, you’ll need to move those files manually to their correct spots. Use tools like locate or find to track down deluxe, deluxe.xml, and deluxe.1 (or similar files) so they go where they belong.

Editing Your .xscreensaver File

You’ll also need to add some entries into your .xscreensaver file manually. Open up $HOME/.xscreensaver using any text editor you like and paste these lines into the “programs” section:

--snip----------------

-                               daisy -root                                 n

-                               twinkle -root                               n

--snip----------------

After that, just run xscreensaver-demo to activate and set up those cool hacks!

No XScreensaver? No Problem!

If you don’t have XScreensaver at all, don’t worry! You can still enjoy these neat hacks in an X window.

Uninstalling When You're Done

If everything installed well and later you decide you want to uninstall it, just type:

$ make uninstall