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Screensaver as a Desktop Wallpaper

geekhacks.com — How to run "the Matrix" screen saver as your desktop wallpaper in GNU/Linux!!!

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  • schestowitz, on 10/10/2007, -6/+54Animated wallpapers are a gimmick. They are hard to work with. The only animation should be UI-related (interaction feedback). The same goes for Web sites.
    • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2You can put any app you want in the desktop window, though. I love that. For a while I had Electricsheep there, and sometimes I have a newsticker back there.
      • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3So, how many panadol or other painkillers did you need to help with the headaches?
        • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Just because you don't like what it looks like doesn't mean others don't.
      • carl0ski, on 10/10/2007, -5/+0what a stupid comment
        What normal person stares at their wallpaper?

        By default most programs that require fully focused attention are full screen
        Word, browsing, Games, Excel are all Maximised or full screen in normal usage

        a moving wallpaper can be beneficial especially with multiple displays. and reducing burn in

        • Onyxblaze, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2It's for linux so you don't have that *****.
        • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Minesweeper is maximized?
          I use lots of multiwindow apps on my machine, so having a background that I like is very beneficial for me.
          Additionally, If I have an application that has input in the background (think RSS reader), I don't see why I wouldn't be looking at my root window.
    • ThinkBox, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Turn ANY screensaver into your background/Desktop Wallpaper.

      For Mac

      Backlight 2 - UPDATE - looks like the link i had here was dead, ill post another when i find one!
      (doesnt work when you want to show all windows in expose, but the Dev website is no longer up)
      • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2These instructions also work with any screen saver.. All you need to do is replace the command with (for example) /usr/lib/xscreensaver/sonar.
    • MioTheGreat, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2No. You're wrong. There are a few really really good dynamic Dreams for Vista.

      Ovals and Expanding Shapes. I have Ovals as my background virtually all the time...I love it. http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?skinid=383&libid=50
  • nanostream, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11This broke my nautilus, sweet.
    • ToadLeg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7wtf how do you turn it off? "gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop true" doesn't work!
      • lonnieh, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3run that and hit ctrl+alt+backspace and log back in
      • hyperair, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3You don't need to restart the X server for that. Just open the run dialog and type "nautilus" and then you're back to normal.
        • hpfilter, on 10/26/2007, -0/+5gconftool-2 --set "/apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop" --type boolean "true" && nautilus -n

          this works ....
        • nanostream, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Thank you so much
  • grungegbunny, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18cute.. now show me how to run Electric Sheep as my desktop.
  • Calcularius, on 10/10/2007, -10/+1The only desktop screensaver I'm able to tolerate is just changing the image every so often, like 15 minutes.
    Of course, this is a standard option in Mac OS desktop settings.
    • allywilson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Have mine changing every 5 secs, think it's a good idea. As long as it doesn't overload my PC - am all for such customisations.
    • tgoose, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I much prefer fading an SVG between colours slowly in Debian or Ubuntu (and presumably other GNU.)
    • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That's what I have now with Kdesktop. It's simple, and it allows me to not have to pick amongst all of my desktop backgrounds (although I'm considering having a different set of images for each desktop).
  • Shootfast, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7You also wont get any icons. For users of Composite window managers, try out xwinwrap
    • geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1...or beg and plead the Nautilus developers to fix their effing file manager to use a desktop pixmap with an alpha component when compositing is available.
  • cbdgr, on 10/10/2007, -8/+10next up how to slow down your productivity, increase your cpu and power usage.
    • mithrasinvictus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15thats an easy one: install vista
  • Remmiz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6http://www.geisswerks.com/drempels/
    Not sure if it still works in Vista or Linux
    • AndrewDB, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1It works fine in vista, if you know where to install it.
    • DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1there used to be a program (back in the day of NT4) that could run any screen saver as a background, but i could never find it again.
  • maelstromwar, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Sweet! Gotta love Linux!
  • omarciddo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Heh, I remember Kevin talking about this on the Screen Savers waaaaaaaaaaay back when.

    Serious nostalgia trip.
  • omarciddo, on 10/10/2007, -11/+5Heh, I remember Kevin talking about this on the Screen Savers waaaaaaaaaaay back when.

    Serious nostalgia trip.
  • aydoubleyou, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Talk about a resource hog.
    • Ademan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Resource hog? Well it does take up a fair amount of ram ~13mb but it has never gone above "0" cpu time, if you think about it, that's about right, since 99% of what's going on is on the GPU. The memory usage bugs me though, way high for what it is, unless it's keeping the entire "alphabet" in ram, which i guess is possible.
  • pintomp3, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11that's what i need to make my work easier, stuff moving around the screen.
  • trichecodotcom, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13I want Quake 3 as a desktop wallpaper. With sound.
  • koji29, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Hmm.. didn't work for me, foreground windows lost focus and dropped behind screensaver. Flickering w/ mouse over.
    Gutsy+XGL+Dual Monitor (compiz turned off)

    On that note, is it just me or does the banner on the website look like someone just jizzed on their keyboard?
    • nanostream, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I think your compiz was still on.
  • .Steven, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3So this helps out 5% of users?
    • kipmartin, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3you forgot the decimal point. as in .5% i believe.
      • starkes, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4yeah, and the "OMG TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED! DIGG THIS SO HE CAN GET JUSTICE!" style stories benefit .0000000010233% of users. as in, one user. so eat my ass.
  • sanj0hn, on 10/10/2007, -7/+0A screensaver how-to on digg ? Come on...
    I'm sure there's something more interesting to digg.
  • tehmoth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3most xscreensaver screen savers support the -root option. if you really need the matrix experience as your background, xmatrix is much less of a hog.
  • sirbeta, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7And people complained about the very concept of Active Desktop on Windows taking up resources. Now people want screen savers for wallpapers?
    • spyrochaete, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5If you ever really want to piss someone off, enable active desktop and download a low resolution animated gif. Set it as the wallpaper and tile it or make it fullscreen. Then practise your "it was like that when I get here" face.
  • nijin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8This is so old, I did that years ago, and even then it was lame. It doesn't help in any way, it distracts and wastes resources.
  • ntnwwnet, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Mac users can download Wallsaver @ http://www.nwwnetwork.net/wallsaver to do this on a mac.
    • itsonlyme, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3No download needed
      just type this in the terminal
      ===
      cd /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources
      nice -n +18 ./ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background &
      ===

      Save it to a .sh file to save time.

      Use a dark, simple Screen Saver for best results.
  • kipmartin, on 10/10/2007, -5/+0oh boy. more linux stuff. yawn. why not just make the OS work enterprise wide on the desktop. now THAT would impress me. maybe.
    • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If you're not interested in Linux, feel free not to read the Linux/Unix section
  • Teaboy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4At least people will be correct when they call their wallpaper a screensaver.
  • Sub7, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2Heh, I remember Kevin talking about this on the Screen Savers waaaaaaaaaaay back when.

    Serious nostalgia trip.
    • Resolver, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Heh, I remember omarciddo talking about this waaaaaaaaaaay back when.

      Serious nostalgia trip.
  • nils, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Oh come on, I know it's hard to tell lame news from interesting news, but this has got to be a new low.
  • kahlessreborn, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Anything good for the XP User?
    And by good i mean free.
  • zegermanduck, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4vista users check this:http://home.comcast.net/~van.etten/SSDream/Home/default.htm
  • Lynne354, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0I'd watch out with this one - I used to use the matrix thing just as a screensaver (never mind as a desktop) and found it burned the vertical stripes into my twin 19" monitors after a long-weekend when my machine didn't put itself to sleep! Ooopsie! $$$$$$!
    • hyperair, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1How did you get enough table space for TWO 19" CRT monitors? I can't even fit 2 15" LCD's on mine.
      • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Judging from the length of time that the burn-in took place, they are probably older LCD monitors, not CRTs.
        • Lyph5, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1LCDs are immune to burn in. Turn them off, let them cool, and turn them back on.
        • lengau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1@Lyph5 - They don't burn in permanently, but it's really a pain to have to wait for them to cool off first.
        • zugzub, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Wimps, two Nokia 445Xi's here
      • NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Heh, I have 3 19" CRT's on my desk. Why do i need a physical desktop when i can have a virtual one.
  • benitojuarez, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Oh I get it, its like dreamscene for windows vista, only *****.
    • Monk22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2this was around years before vista, son.
    • DragonElemental, on 12/28/2007, -0/+0benitojuarez - Ya Got Told Son!
  • Lyph5, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Welcome to the future! That's right, the FAR OFF YEAR OF 1999!

    Because that's the only reason this could be consider news. If we were back in the late 90s.
  • pHr34kY, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My mum thought it was cool...
  • sonsuztasarim, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1I love linux

    http://www.sonsuztasarim.net web tasarım ofisi
  • Izzie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1this is sooo old!
    BTW what's the point of having a wallpaper-saver ?
    I cen understand running a terminal as desktop background, but something that uses resources to makes using the computer more difficult ?
    http://lifehacker.com/software/linux-tip/embed-the-terminal-on-the-desktop-264296.php
    • Monk22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1there is no point its just something neat you can do if you so choose.
  • PURDooM, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2The author of the digg post of course fails to realize that this isn't for "GNU Linux" because I'm sure the Linux kernel doesn't care. Its for X or Nautilus or KDE or whatever the heck (didn't RTFA). I'm sure a similar effect can be obtained in X under BSD, which is certianly NOT GNU or Linux.
    • grovermonster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1thanks for setting the author straight!
    • Ademan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1While we're busy correcting the author, GNOME IS NOT A WINDOW MANAGER. The distinction between window managers and desktop environments eluded me for what, a couple months? I hope this guy is just that new to *nixes
  • sublime, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Its just a simple command line parameter that many of the screensaver apps support. This news is over 10 years old.
  • qbelek2, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1this is sooo great. :P
    why would anyone use their desktop for like storing files, shortcuts or drive icons for faster access. lets just make it all "sparky glowy"... this sucks. it COULD be usable if you would tell how to keep icons displayed at the same time...
  • kriminalintent, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Wallsaver for mac works great.
    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24497/wallsaver
    • Cayfox, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0On the Mac, you can do exactly the same thing from the Terminal without installing anything, by running:
      /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background
  • ruehl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1u can just download zmatrix. but it gets old quick
  • Exploit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1For windowsXP
    http://www.freewarefiles.com/program_2_16_3139.html
    http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Shell_and_Desktop/Wallpaper_Tools/ScreenPaper.html
  • ElecBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0OMG! This is a Copy of an article that Appeared yesterday in LifeHacker.com
    http://lifehacker.com/software/linux-tip/use-a-screensaver-as-desktop-wallpaper-299410.php

    The Original story! which is the one Lifehacker refers to is in:
    http://blog.prashanthellina.com/2007/08/22/matrix-desktop/

    This guy copied the Image and the info but did not included the instructions I gave on how to remove it a get back the Icons in the Desktop.
    • Monk22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1this was copied almost directly from the ubuntu forums post about how to do this.
  • truegodofwar, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Great I pasted this into the terminal and just got 0wn3d.

    /usr/lib/xscreensaver/glmatrix -root
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
    glmatrix: display ":0.0" does not support the GLX extension.

    Please help. All my icons disappeared.
  • ElecBoy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0truegodofwar: Look like you dint read my comment above yourś the instructions to remove it are type this in the terminal:

    gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop true && nautilus

    All you Icons will magically appear!
  • jdbholmes, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2this is a very GAY article probably from a Canadian Flamer.
  • X1NN, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This reminds me of a how to I saw a while back to get Linux terminal (command prompt) running as wallpaper. I've been trying to find that article again, but haven't had any luck. Does anyone know? I'd rather do that instead of a screen saver.
  • X1NN, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1oops, I mean it reminds me of an article I saw... sorry
  • ElecBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0X1NN: Here's the Article you are looking for "Embed the terminal on the desktop" http://lifehacker.com/software/linux-tip/embed-the-terminal-on-the-desktop-264296.php
  • supermanred, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Works in OS X. Just get the app "Wallsaver", put it in your apps folder and run it. You can use ANY screensaver as a background. I like the itunes artwork screensaver, hundreds of albums on my screen that constantly change from art in my music collection. The matrix one is too distracting.
  • Nescirian, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0The Distant Future.
    The Year 2000.
  •  

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