| PackageDescription | The xscreensaver program waits until the keyboard and mouse have
been idle for a period of time, and then runs a graphics demo
chosen at random. It turns off as soon as there is any mouse or
keyboard activity. It can also lock the screen immediately, after a
longer idle period, or on demand.
The xscreensaver package consists of two parts: the screensaver and
the "driver" or "daemon", which detects idleness and does locking,
and the many graphics demos that are launched by xscreensaver.
Any X program that can draw on the root window can be used with
xscreensaver, regardless of how that program is written, what
language it is written in, or what libraries it uses. The
xscreensaver daemon takes care of detecting when the user is idle,
locking, and checking passwords and all the other book-keeping. All
the other programs need to do is draw.
The benefit that xscreensaver has over the combination of the xlock
and xautolock programs is the ease with which new graphic hacks can
be installed. You do not need to recompile (or even re-run) the
xscreensaver program to add a new display mode, you just change a
config file. |