starfish(6) XScreenSaver manual starfish(6)

starfish - radially-symmetric throbbing colormap-hacking graphics demo

starfish [--display host:display.screen] [--foreground color] [--background color] [--window] [--root] [--window-id number][--mono] [--install] [--visual visual] [--delay usecs] [--delay2 secs] [--thickness pixels] [--rotation degrees] [--duration seconds] [--colors int] [--blob] [--no-blob] [--fps]

The starfish program draws radially symmetric objects, which expand, contract, rotate, and turn inside out. It uses these shapes to lay down a field of smooth colors, and then rotates the colormap.

starfish accepts the following options:

Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default.
Draw on the root window.
--window-id number
Draw on the specified window.
If on a color display, pretend we're on a monochrome display.
Install a private colormap for the window.
Specify which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual.
How much of a delay should be introduced between steps of the animation. Default 10000, or about 1/100th second.
How wide each color band should be. Default 0, meaning random (the chosen value will be between 0 and 15.)
How quickly the objects should rotate at each step. Default 0, meaning random (the chosen value will be between 0 and 12 degrees.)
How many colors to use. Default 200. The more colors, the smoother the transitions will be, and the nicer the resultant images.
How long to run before choosing a new shape. Default 30 seconds.
When duration expires, how long to wait before starting a new run. Default 5 seconds.
If blob option is specified, then the raw shapes will be shown, instead of a field of colors generated from them.
Display the current frame rate and CPU load.

to get the default host and display number.
to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
The window ID to use with --root.

X(1), xscreensaver(1)

Copyright © 1997 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.

Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 14-Jun-97.

6.08 (10-Oct-2023) X Version 11