1XSNOW(6) User Commands XSNOW(6)
2
6 xsnow - Snow and Santa on your desktop
7
9 xsnow [OPTION]...
10
12 Xsnow shows an animation of Santa and snow on your desktop. Xsnow can
13 also run in one or more windows, see options -xwininfo, -id . (These
14 options only work satisfactorily in an X11 environment.) Xsnow depends
15 on an X11 environment. This is forced by setting the environment
16 variable GDK_BACKEND=x11 before initializing the GTK. Hopefully, this
17 will ensure that xsnow also runs in a Wayland environment for some
18 time.
19 If xsnow is misbehaving, try to remove the file $HOME/.xsnowrc.
21 General options:
23 Below:
24 <n> denotes an unsigned decimal (e.g 123) or octal (e.g. 017) or hex
25 (e.g. 0x50009) number.
26 <c> denotes a string like "red" or "#123456".
27 <f> denotes a file name, like "/home/rick/Pictures/background.jpg".
28 -h, -help
31 print this text.
32 -H, -manpage
34 print man page.
35 -v, -version
37 prints version of xsnow.
38 -changelog
40 prints ChangeLog.
41 -display name
43 Drop the snowflakes on the given display. Make sure the display
44 is nearby, so you can hear them enjoy...
45 -vintage
47 Run xsnow in vintage settings.
48 -defaults
50 Do not read config file (see FILES).
51 -noconfig
53 Do not read or write config file (see FILES).
54 -hidemenu
56 Start with hidden interactive menu.
57 -nomenu
59 Do not show interactive menu.
60 -scale <n>
62 Apply scalefactor (default: 100).
63 -doublebuffer <n>
65 1: use double buffering; 0: do not use double buffering
66 (default: 1). Only effective with '-root' or '-id' or
67 '-xwininfo'.
68 -transparency <n>
70 Transparency in % (default: 0)
71 -theme <n>
73 1: use xsnow theme for menu; 0: use system theme (default: 1)
74 -checkgtk <n>
76 0: Do not check gtk version before starting the user interface.
77 1: Check gtk version before starting the user interface.
78 (default: 1).
79 -id <n>, -window-id <n>
81 Snow in window with id (for example from xwininfo).
82 -desktop
84 Act as if window is a desktop.
85 -allworkspaces <n>
87 0: use one desktop for snow, 1: use all desktops (default: 1).
88 -above Snow above your windows. Default is to snow below your windows.
90 NOTE: in some environments this results in an un-clickable
91 desktop.
92 -xwininfo
94 Use a cursor to point at the window you want the snow to be
95 fallen in.
96 -stopafter <n>
98 Stop xsnow after so many seconds.
99 -root Force to paint on (virtual) root window.
101 Use this for xscreensaver:
102 Make sure xscreensaver is running, either as a start-up
103 application
104 or from the command line, e.g:
105 nohup xscreensaver &
106 or
107 nohup xscreensaver -no-capture-stderr &
108 Run the program xscreensaver-demo to create the file
109 ~/.xscreensaver
110 In the file ~.xscreensaver add after the line 'programs:' this
111 line:
112 xsnow -root
113 Use the program xscreensaver-demo to select xsnow as
114 screensaver.
115 You probably want to select: Mode: Only One Screen Saver.
116 -bg <f>
118 file to be used as background when running under xscreensaver.
119 -noisy Write extra info about some mouse clicks, X errors etc, to
121 stdout.
122 -cpuload <n>
124 How busy is your system with xsnow: the higher, the more load on
125 the system (default: 100).
126 Snow options:
128 -snowflakes <n>
129 The higher, the more snowflakes are generated per second.
130 Default: 100.
131 -blowsnow
133 (Default) Animate blow-off snow.
134 -noblowsnow
136 Do not animate blowing snow from trees or windows
137 -sc <c>
139 Use the given string as color for the flakes (default: #fffafa).
140 -snowspeedfactor <n>
142 Multiply the speed of snow with this number/100 (default: 100).
143 -snowsize <n>
145 Set size of (non-vintage) snow flakes (default: 8).
146 -snow (Default) Show snow.
148 -nosnow -nosnowflakes
150 Do not show snow.
151 -flakecountmax <n>
153 Maximum number of active flakes (default: 300).
154 -blowofffactor <n>
156 The higher, the more snow is generated in blow-off scenarios
157 (default: 40).
158 Tree options:
160 -treetype <n>[,<n> ...]
161 Choose tree types: minimum 0, maximum 7 (default:
162 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,). Thanks to Carla Vermin for numbers >=3!
163 Credits: Image by b0red on Pixabay.
164 -treetype all
166 (Default) Use all non-vintage available tree types.
167 -tc <c>
169 Use the given string as the color for the vintage tree (default:
170 #7fff00). Works only for treetype 0.
171 -notrees
173 Do not display the trees.
174 -showtrees
176 (Default) Display the trees.
177 -trees <n>
179 Desired number of trees. Default 10.
180 -treefill <n>
182 Region in percents of the height of the window where trees grow
183 (default: 30).
184 -treeoverlap
186 Allow scenery items to overlap each other (default).
187 -notreeoverlap
189 Do not allow scenery items to overlap each other.
190 Santa options:
192 -showsanta
193 (Default) Display Santa running all over the screen.
194 -nosanta
196 Do not display Santa running all over the screen.
197 -showrudolph
199 (Default) With Rudolph.
200 -norudolph
202 No Rudolph.
203 -santa <n>
205 The minimum size of Santa is 0, the maximum size is 4. Default
206 is 3. Thanks to Thomas Linder for the (big) Santa 2! Santa 3
207 is derived from Santa 2, and shows the required eight reindeer.
208 The appearance of Santa 4 may be a surprise, thanks to Carla
209 Vermin for this one.
210 -santaspeedfactor <n>
212 The speed Santa should not be excessive if he doesn't want to
213 get fined. The appropriate speed for the Santa chosen will be
214 multiplied by santaspeedfactor/100 (default: 100).
215 Celestial options:
217 -wind (Default) It will get windy now and then.
218 -nowind
220 By default it gets windy now and then. If you prefer quiet
221 weather specify -nowind.
222 -whirlfactor <n>
224 This sets the whirl factor, i.e. the maximum adjustment of the
225 horizontal speed. The default value is 100.
226 -windtimer <n>
228 With -windtimer you can specify how often it gets windy. It's
229 sort of a period in seconds, default value is 30.
230 -stars <n>
232 The number of stars (default: 20).
233 -meteorites
235 (Default) Show meteorites.
236 -nometeorites
238 Do not show meteorites.
239 -moon <n>
241 1: show moon, 0: do not show moon (default: 1).
242 Picture of moon thanks to Pedro Lasta on Unsplash.
243 https://unsplash.com/photos/wCujVcf0JDw
244 -moonspeed <n>
246 Speed of moon in pixels/minute (default: 120).
247 -moonsize <n>
249 Realtive size of moon (default: 100).
250 -halo <n>
252 1: show halo around moon, 0: do not show halo (default: 1).
253 -halobrightness <n>
255 Brightness of halo (default: 25).
256 -aurora <n>
258 To show (1) or not to show(0) aurora (default: 1).
259 On most desktops aurora works, but not on all. Try!
260 -auroraleft
262 Place aurora in top left of screen.
263 -auroramiddle
265 Place aurora in top middle of screen.
266 -auroraright
268 Place aurora in top right of screen (default).
269 -aurorawidth <n>
271 Width of aurora in percentage of screen width (default: 100).
272 -auroraheight <n>
274 Height of aurora in percentage of screen height (default: 50).
275 -auroraspeed <n>
277 Animation speed of aurora (default: 50).
278 10: about real value, 100: timelapse.
279 -aurorabrightness <n>
281 Brightness of aurora (default: 15).
282 Fallen snow options:
284 -wsnowdepth <n>
285 Maximum thickness of snow on top of windows (default: 30).
286 -ssnowdepth <n>
288 Maximum thickness of snow at the bottom of the screen (default:
289 50).
290 -maxontrees <n>
292 Maximum number of flakes on trees. Default 200.
293 -keepsnowonwindows
295 (Default) Keep snow on top of the windows.
296 -nokeepsnowonwindows
298 Do not keep snow on top of the windows.
299 -keepsnowonscreen
301 (Default) Keep snow at the bottom of the screen.
302 -nokeepsnowonscreen
304 Do not keep snow at the bottom of the screen.
305 -keepsnowontrees
307 (Default) Keep snow on trees.
308 -nokeepsnowontrees
310 Do not keep snow on trees.
311 -keepsnow
313 (Default) Have snow sticking anywhere.
314 -nokeepsnow
316 Do not have snow sticking anywhere.
317 -fluffy
319 (Default) Create fluff on fallen snow.
320 -nofluffy
322 Do not create fluff on fallen snow.
323 -offsetx <n>
325 Correction for window-manager provided x-coordinate of window.
326 Default 4.
327 -offsety <n>
329 Correction for window-manager provided y-coordinate of window.
330 Default 0.
331 -offsetw <n>
333 Correction for window-manager provided width of window. Default
334 -8.
335 -offsets <n>
337 Correction for bottom coordinate of your screen. A negative
338 value lifts the xsnow screen up. Default 0.
339 -ignoretop <n>
341 Do not collect snow on window > 0.8*width of screen and closer
342 than <n> pixels from the top. Sometimes an hidden window is
343 sitting there, but treated as a normal window by xsnow. Default
344 0.
345 -ignorebottom <n>
347 Analog to -ignoretop, but now for the bottom. Default 0.
348 Birds options:
350 -anarchy <n>
351 Anarchy factor ( 0..100 default: 50).
352 -birdscolor <c>
354 Use the given string as color for the birds (default: #361A07).
355 -birdsonly <n>
357 Show only birds ( 0/1 default: 0).
358 -birdsspeed <n>
360 Speed of birds ( 0..300 default: 100).
361 -disweight <n>
363 Eagerness to keep desired distance ( 0..100 default: 20).
364 -focuscentre <n>
366 Eagerness to fly to the focus ( 0..300 default: 100).
367 -followneighbours <n>
369 Eagerness to follow neighbours ( 0..100 default: 30).
370 -nbirds <n>
372 Number of birds ( 0..400 default: 70).
373 -neighbours <n>
375 Number of neighbours to watch ( 0..20 default: 7).
376 -prefdistance <n>
378 Preferred distance to neighbours ( 0..100 default: 40).
379 -showbirds <n>
381 Show birds ( 0/1 default: 1).
382 -showattr <n>
384 Show attraction point ( 0/1 default: 0).
385 -attrspace <n>
387 Vertical space to be used by the attraction point (default: 40).
388 -followsanta <n>
390 Birds like Santa ( 0/1 default: 0).
391 -viewingdistance <n>
393 Viewing distance ( 0..95 default: 40).
394 -birdsscale <n>
396 Scalefactor used painting the birds (default: 100).
397 FILES
399 $HOME/.xsnowrc
400 Settings are read from and written to this file. See flags
401 -noconfig and -defaults how to influence this behaviour.
402 NOTE: the following settings are not read or written:
403 -above -defaults -desktop -fullscreen -noconfig -id
404 -nomenu -stopafter -xwininfo -display -noisy
405 -checkgtk
406 $HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/tree.xpm
409 If present, xsnow will try this file for displaying the trees.
410 The format must be xpm (X PixMap) format, see
411 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
412 NOTE: when this file is present, no menu will appear.
413 $HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/santa<n>.xpm
416 where <n> = 1,2,3,4. If present, xsnow will try this files (4
417 of them) for displaying Santa. The format must be xpm (X PixMap)
418 format, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
419 NOTE: when these files are present, no menu will appear.
420 EXAMPLES
423 $ xsnow -defaults # run with defaults.
424 $ xsnow # run using values from the config file.
425 $ xsnow -treetype 1,2 # use tree types 1 and 2.
426 WINDOW MANAGER ISSUES
428 In general, xsnow works better when using a compositing window manager
429 like xcompmgr, compton or picom. However, with some window managers
430 (FVWM for example), the xsnow-window is transparent, but not
431 click-through. Flags to be tried in this case include: -root,
432 -doublebuffer, -xwininfo, -id.
433 Here follow some window managers with their issues:
435 AWESOME
438 Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
439 click-through xsnow window
440 BSPWM No issues if you add to your bspwmrc (the bspwm configuration
442 file):
443 bspc rule -a Xsnow state=floating border=off
444 CINNAMON
446 No issues.
447 DWM No issues, except the "Below Windows" setting in the "settings"
449 panel.
450 ENLIGHTENMENT
452 No issuses.
453 FLUXBOX
455 Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
456 click-through xsnow window
457 FVWM Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
459 click-through xsnow window
460 GNOME No issues.
462 HERBSTLUFTWM
464 No issues.
465 I3 Without compositor: no issues, using the next line in "config":
467 for_window [class="Xsnow"] floating enable;border none
468 With compositor: unworkable.
469 JVM No issues.
471 LXDE With compositor: no issues. Without compositor: use: xsnow
473 -xwininfo
474 LXQT Without compositor: unworkable. With compositor: no
476 click-through xsnow window.
477 MATE No issues.
479 OPENBOX
481 No issues.
482 PLASMA (KDE)
484 No issues.
485 SPECTREWM
487 Without compositor: no snow on windows, use the next line in
488 "spetrewm.conf":
489 quirk[Xsnow] = FLOAT
490 With compositor: no satisfactorily results.
491 TWM Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
493 click-through xsnow window
494 WINDOW MAKER
496 Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
497 click-through xsnow window
498 XFCE No issues when compositing is on, unworkable when compositing is
500 off.
501 See settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Compositor
502 XMONAD No issues if you add to your xmonad.hs in the ManageHook
504 section:
505 className = ? "Xsnow" --> doFloat
506 BUGS
508 - Xsnow needs a complete rewrite: the code is a mess.
509 - The flags are not consistent, caused by trying to be
510 compatible with older versions.
511 - Xsnow stresses the Xserver too much.
512 - Xsnow does run in Wayland, but will not snow on all windows.
513 - Xsnow tries to create a click-through window. This is not successful
514 in for example FVWM/xcompmgr. In that case, xsnow tries to keep
515 the snow window below all others, resulting in a transient effect
516 when you click on the desktop. Sadly, no FVWM menu will appear...
517 - Remnants of fluffy snow can persist after removing the
518 fallen snow. These will gradually disappear, so no big deal.
519 - Remnants of meteorites can persist after passage of Santa.
520 These will eventually be wiped out by snow or Santa.
521 - Xsnow tries to adapt its snowing window if the display
522 settings are changed while xsnow is running.
523 This does not function always well.
524 - Xsnow does not play well with 'xcompmgr -a'. In some environments
525 (Raspberry 64 bit) xcompmgr is started with the flag '-a',
526 resulting in a black snow window. Remedy:
527 In a terminal window type:
528 killall xcompmgr
529 nohup xcompmgr -n &
530 and try again.
531 - In XFCE, compositing must be enabled for xsnow.
532 Settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Compositor -> Enable display
533 compositing
534 - In multi-screen environments, it depends on the display settings
535 if it is snowing on all screens. Experiment!
536
538 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is
539 NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
540 PURPOSE.
541xsnow-3.5.0 2022 XSNOW(6)