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 <c>
43 Drop the snowflakes on the given display. Make sure the display
44 is nearby, so you can hear them enjoy...
45 -screen <n>
47 If you have multiple monitors: snow in monitor n.
48 -1: use all monitors (default: -1)
49 Note: for this to work, Xinerama has to be functional.
50 -outline <n>
52 1: draw outline around snow window. 0: no outline.
53 Default: 0.
54 -vintage
56 Run xsnow in vintage settings.
57 -defaults
59 Do not read config file (see FILES).
60 -noconfig
62 Do not read or write config file (see FILES).
63 -hidemenu
65 Start with hidden interactive menu.
66 -nomenu
68 Do not show interactive menu.
69 -scale <n>
71 Apply scalefactor (default: 100).
72 -doublebuffer <n>
74 1: use double buffering; 0: do not use double buffering
75 (default: 1). Only effective with '-root' or '-id' or
76 '-xwininfo'.
77 -transparency <n>
79 Transparency in % (default: 0)
80 -theme <n>
82 1: use xsnow theme for menu; 0: use system theme (default: 1)
83 -checkgtk <n>
85 0: Do not check gtk version before starting the user interface.
86 1: Check gtk version before starting the user interface.
87 (default: 1).
88 -id <n>, -window-id <n>
90 Snow in window with id (for example from xwininfo).
91 -desktop
93 Act as if window is a desktop.
94 -allworkspaces <n>
96 0: use one desktop for snow, 1: use all desktops (default: 1).
97 -above Snow above your windows. Default is to snow below your windows.
99 NOTE: in some environments this results in an un-clickable
100 desktop.
101 -xwininfo
103 Use a cursor to point at the window you want the snow to be
104 fallen in.
105 -stopafter <n>
107 Stop xsnow after so many seconds.
108 -root Force to paint on (virtual) root window.
110 Use this for xscreensaver:
111 Make sure xscreensaver is running, either as a start-up
112 application
113 or from the command line, e.g:
114 nohup xscreensaver &
115 or
116 nohup xscreensaver -no-capture-stderr &
117 Run the program xscreensaver-demo to create the file
118 ~/.xscreensaver
119 In the file ~.xscreensaver add after the line 'programs:' this
120 line:
121 xsnow -root
122 Use the program xscreensaver-demo to select xsnow as
123 screensaver.
124 You probably want to select: Mode: Only One Screen Saver.
125 -bg <f>
127 file to be used as background when running under xscreensaver.
128 -noisy Write extra info about some mouse clicks, X errors etc, to
130 stdout.
131 -cpuload <n>
133 How busy is your system with xsnow: the higher, the more load on
134 the system (default: 100).
135 Snow options:
137 -snowflakes <n>
138 The higher, the more snowflakes are generated per second.
139 Default: 100.
140 -blowsnow
142 (Default) Animate blow-off snow.
143 -noblowsnow
145 Do not animate blowing snow from trees or windows
146 -sc <c>
148 Use the given string as color for the flakes (default: #fffafa).
149 -snowspeedfactor <n>
151 Multiply the speed of snow with this number/100 (default: 100).
152 -snowsize <n>
154 Set size of (non-vintage) snow flakes (default: 8).
155 -snow (Default) Show snow.
157 -nosnow -nosnowflakes
159 Do not show snow.
160 -flakecountmax <n>
162 Maximum number of active flakes (default: 300).
163 -blowofffactor <n>
165 The higher, the more snow is generated in blow-off scenarios
166 (default: 40).
167 Tree options:
169 -treetype <n>[,<n> ...]
170 Choose tree types: minimum 0, maximum 7 (default:
171 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,). Thanks to Carla Vermin for numbers >=3!
172 Credits: Image by b0red on Pixabay.
173 -treetype all
175 (Default) Use all non-vintage available tree types.
176 -tc <c>
178 Use the given string as the color for the vintage tree (default:
179 #7fff00). Works only for treetype 0.
180 -notrees
182 Do not display the trees.
183 -showtrees
185 (Default) Display the trees.
186 -trees <n>
188 Desired number of trees. Default 10.
189 -treefill <n>
191 Region in percents of the height of the window where trees grow
192 (default: 30).
193 -treeoverlap
195 Allow scenery items to overlap each other (default).
196 -notreeoverlap
198 Do not allow scenery items to overlap each other.
199 Santa options:
201 -showsanta
202 (Default) Display Santa running all over the screen.
203 -nosanta
205 Do not display Santa running all over the screen.
206 -showrudolph
208 (Default) With Rudolph.
209 -norudolph
211 No Rudolph.
212 -santa <n>
214 The minimum size of Santa is 0, the maximum size is 4. Default
215 is 3. Thanks to Thomas Linder for the (big) Santa 2! Santa 3
216 is derived from Santa 2, and shows the required eight reindeer.
217 The appearance of Santa 4 may be a surprise, thanks to Carla
218 Vermin for this one.
219 -santaspeedfactor <n>
221 The speed Santa should not be excessive if he doesn't want to
222 get fined. The appropriate speed for the Santa chosen will be
223 multiplied by santaspeedfactor/100 (default: 100).
224 Celestial options:
226 -wind (Default) It will get windy now and then.
227 -nowind
229 By default it gets windy now and then. If you prefer quiet
230 weather specify -nowind.
231 -whirlfactor <n>
233 This sets the whirl factor, i.e. the maximum adjustment of the
234 horizontal speed. The default value is 100.
235 -windtimer <n>
237 With -windtimer you can specify how often it gets windy. It's
238 sort of a period in seconds, default value is 30.
239 -stars <n>
241 The number of stars (default: 20).
242 -meteors
244 (Default) Show meteors.
245 -nometeors
247 Do not show meteors.
248 -meteorfrequency
250 Frequency of falling of meteors, 0..100 (default: 40).
251 -moon <n>
253 1: show moon, 0: do not show moon (default: 1).
254 Picture of moon thanks to Pedro Lasta on Unsplash.
255 https://unsplash.com/photos/wCujVcf0JDw
256 -moonspeed <n>
258 Speed of moon in pixels/minute (default: 120).
259 -moonsize <n>
261 Realtive size of moon (default: 100).
262 -halo <n>
264 1: show halo around moon, 0: do not show halo (default: 1).
265 -halobrightness <n>
267 Brightness of halo (default: 25).
268 -aurora <n>
270 To show (1) or not to show(0) aurora (default: 1).
271 On most desktops aurora works, but not on all. Try!
272 -auroraleft
274 Place aurora in top left of screen.
275 -auroramiddle
277 Place aurora in top middle of screen.
278 -auroraright
280 Place aurora in top right of screen (default).
281 -aurorawidth <n>
283 Width of aurora in percentage of screen width (default: 60).
284 -aurorabase <n>
286 Height of aurora's base line in percentage of screen height
287 (default: 50).
288 -auroraheight <n>
290 Height of aurora (default: 30).
291 -auroraspeed <n>
293 Animation speed of aurora (default: 50).
294 10: about real value, 100: timelapse.
295 -aurorabrightness <n>
297 Brightness of aurora (default: 15).
298 Fallen snow options:
300 -wsnowdepth <n>
301 Maximum thickness of snow on top of windows (default: 30).
302 -ssnowdepth <n>
304 Maximum thickness of snow at the bottom of the screen (default:
305 50).
306 -maxontrees <n>
308 Maximum number of flakes on trees. Default 200.
309 -keepsnowonwindows
311 (Default) Keep snow on top of the windows.
312 -nokeepsnowonwindows
314 Do not keep snow on top of the windows.
315 -keepsnowonscreen
317 (Default) Keep snow at the bottom of the screen.
318 -nokeepsnowonscreen
320 Do not keep snow at the bottom of the screen.
321 -keepsnowontrees
323 (Default) Keep snow on trees.
324 -nokeepsnowontrees
326 Do not keep snow on trees.
327 -keepsnow
329 (Default) Have snow sticking anywhere.
330 -nokeepsnow
332 Do not have snow sticking anywhere.
333 -fluffy
335 (Default) Create fluff on fallen snow.
336 -nofluffy
338 Do not create fluff on fallen snow.
339 -offsetx <n>
341 Correction for window-manager provided x-coordinate of window.
342 Default 4.
343 -offsety <n>
345 Correction for window-manager provided y-coordinate of window.
346 Default 0.
347 -offsetw <n>
349 Correction for window-manager provided width of window. Default
350 -8.
351 -offsets <n>
353 Correction for bottom coordinate of your screen. A negative
354 value lifts the xsnow screen up. Default 0.
355 -ignoretop <n>
357 Do not collect snow on window > 0.8*width of screen and closer
358 than <n> pixels from the top. Sometimes an hidden window is
359 sitting there, but treated as a normal window by xsnow. Default
360 0.
361 -ignorebottom <n>
363 Analog to -ignoretop, but now for the bottom. Default 0.
364 Birds options:
366 -anarchy <n>
367 Anarchy factor ( 0..100 default: 50).
368 -birdscolor <c>
370 Use the given string as color for the birds (default: #361A07).
371 -birdsonly <n>
373 Show only birds ( 0/1 default: 0).
374 -birdsspeed <n>
376 Speed of birds ( 0..300 default: 100).
377 -disweight <n>
379 Eagerness to keep desired distance ( 0..100 default: 20).
380 -focuscentre <n>
382 Eagerness to fly to the focus ( 0..300 default: 100).
383 -followneighbours <n>
385 Eagerness to follow neighbours ( 0..100 default: 30).
386 -nbirds <n>
388 Number of birds ( 0..400 default: 70).
389 -neighbours <n>
391 Number of neighbours to watch ( 0..20 default: 7).
392 -prefdistance <n>
394 Preferred distance to neighbours ( 0..100 default: 40).
395 -showbirds <n>
397 Show birds ( 0/1 default: 1).
398 -showattr <n>
400 Show attraction point ( 0/1 default: 0).
401 -attrspace <n>
403 Vertical space to be used by the attraction point (default: 40).
404 -followsanta <n>
406 Birds like Santa ( 0/1 default: 0).
407 -viewingdistance <n>
409 Viewing distance ( 0..95 default: 40).
410 -birdsscale <n>
412 Scalefactor used painting the birds (default: 100).
413 FILES
415 $HOME/.xsnowrc
416 Settings are read from and written to this file. See flags
417 -noconfig and -defaults how to influence this behaviour.
418 NOTE: the following settings are not read or written:
419 -above -defaults -desktop -fullscreen -noconfig -id
420 -nomenu -stopafter -xwininfo -display -noisy
421 -checkgtk
422 $HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/tree.xpm
425 If present, xsnow will try this file for displaying the trees.
426 The format must be xpm (X PixMap) format, see
427 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
428 NOTE: when this file is present, no menu will appear.
429 $HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/santa<n>.xpm
432 where <n> = 1,2,3,4. If present, xsnow will try this files (4
433 of them) for displaying Santa. The format must be xpm (X PixMap)
434 format, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
435 NOTE: when these files are present, no menu will appear.
436 EXAMPLES
439 $ xsnow -defaults # run with defaults.
440 $ xsnow # run using values from the config file.
441 $ xsnow -treetype 1,2 # use tree types 1 and 2.
442 WINDOW MANAGER ISSUES
444 In general, xsnow works better when using a compositing window manager
445 like xcompmgr, compton or picom. However, with some window managers
446 (FVWM for example), the xsnow-window is transparent, but not
447 click-through. Flags to be tried in this case include: -root,
448 -doublebuffer, -xwininfo, -id.
449 Here follow some window managers with their issues:
450 Tiling window managers
453 Here you need to float windows with class=Xsnow.
454 AWESOME
456 Without compositor: no issues.
457 With compositor: no click-through xsnow window, and issues with
458 multi-monitor setup.
459 BSPWM No issues if you add to your bspwmrc (the bspwm configuration
461 file):
462 bspc rule -a Xsnow state=floating border=off
463 CINNAMON
465 No issues.
466 DWM No issues, except the "Below Windows" setting in the "settings"
468 panel.
469 ENLIGHTENMENT
471 With one monitor: no issuses.
472 With more montors: probems with showing in 'all monitors'
473 FLUXBOX
475 Without compositor: no issues.
476 With compositor: no click-through xsnow window
477 FVWM Without compositor: no issues.
479 With compositor: no click-through xsnow window
480 GNOME on Xorg
482 No issues.
483 GNOME on Wayland
485 Most windows don't catch snow.
486 HERBSTLUFTWM
488 No issues.
489 I3 Without compositor: windows don't catch snow, use the next line
491 in "config":
492 for_window [class="Xsnow"] floating enable;border none
493 With compositor: unworkable.
494 JVM No issues.
496 LXDE With compositor: no issues.
498 Without compositor: works with one monitor.
499 Maybe you need to run with the flag -xwininfo
500 LXQT Without compositor: unworkable. With compositor: no issues.
502 MATE No issues.
504 OPENBOX
506 No issues.
507 PLASMA (KDE)
509 No issues.
510 SPECTRWM
512 Various issues. In any case you need in spectrwm.conf:
513 quirk[Xsnow] = FLOAT
514 TWM Without compositor: no issues.
516 With compositor: no click-through xsnow window and
517 you need to tweak settings->lift snow on windows.
518 WINDOW MAKER
520 Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
521 click-through xsnow window
522 XFCE No issues when compositing is on, unworkable when compositing is
524 off.
525 See settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Compositor
526 XMONAD No issues if you add to your xmonad.hs:
528 import XMonad.Hooks.EwmhDesktops
529 xmonad $ ewmh $ defaultConfig
530 in the ManageHook section:
531 className = ? "Xsnow" --> doFloat
532 BUGS
534 - Xsnow needs a complete rewrite: the code is a mess.
535 - The flags are not consistent, caused by trying to be
536 compatible with older versions.
537 - Xsnow stresses the Xserver too much.
538 - Xsnow does run in Wayland, but will not snow on all windows.
539 - Xsnow tries to create a click-through window. This is not successful
540 in for example FVWM/xcompmgr. In that case, xsnow tries to keep
541 the snow window below all others, resulting in a transient effect
542 when you click on the desktop. Sadly, no FVWM menu will appear...
543 - Remnants of fluffy snow can persist after removing the
544 fallen snow. These will gradually disappear, so no big deal.
545 - Remnants of meteors can persist after passage of Santa.
546 These will eventually be wiped out by snow or Santa.
547 - Xsnow tries to adapt its snowing window if the display
548 settings are changed while xsnow is running.
549 This does not function always well.
550 - Xsnow does not play well with 'xcompmgr -a'. In some environments
551 (Raspberry 64 bit) xcompmgr is started with the flag '-a',
552 resulting in a black snow window. Remedy:
553 In a terminal window type:
554 killall xcompmgr
555 nohup xcompmgr -n &
556 and try again.
557 - In XFCE, compositing must be enabled for xsnow.
558 Settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Compositor -> Enable display
559 compositing
560 - In multi-screen environments, it depends on the display settings
561 if it is snowing on all screens. Experiment!
562
564 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is
565 NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
566 PURPOSE.
567xsnow-3.6.0 2022 XSNOW(6)