[TriLUG] Disable Some Screensavers

[Tanner Lovelace]

On 7/27/05, Rick DeNatale <rick.denatale at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, it actually looks to me like it's a hack on top of a hack. The
> KDE screensaver seems to be a wrapper on top of xscreensaver. Instead
> of using xscreensaver-demo to control things they've put a UI into
> Control Center, which does some, but not all of what xscreensaver-demo
> does.

While KScreensaver can use XScreensaver hacks (that's what xscreensaver
calls it's screensavers for those who didn't know), that ability is external
to the main functionality of KScreensaver.  KScreensaver can be
used entirely by itself without xscreensaver installed at all.  

So, no, it is not a "hack on top of a hack".  KScreensaver is it's
own program that doesn't need xscreensaver at all.
 
> Interestingly enough on my Kubuntu system (which was installed by
> apt-get kubuntu-desktop on an ubuntu system), the very prominent
> Utilities>Screensaver menu item brings up xscreensaver-demo whereas I
> had to scratch my head a bit before I found the screensaver interface
> under Control Center (why that isn't Kontrol Center is beyond me).

That's not a KDE problem.  That's a Kubuntu packaging problem.

> Even then the Random screensaver wasn't obvious, it just is one of a
> long list of screen savers. xscreensaver-demo  on the other hand gives
> four screen saver mode choices, disabled, blank screen only, only one
> screen saver, and random screen saver. If you select random screen
> saver you can then select which screensavers are selectable using
> checkboxes.

That's because the KDE random screensaver is just another screensaver.
In XScreensaver, it appears to be an external function of XScreensaver
itself.  Both approaches are valid and neither one is better or worse 
than another.

> So even though the KDE screen saver is fully integrated into the KDE
> desktop, much of the control has been sucked down into the bowels of
> the KDE mechanisms.

And this is a problem, how?  The first thing you (should) learn
when using KDE is that if you want to change something, you go
to the Control Panel.  It's clearly there and not difficult to find at all.
That hardly comes across as "the bowels of [...] KDE".

> So it's the user's choice of which form of hackery he want's to use to
> control which random screensavers he wants.

Sure.  But, if you'll remember what I originally said, it was that 
why would you want to use something that wasn't integrated
with your desktop setup, something that you had to hack onto
it to work correctly and didn't integrate with the desktop system.
The point of the KDE desktop (and the Gnome desktop for that
matter) is to make things integrate.  XScreensaver predates all
that stuff and as such "doesn't play well with others".  KDE has
figured out a way to make the xscreensaver hacks run with the
standard kde screensaver, something that is *NOT* just a hack 
on top of it, and that's ok, because there are lots of nice xscreensaver
hacks that people like to use.  But, that doesn't mean that 
xscreensaver is in control.

Cheers,
Tanner
-- 
Tanner Lovelace
clubjuggler at gmail dot com
http://wtl.wayfarer.org/
http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=8127171
(fieldless) In fess two roundels in pale, a billet fesswise and an
increscent, all sable.