Post #4306756
2026-05-07 21:18 UTC
@jwz@mastodon.social Thanks! UX is easy. If a key has been pressed or a button clicked, blur the screen (blanking works too) and display a password input box or call the relevant pam modules.
If ESC has been pressed or no keys have been pressed for at least 10 seconds, delete the contents of the box and get back to full transparency.
The technical aspect is the interesting one. Must the screensaver draw over the whole screen / all displays? Can it re-render what's underneath and display that indirectly?
Replies (2)
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@k@chaos.social 2026-05-07 21:21
@jwz@mastodon.social The use-case, I believe is obvious - locking a data/dashboard monitoring station. None of screensavers inside xscreensaver can (safely) run (display) an arbitrary process either, I imagine? While locking the input, of course. Should I write one?
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@jwz@mastodon.social 2026-05-07 21:24
@k@chaos.social You are now basically asking "how do I write a screen saver, is that hard" and my answer is "yes, see XScreenSaver".