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#1 2008-06-25 03:02:04

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Does anybody use a screensaver?

Was wondering if anybody used a screensaver anymore, since I'm guessing most users here have LCD monitors. It made some sense back in the day of CRT monitors because the image would burn onto the monitor, but with LCDs, that's not an issue. Or even better, you could turn off the monitor, which is what I do.

But how about the security aspect? I mean if you're going to be gone for that long, why not just log out? Or is there some way to lock the computer without using a screensaver?

I'm curious because I'm thinking about not start xscreensaver at all like I have it now. The reason I have xscreensaver disabled is because it always came up during a movie if I hit pause, even with disable_xscreensaver enabled. After that pause, I have to move the mouse every 10 minutes to make sure the screensaver doesn't activate. I created a script so I could just hit a button. But I never re-enabled the screensaver...  Got too lazy to even hit that button, lol.

Would like to hear thoughts, see if I'm missing something.

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#2 2008-06-25 03:03:39

Stythys
Member
From: SF Bay Area
Registered: 2008-05-18
Posts: 878
Website

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I don't use a screensaver either. If I want to lock my screen, I can do that manually, plus the screen saver tends to be more annoying then helpful. It'll auto-minimize some of my games and movies.


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#3 2008-06-25 03:06:59

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

How do you lock the screen manually?

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#4 2008-06-25 03:07:07

Allan
Pacman
From: Brisbane, AU
Registered: 2007-06-09
Posts: 11,365
Website

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I use a screensaver for locking my laptop when I leave the office. I have a wrapper script for mplayer that disables the screensaver before launching a video.

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#5 2008-06-25 03:19:04

ozar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2005-02-18
Posts: 1,686

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Rarely use one and if I do, it's always the blank screen mode.


oz

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#6 2008-06-25 03:24:47

prasetyams
Member
From: Jakarta
Registered: 2008-04-29
Posts: 74

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

xlockmore with blank mode only, bind to Mod4+L on XFCE (brings back old memories of winxp), vlock on console.


Where's my sig?

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#7 2008-06-25 03:37:57

Tenken
Member
Registered: 2008-02-01
Posts: 126

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I have a blank screen saver turn on in gnome after 19 mins, then power save after 20 min so the screen locks with no visual screen saver appearing.

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#8 2008-06-25 03:39:11

Acecero
Member
Registered: 2008-06-21
Posts: 1,373

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I don't use or need xscreensaver because I found a way I like better just for blank screens.

Section "ServerLayout"

    Option      "BlankTime" "3"
    Option      "OffTime" "5"

EndSection

Last edited by Acecero (2008-06-25 03:41:50)

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#9 2008-06-25 08:41:08

chimeric
Member
From: Munich, Germany
Registered: 2007-10-07
Posts: 254
Website

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I don't use a screensaver either. When I leave my notebook for a couple of minutes I often just switch to an empty workspace and hide the statusbar, because I use awesome and no wallpaper all what's left is a blank black screen. I know that's not really secure, but in case of my flat mates I don't have to worry. When I am longer away I usually turn it off.

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#10 2008-06-25 08:52:38

Morra
Member
Registered: 2008-05-16
Posts: 39

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I use vlock for security reasons. It locks the computer so that it isn't possible to switch to another virtual terminal with ctrl + alt + f$.

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#11 2008-06-25 08:54:22

sniffles
Member
Registered: 2008-01-23
Posts: 275

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Similar to Acecero, I just use (I have a fully hand-written xorg.conf):

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option          "DefaultServerLayout" "Layout0"
        Option          "BlankTime" "5"
        Option          "StandbyTime" "10"
        Option          "OffTime" "15"
EndSection

Nobody but me ever physically touches my computers, so I don't need a locking mechanism in my absence.

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#12 2008-06-25 09:28:12

moljac024
Member
From: Serbia
Registered: 2008-01-29
Posts: 2,676

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Allan wrote:

I use a screensaver for locking my laptop when I leave the office. I have a wrapper script for mplayer that disables the screensaver before launching a video.

Mind sharing that script ?


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#13 2008-06-25 09:34:18

Allan
Pacman
From: Brisbane, AU
Registered: 2007-06-09
Posts: 11,365
Website

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

moljac024 wrote:

Mind sharing that script ?

It is not very complex...  Change "gnome-screensaver" to the screen-saver of your choice.

#!/usr/bin/python 

import os
import os.path
import sys

os.system("killall gnome-screensaver")

command = '/usr/bin/mplayer %s "%s"' % (' '.join(sys.argv[1:-1]), os.path.normpath(sys.argv[-1]))
os.system(command)

os.system("gnome-screensaver")

You should name the script something other than mplayer as that causes problems with graphical frontends (if you use them).  Note, it will cause problems if you start multiple mplayer instances.

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#14 2008-06-25 15:27:54

Lyceuhns
Member
From: João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil
Registered: 2008-05-09
Posts: 121

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I don't use anymore, because i have issues with games in fullscreen. =/

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#15 2008-06-25 15:59:37

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Really? Wouldn't mouse/keyboard events disable that?

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#16 2008-06-25 16:27:59

Lachkater
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2008-02-04
Posts: 40

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

If i go away i usally use slock. It locks the screen and turns off the monitor.

Last edited by Lachkater (2008-06-25 16:28:12)

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#17 2008-06-25 16:52:41

acura
Member
Registered: 2007-07-08
Posts: 21

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Allan wrote:
moljac024 wrote:

Mind sharing that script ?

It is not very complex...  Change "gnome-screensaver" to the screen-saver of your choice.

#!/usr/bin/python 

import os
import os.path
import sys

os.system("killall gnome-screensaver")

command = '/usr/bin/mplayer %s "%s"' % (' '.join(sys.argv[1:-1]), os.path.normpath(sys.argv[-1]))
os.system(command)

os.system("gnome-screensaver")

You should name the script something other than mplayer as that causes problems with graphical frontends (if you use them).  Note, it will cause problems if you start multiple mplayer instances.

I'm not shure about gnome-screensaver but at least with xscreensaver you can append stop-xscreensaver=yes to your ~/.mplayer/config to disable the screen saver when using mplayer.

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#18 2008-06-25 17:25:08

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

That's what I used to do. However, during a movie, if you pause it, it reactivates the screensaver. Even after you resumed the movie, the screensaver would become active again.

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#19 2008-06-25 21:47:37

Lyceuhns
Member
From: João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil
Registered: 2008-05-09
Posts: 121

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Berticus wrote:

Really? Wouldn't mouse/keyboard events disable that?

It's the same problem of this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3741745
For me it's just in games on fullscreen.

I just found a answer by Google: disable the screensaver. =/

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#20 2008-06-25 23:30:04

slackhack
Member
Registered: 2004-06-30
Posts: 738

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I use xscreensaver because it's easy to set the power management that way without having to mod the xorg.conf file, and it has basic password protection. I either run a blank screen or something low-resource like phosphor for a few minutes to at least see some system stats (free memory, disk space, etc.), then the monitor shuts down via dpms. the password prompt can be defeated quite easily of course just by doing ctrl+alt+del and then startx again, but no one around here knows linux so they'd never know to do that anyway. :-p maybe there's a way to change that and lock the keyboard, i just never bothered to look into it.

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#21 2008-06-26 19:37:41

briest
Member
From: Katowice, PL
Registered: 2006-05-04
Posts: 468

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

I use screensaver because of security: at home, my six year old son is The Danger wink, he managed to ruin my desktop many times, so for now I have one minute timeout for those rare cases I forget lock screen manually. In addition, I use ss to power management. At work, co-workers usually change wallpaper of unlocked computer to something obscene, so locking is important too wink

And besides, there are screensavers that are real fun; say, webcollage...

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#22 2008-06-26 19:45:25

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Yeah, in my programming class back in high school, if you left to go to the bathroom and didn't lock your computer, people (sometimes the teacher) would add or delete code. Which is why I started putting a password on.

However if I'm in Linux using xmonad and vim or something like that, nobody I know personally would be able to use it, or they would be afraid to (apparently the programs I run are intimidating). But that's the only reason i would lock the screen. Didn't know there were applications specifically for that.

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#23 2008-06-27 14:02:37

vogt
Member
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: 2006-11-25
Posts: 389

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Berticus wrote:

However if I'm in Linux using xmonad and vim or something like that, nobody I know personally would be able to use it, or they would be afraid to (apparently the programs I run are intimidating). But that's the only reason i would lock the screen. Didn't know there were applications specifically for that.

Also, it's even more intimidating if you don't use a qwerty layout on your keyboard.

Anyways, if you're concerned that somebody might try and destroy your work, all they have to is throw that conveniently placed bucket of water...

Then again, most people have inhibitions against (physical) property damage.

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#24 2008-09-14 10:44:20

faw
Member
Registered: 2007-06-09
Posts: 18

Re: Does anybody use a screensaver?

Morra wrote:

I use vlock for security reasons. It locks the computer so that it isn't possible to switch to another virtual terminal with ctrl + alt + f$.

Thanks. I am using this now, a great way to lock X and the virtual consoles.

Handy hint for others, if you want to use vlock -n (which is the option to lock everything down) you need to add yourself to the vlock group.

Edit: vlock also works with thinkfinger. Cool. smile

Cheers,

Last edited by faw (2008-09-14 13:17:50)

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