On 7/27/05, Rick DeNatale <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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. -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ TriLUG PGP Keyring : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
