Faux GNOME Screensaver

A GNOME compatibility layer for XScreenSaver
https://github.com/jefferyto/faux-gnome-screensaver
v0.3.0

UNMAINTAINED

This almost certainly does not work anymore.

Purpose

Faux GNOME Screensaver (FGS) adds several features to bridge the gap between XScreenSaver and GNOME 3:

• FGS implements GNOME Screensaver's D-Bus interface. This allows, for instance, the Lock function in Ubuntu's session menu to correctly trigger XScreenSaver.

• FGS obeys idle inhibition requests in the GNOME Session Manager. This allows programs like Caffeine to request that the session not be marked as idle, thus preventing XScreenSaver from activating.

  • If XScreenSaver is manually activated and locked, FSG will stop making deactivation requests so that the lock screen password prompt does not appear repeatedly.

• FGS ensures that GNOME is configured to put XScreenSaver in control of screensaver activation and display power management.

• FGS listens for signals (Lock, Unlock, etc.) from ConsoleKit and systemd-logind, and acts appropriately.

The current version is developed for Ubuntu 13.10; it should work for earlier versions of Ubuntu, though no testing has been done. Users of Ubuntu 12.10 / 13.04 may want to use v0.2.0 instead. Feedback (and patches) for other distros would also be appreciated.

All bug reports, feature requests and miscellaneous comments are welcome at the project issue tracker.

Requirements

• XScreenSaver
• python-gi and python-dbus

Installation

1. Uninstall GNOME Screensaver:

   sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver
   

2. Install XScreenSaver and dependencies:

   sudo apt-get install xscreensaver xscreensaver-gl-extra xscreensaver-data-extra python-gi python-dbus
   

3. Download the source code (as zip or tar.gz) and extract.

4. Copy program files into somewhere on your path, e.g. /usr/local/bin:

   sudo cp faux-gnome-screensaver.py faux-gnome-screensaver-command.py /usr/local/bin
   

5. Make program files executable and link to their non-faux names:

   cd /usr/local/bin
   sudo chmod a+x faux-gnome-screensaver.py faux-gnome-screensaver-command.py
   sudo ln -s faux-gnome-screensaver.py gnome-screensaver
   sudo ln -s faux-gnome-screensaver-command.py gnome-screensaver-command
   

6. Open Startup Applications (gnome-session-properties) and add an entry:

   Name: Screensaver
   Command: gnome-screensaver
   Comment: I'm too sexy for my screensaver
   

   faux-gnome-screensaver will start XScreenSaver so there is no need to add an entry for XScreenSaver.

7. Log out and log back in to start faux-gnome-screensaver.

Configuration

Open Screensaver (xscreensaver-demo) to configure XScreenSaver (time to enable, time to power off display, etc.).

Credits

Based in part on:

• The script in a comment for bug 528094 by cpaul
• XScreenSaver inhibit code from Caffeine
• ConsoleKit / systemd-logind listening code from GNOME Screensaver and its Ubuntu branch

License

Copyright © 2012-2013 Jeffery To jeffery.to@gmail.com

Available under GNU General Public License version 3