


     XXXXSSSSNNNNOOOOWWWW((((1111))))            XXXX VVVVeeeerrrrssssiiiioooonnnn 11111111 ((((RRRReeeelllleeeeaaaasssseeee 4444))))             XXXXSSSSNNNNOOOOWWWW((((1111))))



     NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE
          xsnow - create a snowy and Santa-y desktop

     SSSSYYYYNNNNOOOOPPPPSSSSIIIISSSS
          xxxxssssnnnnoooowwww [-option .,..]

     DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN
          Xsnow lets it snow on your desktop and windows (sic!).

     OOOOPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNNSSSS
          -display display_name
                  Drop the snowflakes on the given display. Make sure
                  the display is nearby, so you can hear them enjoy...

          -snowflakes num_snowflakes
                  This is the number of snowflakes. Default is 100,
                  max is 1000.

          -sc snowflake_color
                  Use the given string as the color for the flakes
                  instead of the default "snow".

          -bg background_color
                  Use the given string as the color for the
                  background. Note that the usual default desktop
                  pattern consisting of 50% white 50% black doesn't
                  particularly look good with Xsnow.

          -solidbg
                  When using solid colored backgrounds specifying this
                  option may greatly improve performance.

          -tc tree_color
                  Use the given string as the color for the trees.

          -slc sleigh_color
                  Use the given string as the color for the sleigh.
                  Note that the default color is black, so not much of
                  Santa will be seen on a black background.

          -santa santa_size
                  There are 3 sizes of Santa: 0, 1 and 2. Default is
                  1.

          -santaspeed santa_speed
                  The speed Santa should not exceed if he doesn't want
                  to get fined. The default speed for Santa size 0 is
                  1, for Santa 1 it's 2 and for Big Santa it's 4.

          -delay delay
                  This is the number of milliseconds delay after
                  updating everything.  Default is 50 milliseconds,



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                  i.e. 20 updates per second max.

          -unsmooth
                  If you specify this option the snowflakes will
                  'whirl' more dramatically, resulting in a somewhat
                  jerkier movement.

          -whirl  This sets the whirl factor, i.e. the maximum
                  adjustment of the horizontal speed. The default
                  value is 4.

          -nowind Default it gets windy now and then. If you prefer it
                  quiet specify -nowind.

          -windtimer period
                  With -windtimer you can specify how often it gets
                  windy. It's sort of a period in seconds, default
                  value is 30.

          -xspeed -yspeed
                  These options set the maximum horizontal and
                  vertical speed. The default X maximum speed is 4,
                  the default maximum Y speed is 8.

          -wsnowdepth -ssnowdepth
                  This sets the maximum thickness of the snow on top
                  of windows and at the bottom of the display
                  respectively. The default snowdepth for windows is
                  15, at the bottom of the screen the default is 50.

          -offset With -offset you can specify that snow starts
                  building up a number of pixels lower or higher. This
                  is handy if you use twm and squeezed window titles.

          -notrees
                  Do not display the trees.

          -nosanta
                  Do not display Santa Claus running all over the
                  screen.

          -norudolf
                  No Rudolf.

          -nokeepsnow
                  Do not have snow sticking anywhere.

          -nokeepsnowonwindows
                  Do not keep snow on top of the windows.

          -nokeepsnowonscreen
                  Do not keep snow at the bottom of the screen.



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          -nonopopup
                  Xsnow takes care to not let it snow on Pop-up
                  windows, due to their nature. If however, you use an
                  Xserver that has backing store on for all windows,
                  then specify this option. Symptom would be that no
                  snow is kept on any window, but only at the screen
                  bottom.

          -version
                  Prints the current Xsnow version and does not start
                  Xsnow.

     EEEEXXXXAAAAMMMMPPPPLLLLEEEESSSS
          xsnow -bg SkyBlue3 -sc snow
                  Sets the background to a bluish color and lets it
                  snow white.

          xsnow -ssnowdepth 100
                  Starts with a thin layer of snow that gradually
                  builds up at the bottom of the screen.

          xsnow -santa 2 -santaspeed 10
                  Gives you the biggest Santa at a speed that is
                  hardly legal.

          xsnow -delay 100 -notrees
                  For slow systems use longer delay and don't draw the
                  trees.

          xsnow -snowflakes 1000 -delay 0
                  Uses the maximum number of snowflakes and runs as
                  fast as possible.

          xsnow -bg SkyBlue3 -solidbg
                  Sets the background to a bluish color and specify
                  -solidbg for increased performance.

     FFFFIIIILLLLEEEESSSS
          See /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt for the list of colors and their
          respective poetic names, like Chartreuse and SkyBlue3.

     BBBBUUUUGGGGSSSS
          See xroach(1)

     AAAAUUUUTTTTHHHHOOOORRRRSSSS
          Rick Jansen (rick@sara.nl)

     CCCCOOOOPPPPYYYYRRRRIIIIGGGGHHHHTTTT
          Copyright 1984, 1988, 1990, 1993-1995 by Rick Jansen
          (rick@sara.nl)

          Xsnow is available freely and you may give it to other



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          people as is, but I retain all rights. Therefore it does not
          classify as 'Public Domain' software.

     CCCCRRRREEEEDDDDIIIITTTTSSSS
          Xsnow borrows some code from xroach by J.T. Anderson
          (jta@locus.com)

          Xsnow uses vroot.h for use with virtual window managers.
          vroot.h is copyright 1991 by Andreas Stolcke, copyright 1990
          by Solbourne Computer Inc. (stolcke@ICSI.Berkeley.EDU)

          The big Santa with the nice moving antlers and reins was
          made by Holger Veit (Holger.Veit@gmd.de).

          The idea and code for wind are from Eiichi TAZOE
          (tazoe@yamato.ibm.co.jp, tazoe@vnet.ibm.com).


     NNNNOOOOTTTTEEEESSSS
          SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm llllooooaaaadddd
          Xsnow itself doen't use very much CPU time, but it can load
          the X server and/or network quite substantially. Use less
          snowflakes and a bigger delay in such a case. On a
          standalone workstation there usually will not be be any
          problem. Another improvement can be to specify a solid
          background color with -bg and with this also specify the
          option -solidbg. This may greatly improve performance!

          SSSSGGGGIIII IIIIrrrriiiixxxx 5555....xxxx
          Silicon Graphics and Irix 5.x users may not see any snow or
          Santa at all, as long the desktop icons are visible. To
          circumvent this problem issue this command:

            /usr/lib/desktop/telldesktop quit

          The icons will disappear and Xsnow will work perfectly. To
          restart the desktop just start /usr/lib/desktop/startdesktop
          or select Desktop->Home Directory from the toolchest.

          It's even possible to have both - desktop icons and xsnow
          (and even multiple desks). You need to modify the window
          manager's resource file 4DWm, the file ~/.desktop-
          `hostname`/4DWm. Example:

          *Global.backgroundDescription:   -execute /etc/killall -TERM
          xsnow ; /usr/local/bin/xsnow
          *Desk 1.backgroundDescription:   -execute /etc/killall -TERM
          xsnow ; /usr/local/bin/xsnow
          *Desk 2.backgroundDescription:   -execute /etc/killall -TERM
          xsnow ; /usr/local/bin/xsnow

          Restart the window manager (4Dwm) from the toolchest and



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          Xsnow should appear. What this does is stop the currently
          running Xsnow and start a new one when you switch to another
          desktop.

          HHHHPPPP aaaannnndddd hhhhpppp----uuuuxxxx
          HP also uses a Workspace Manager which may interfere with
          Xsnow.  If Xsnow does not appear:  In the "Style Manager",
          choose "Backdrop" and select "NoBackdrop".  You should now
          be able to run Xsnow.

          SSSSnnnnoooowwww ddddooooeeeessss nnnnooootttt ssssttttiiiicccckkkk????
          On black-and-white X terminals snow may not stick to windows
          because backing store is on. Try specifying the option
          -nonopopup when starting Xsnow.

          SSSSnnnnoooowwww hhhhoooovvvveeeerrrriiiinnnngggg aaaabbbboooovvvveeee wwwwiiiinnnnddddoooowwwwssss????
          If you use twm it is possible you see the snow layer
          hovering a little bit above your windows. In that case set
          BorderWidth 0 in your .twmrc file. If you use windows with
          'squeezed title bars' specify a -offset to get the snow on
          the windows itself.

     SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO
          snowplough(1), your_travel_agent(1)































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