How To Get Electric Sheep To Work With Xscreensaver

Electric Sheep is a really cool screensaver which communicates with other computers that use the screensaver to generate complex fractal animations.

By default, Electric Sheep doesn't show up in Xscreensaver preferences / screensavers list, so here's how to solve this issue.

Firstly, you obviously need to install Xscreensaver and Electric Sheep. For how to set up Xscreensaver in Ubuntu 11.10, see our Things To Tweak After Installing Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot post.

To install Electric Sheep in Ubuntu, use the command below:

sudo apt-get install electricsheep

Now, to get Electric Sheep to show up in Xscreensaver you need to edit the Xscreensaver configuration file (~/.xscreensaver):

gedit ~/.xscreensaver

And at the bottom of the screensavers list - not at the bottom of the file -, which should look like this (not the same lines but you should get the idea):

  GL:     photopile -root        \n\
  GL:     skytentacles -root       \n\
  GL:     rubikblocks -root       \n\

add the following line:

GL: electricsheep --root 1 \n\

Then save the file and open the Xscreensaver preferences - Electric Sheep should now be available in the screensavers list.

[via AskUbuntu]

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How To Change The GNOME Screensaver Lock Screen Background

There isn't much info about customizing the lock screen appearance for GNOME 2 so WebUpd8 reader Oleg has sent us a tip on how to change the GNOME screensaver unlock dialog background.

Before proceeding, please note that this will only work with GNOME 2 (so it will only work in Ubuntu Natty, Maverick and older, etc.) and will also change the GDM login screen background, unless you're already using a custom GDM background (set via Ubuntu Tweak, GDM Tweaker, Gconf, etc.).

The command below works with both static files and xml wallpaper slideshows (like the Cosmos wallpaper available in Ubuntu or "A Day in the Life". You can create such slideshows automatically using CreBS.

1. To change the GNOME screensaver lock screen background, run the following command in a terminal:

sudo gconftool-2 --direct --config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults --set /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename --type string /path/to/file.jpg

Where "/path/to/file.jpg" is the exact path to the wallpaper you want to use as a background for the unlock screen.

2. After running the command above, you need to log out and log back in or run the following commands in a terminal:

killall gconfd-2
killall gnome-screensaver

You can also set the lock screen background to your current desktop wallpaper by using the command below:

sudo gconftool-2 --direct --config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults --set /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename --type string `gconftool-2 --get /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename`

Revert the changes

If you want to revert this customization, run the following command in a terminal:

sudo gconftool-2 --direct --config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults --unset /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename

Thanks to Oleg for the tip!

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