gnome-screensaver is a new screensaver that can replace xscreensaver. It is designed to integrate well with the desktop and provide a control interface that is desktop neutral. It simplifies and streamlines the experience for the user and provides more capability for the system administrator and vendor.
It is designed to support:
- a desktop neutral control interface via DBus
- a desktop neutral and standard way to install and manage screensaver themes
- switching users directly from the unlock dialog
- allowing a system administrator to set a mandatory policy for any setting
- a secure separation of user input processing and authentication from the screen locking window
- a separation between the screensaver theme engine and the theme settings
- integration with the desktop (themes, fonts, toolkit)
- translation into many languages by the GNOME Translation Project
- instantly applying settings changes
Looking for Help?
Report bugs to GNOME Bugzilla under the gnome-screensaver product.
Getting gnome-screensaver for Development
You will need to use GNOME 2.11.4 or later.
Development ideas
- Pause music (rhytmbox, banshee) on screen lock and continue when unlocking
- Generic callback interface for other applications based on d-bus. (Music play/pause, timekeeping, presence)
- Write manpages for gnome-screensaver and gnome-screensaver-command
- Do something usefull with a locked screen (display a clock, new email count (evolution) and missed calls (ekiga). This is what most cellphones do)
- Use-application-as-screensaver function. (e.g. run banshee fullscreen, but disallow starting other applications) (multiple levels of locked-ness?) This is different from a permanently locked-down kiosk-mode web browser (it is not permanent; it should be fast, easy, flexible and user-friendly).
- leave notes to visitors (e.g "Will be back at 2pm, call me on extension 123 if you need me.") (Get phone number from gnome-about-me prefs, display public schedule from evolution?)
Getting From SVN
To get the very latest copy you'll need to pull it from SVN. Here's how you'll do it.
svn co http://svn.gnome.org/svn/gnome-screensaver/trunk gnome-screensaver
Browse the code in SVN: http://svn.gnome.org/viewcvs/gnome-screensaver/trunk/
Getting From a Package
Download the latest source package from the package directory http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/gnome-screensaver/.
Using JHBuild
JHBuild offers dependency handled building which can make testing a lot easier. Follow the instructions from the jhbuild site to get up and running, then run this to get the latest version.
jhbuild build gnome-screensaver
