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MurphyG
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:37 am    Post subject: xscreensaver complaining about its age Reply with quote

Annoyed by the XScreenSaver nag message "Update available! This version is very old."? Paste the patch below into
Code:
/etc/portage/patches/x11-misc/xscreensaver/remove-update-message-6.01.patch
re-emerge and be happy.

Code:
--- xscreensaver-6.01/driver/dialog.c.orig      2022-11-13 11:20:48.097001236 +0100
+++ xscreensaver-6.01/driver/dialog.c   2022-11-13 11:26:04.350979562 +0100
@@ -1285,7 +1285,7 @@
   lines[i].align = CENTER;
   i++;
 
-  if (time ((time_t *) 0) - XSCREENSAVER_RELEASED > 60*60*24*30*17)
+  /*if (time ((time_t *) 0) - XSCREENSAVER_RELEASED > 60*60*24*30*17)
     {
       lines[i].text  = _("Update available!\nThis version is very old.\n");
       lines[i].font  = ws->error_font;
@@ -1295,7 +1295,7 @@
       lines[i].align = CENTER;
       i++;
     }
-  else if (strstr (ws->version, "a") ||
+  else*/ if (strstr (ws->version, "a") ||
       strstr (ws->version, "b"))
     {
       lines[i].text  = _("PRE-RELEASE VERSION");
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Banana
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got this message the other day too. Are there any plans on an update?

I mean, it works why build in such a "warning"?
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Hu
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 7:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is probably a continuation of https://www.jwz.org/blog/2016/04/i-would-like-debian-to-stop-shipping-xscreensaver/.
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Banana
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wait, there is a latest software availble or did I miss someting?
Why isn't update in portage?

Any replacement?
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Hu
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

According to the cited code, this is purely a time based check. The author apparently assumed there was no way the package would go 17 months with no updates, so the package just assumes that once it is 17 months old, it must be out of date.
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Banana
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

since I do only use the screensaver to lock the system, is there an alternative? Just asking out if curiosity and not out of I really need one.
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AJM
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Banana wrote:
since I do only use the screensaver to lock the system, is there an alternative? Just asking out if curiosity and not out of I really need one.


x11-misc/slock (from suckless) has worked faultlessly for me for a few years now...
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psycho
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

AJM wrote:
Banana wrote:
since I do only use the screensaver to lock the system, is there an alternative? Just asking out if curiosity and not out of I really need one.


x11-misc/slock (from suckless) has worked faultlessly for me for a few years now...

+1 for slock. None of the pointless bells and whistles, just does the job well.
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Banana
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thx, will try it.
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MurphyG
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hu wrote:
This is probably a continuation of https://www.jwz.org/blog/2016/04/i-would-like-debian-to-stop-shipping-xscreensaver/.

Not exactly. But it's interesting to read about Jamie's (IMHO a bit egocentric) POV. So, here's my own egocentric POV:

  1. This patch is purely for my own convenience, and those who are as annoyed as me by a red flashing pointless alert every time they log in. As a user I just don't care about the warning, as long as the provided application does it's job properly.
  2. It's not that the version provided by portage is totally outdated. xscreensaver appears to be rock-solid in the core, getting the necessary maintanence to adapt to the changing lib landscape. Feel free to update me about major issues I as a non-maintainer am ignorantly not aware of.
  3. That discussion is 7 years old, with the last contribution made 6 years ago. It might be time to reconsider the implicit or explicit requirements that might have been appropriate back then, or in the ages before.
  4. Maintaining a solely time-based obsolescence warning for a settled application in maintenance mode seems a bit short-sighted to me. Face it, there's software that will be out here for the next decades, as long as it's useful and can be maintained.
  5. I don't care if Jamie is striving to fight the implications of his own law and still plans to add reading email to xscreensaver (or does it already?) to fend off obsolescence ;-)
  6. Package maintainers also have other considerations and requirements to take into account than the somehow arbitrary wishes of the original creator to always jump at their latest release. Note that this discussion is not directly related to licensing (AFAI can tell).

But why am I holding on to xscreensaver?

  • Because I always did use it.
  • Because I'm too lazy to switch.
  • Because it does it's job.
  • Because I'm accustomed, if not addicted, to exactly one of the screensavers.
  • Because I can watch that screensaver and lock my screen with it.


Disclaimer: This post was written for my amusement, to some extend to satisfy a sarcastic streak, and a tiny bit because reading jwz's demands stirred some protest in me. Totally not to annoy any Gentoo maintainers.
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