Xscreensaver command free#

These extensions are nominally for debugging and automation, but they are also security-circumventing keystroke loggers. Many distros enable by default several X11 server extensions that can be used to bypass grabs, and thus snoop on you while you’re typing your password. The strength of the lock on your front door doesn’t matter much so long as someone else in the house insists on leaving a key under the welcome mat. There’s little that I can do to make the screen locker be secure so long as the kernel and X11 developers are actively working against security like this. It shoots down random long-running programs of its choosing, and so might might target and kill xscreensaver, and there’s no way for xscreensaver to protect itself from that. This is the Linux kernel 'OOM-killer' keystroke. You can disable it by turning off AllowClosedownGrabs in nf. This so-called 'feature' showed up in the X server in 2008, and as of 2011, some vendors are shipping it turned on by default.

This keystroke kills any X11 app that holds a lock, so typing this will kill xscreensaver and unlock the screen. There is no way to disable VT switching only when the screen is locked. You can disable VT switching globally and permanently by setting DontVTSwitch in your nf, but that might make your system harder to use, since VT switching is an actual useful feature. So don’t leave yourself logged in on other consoles. If you left a shell logged in on another virtual console, it is unprotected. These keystrokes will switch to a different virtual console, while leaving the console that X11 is running on locked. To disable this keystroke globally and permanently, you need to set the DontZap flag in your nf or XF86Config or XF86Config-4 file, depending which is in use on your system. If the user launched X11 manually, that text console will still be logged in.

This keystroke kills the X server, and on some systems, leaves you at a text console. If you care about keeping your screen locked, this is a big problem.

The XFree86 X server and the Linux kernel both trap certain magic keystrokes before X11 client programs ever see them. (It doesn’t even need to be fast 3D hardware: the problem will be fixed if there is any 3D hardware at all.) It's not really a keyboard shortcut in the strictest sense (first you activate Launchbar with it's own shortcut - then key in sss or whatever you chose/taught lanchbar to use for the built in Start Screen Saver action.) Any other commercial 'launcher' product should work as well to activate the ScreenSaverEngine app that is hidden deep inside /System/Library/Frameworks/amework/.Your options are: don’t use the OpenGL display modes or, collect the spare change hidden under the cushions of your couch, and use it to buy a video card manufactured after 1998. I am a very happy user of LaunchBar which allows a quick keyboard only method to start the Screen Saver. I'd try making a simpler script just to open the engine at the hard coded path if you only wanted to engage the saver.

Xscreensaver command free#

I agree with Jason's answer - the only built in way to lock the screen (which sleeps the display but does not engage the screensaver animation) is the shift control media eject shortcut.Ī free solution would be to use RedSweater's product FastScripts to map your choice of keyboard shortcut to call one of the AppleScripts that are floating around the net to toggle the screen saver engine rather than just let the display sleep.