

Has Gnome 3 decided that people shouldn't want screen savers? - pavel_lishin
http://www.jwz.org/blog/2011/10/has-gnome-3-decided-that-people-shouldnt-want-screen-savers/

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dlikhten
In the last 4 years the only screen saver I have had is "turn off the monitor"
No matter how complex or cool it was, turn off the monitor was always the
choice. Sure a nifty one recently did impress the co workers with "ooooh linux
has nice screensavers" but that quickly changed into "lets just turn off the
monitor because the screen saver is so cool we stare at it, and are distracted
from the discussion". At home, 5 minutes = monitor off. No SS, just monitor
off, save the energy. Why would you want to spend cpu time/electricity
executing, rendering, and displaying a screen saver when the alternative is to
save $$?

Whatever, I'm glad.

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genieyclo
Originally, screensavers were created to prevent burning the image of the
unattended desktop to CRT monitors.

Now that we've progressed past that problem, screensavers don't serve any
tangible purpose other than to waste electricity and look cool like you've
said.

I guess pro-screensaver people will argue you can have informative
screensavers with things like the current weather, time, things like that.

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dimitar
Screen-savers to me a relic from a time of phosphor burn-in, slow starting
monitors and an annoyance that I turn-off.

I think GNOME 3 was right to not maintain them.

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LeafStorm
What bothers me about most of the things that Gnome 3 has done recently is
that they are not only changing things, but actively making it harder to
change them back.

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qx24b
Basically in the same boat. Gnome 3 left me with no equivilent to what gnome2
was and now I'm stuck with xfce or an ubuntu LTS/debian until they get
upgraded.

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hapless
Many, _many_ LCDs still use fluorescent backlights. Turning that backlight on
and off prematurely ages the lamp. Just like a CRT, you want to turn it off
(put it into sleep) when the cost of the electricity outweighs the cost to
lamp life -- e.g. overnight.

You should always have a screensaver, even if it's just "blank screen," for
when you lock your workstation for short periods.

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sp332
KDE 4.8 might not have a screensaver either, for completely different reasons.
[http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2011/10/new-screen-
loc...](http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2011/10/new-screen-locker/)
(they don't play well with the new compositor)

~~~
jameskilton
The post says that the 20-year-old screen savers probably will stop working,
and that's simply because KDE is trying to make progress. It's very well
stated and makes sense. You can rewrite them or make new ones in the new
system, screen savers will still be supported in KDE.

The GNOME people are saying "I don't think you need screensavers, so you don't
get them anymore", and aparently with about as little tact as possible.

