Randroot v1.1

Randomizer for Image Display on the Root Window.

Randroot was written one evening because I happen to have a lot of cool images that I like, but I hate manually setting whichever one to my root window. So...I wrote a program that was primarily derived from a collection of functions I keep around.

It's not any great leaping steps in technology...it's actually pretty hum-drum, but it gets the job done fairly well.

If you have any suggestions for it, please send them to: spowers@ncsa.uiuc.edu



Building Randroot -- 1-2-3

Building Randroot should be a piece of cake. There isn't much to it. The only problems you might have are the random and password functions. If you have trouble and need to change something, please send me your changes so I can incorporate them!

  1. Unpack the distribution.
  2. Edit the Makefile for your system.
  3. Type make.

Installing Randroot -- Nothing to it...

Installing Randroot is a piece of cake. You can't miss.

  1. Edit the Makefile to reflect the installation directory.
  2. Become Super-User.
  3. Type make -n install (just to make sure its going where you want it).
  4. Type make install.

Configuring Randroot -- I saved the hardest for last.

Configuring Randroot should be fairly straightforward, but you have to follow the directions expressly. If there is anything wrong in the rc file, Randroot will let you know upon startup.

  1. Run Randroot and answer "Y" (yes) to whether you want a default ~/.randrootrc [You must have one].
  2. Edit the .randrootrc to suit your system, since the default .randrootrc file
  3. probably doesn't match anyone elses system.
  4. Re-Run Randroot and if everything is set up correctly, you should see one of your images! If not, then you need to check the diagnostics printed out by Randroot.
  5. If you change the .randrootrc, you will need to kill off the current Randroot and start it again.

Running Randroot

The randroot usage (from -v):
Randroot 1.1: Random Root Image Chooser
Scott Powers (spowers@ncsa.uiuc.edu)    Brandon Long (blong@uiuc.edu)
 
Usage: randroot [-vkq] [-r rcfilename] [-p pidfilename]
-v              : Echo version and usage information
-k              : Kill currently running randroot
-q              : Quit after displaying one image
-r rcfilename   : Specify alternate Configuration File
-p pidfilename  : Specify alternate PID File

Don't worry, its not that complicated. You can use randroot in most situations by doing nothing more than typing randroot. The other functions are for more advanced usage, such as if your system administrator installs it to run during the login screen for X.

One possible way to use randroot (to keep from having to kill off and start up a new randroot to get a background.):

Another possibility is to have randroot run while no one is logged in, and then kill it to let your users do whatever they want for a background image.


This is a list of things that have been suggested.