Terminal Screensavers

A screensaver was originally a defense against burn-in, where a static image left on a CRT display marked the phosphor permanently. Modern screens do not need one, so what survives is the decoration.

 

In the terminal that means small animations sized to whatever window they are given: falling characters, aquariums, fire, starfields, clocks, pipes and plasma. They run as ordinary programs in any terminal emulator or multiplexer pane, so they can be started by hand, bound to a lock command, or left going on a spare monitor.

 

Below is a list of terminal screensavers.