popsquares screensaver missing/not found - accidentally removed from xscreensaver-data prior to 5.10-3ubuntu4?

Asked by FactTech

Binary package hint: xscreensaver

On a new install of Lucid, I can't find the popsquares screensaver, which was previously part of xscreensaver.

The changelog for the gnome-screensaver package shows that it was recently removed from there because the developers thought it was part of the xscreensaver-extra package (see https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/lucid/+source/gnome-screensaver/+changelog for gnome-screensaver 2.28.0-1ubuntu1). However, the popsquares screensaver is not currently listed as part of the xscreensaver-extra package.

This particular screensaver was a favorite of my son. Any chance it can be restored? If not, any suggestions on how to add it manually?

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Micah Gersten (micahg) said :
#1

Thank you for taking the time to report this issue and helping to make Ubuntu better. Examining the information you have given us, this does not appear to be a bug report so we are closing it and converting it to a question in the support tracker. We appreciate the difficulties you are facing, but it would make more sense to raise problems you are having in the support tracker at https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu if you are uncertain if they are bugs. For help on reporting bugs, see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#When%20not%20to%20file%20a%20bug. There is also a vibrant support community available at http://askubuntu.com and you might consider asking your question there.

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Micah Gersten (micahg) said :
#2

This is actually part of the xscreensaver-data-extra package.

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FactTech (launchpad-facttechnologies) said :
#3

Interesting. I was able to locate the executable for it in /usr/lib/xscreensaver, but it does not appear as an option when trying to select it using the GNOME application at System -> Preferences -> Screensaver.

Is it possible that this is because there is apparently no popsquares.desktop file to be found in /usr/share/applications/screensavers? I ask because other screensavers on the list seem to have a corresponding .desktop file in this location, which is missing for popsquares.

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Tormod Volden (tormodvolden) said :
#4

FactTech, yes, this is because of the missing .desktop file. It could not be shipped in xscreensaver since it would conflict with the one from gnome-screensaver. This is of course not necessary now that it has been removed from gnome-screensaver in Ubuntu.

And yes, I would consider it a bug that it was /removed/ from gnome-screensaver because "it was already in xscreensaver". As far as I remember they were two different saver hacks, although similar, and it was only the name that was clashing. The correct fix would be to have the gnome-screensaver one renamed to for instance "gnome-squares", so that both can be shipped if desired.

In my opinion these things should be sorted out u

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Tormod Volden (tormodvolden) said :
#5

FactTech, yes, this is because of the missing .desktop file. It could not be shipped in xscreensaver since it would conflict with the one from gnome-screensaver. This is of course not necessary in Ubuntu now that it has been removed from gnome-screensaver. The correct solution would be to reenable it in xscreensaver-data-extra.

To add it manually, just make a desktop file in /usr/share/applications/screensavers by copying and editing one of the existing ones.

Revision history for this message
Tormod Volden (tormodvolden) said :
#6

Please discard my first response which my touchpad willingly sent away, that was before I actually checked the old gnome popsquares and realized it was pretty much the same as the xscreensaver one, only the colours are different.

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