The Ubuntu community has contributed 12357 ideas, 58479 comments, 1187050 votes
Idea
#4480: Automatically start application when screensaver starts
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126
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Written by gijsterbeek the 13 Mar 08 at 13:51.
Category: System.
Related to:
Nothing/Others.
Status: New
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Description
When the screensaver starts, this mostly means the user isn't using his computer for a while. It should then start executing tasks which have a high demand of resources but a low urgency (to the user) and require no interaction. For example:
1. Finish downloading that large torrent
2. Check for and install (security) updates for installed applications
3. Get new mail
4. Put the - still running - media player into full screen mode (like AmarokFS for Amarok)
5. Run a backup
This of course should be totally configurable (which applications, wait time after starting screen saver, which one first, etcetera)
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Comments
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stormzen wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 15:48
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If you use xscreensaver, you can have it report when it activates and write scripts to execute when it does. I use a simple perl script that monitors the output of a piped command to fire off a time-keeping script.
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redd wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 15:49
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Yes! Another idea is tu use this for trackerd. At the moment it starts at the session-start. This is really dumb, because I want to start working after booting and trackerd makes my PC very slow.
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popi wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 17:52
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and in default conf of the ubuntu repository version of claimav antivirus for ubuntu users who want to scan their windows discs or make more secure a computer desktop/server.
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tbrminsanity wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 18:27
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This is a great idea. For my windows computer I have a screen saver that defrags the computer when it activates. It helps keep the computer running efficiently. But I really like the idea of having any task run during screensaver activity.
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Eldmannen wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 19:49
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Check new e-mail would be kinda nice kick-kin when the screensaver activates. :)
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alvevind wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 22:30
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Many of the screensavers included in Ubuntu are really heavy on the processor in order to look good. Especially on not-brand-new computers. If you run heavy computing on top of this everything would crawl and the screensaver animation would look awful.
I would instead suggest that these background processes be run after the computer has had a high amount of idle resources for some time (say 10 minutes). So if you have a screensaver that is using very little resources you could have the background tasks run. But if your screensaver is a eye candy type realtime generated fancy animated 3D fractal with animated textures and reflections and everything there would not be enough spare resources to run them at the same time. Want them done while screensaving - choose another saver.
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gijsterbeek wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 22:46
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@alvevind
Right! Ubuntu just ships with the wrong screensavers.
I still wonder why people still use these screensavers. The only screensaver that really saves your screen is the one that's just plain black. The other ones (most of them) wear out your monitor /and/ your CPU /and/ your GPU.
The point of a screen saver is saving your hardware. Not destroying it.
We might as well propose a disk saver: An application that writes random bits to your harddisk in order to spread the wear evenly across its surface.
Or an inksaver: As soon as you are as much as leaning away from your computer, the printer starts printing those same beautiful fancy textured reflections (preferrably in dark shades) just to make sure all cartridges are equally empty.
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gaspard.leon wrote on the 14 Mar 08 at 04:21
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LOL inksaver!! I love it
I almost always use the "blank screen" screensaver followed by turning the monitor off after 1 minute..
would be nice to have this "start process at ss startup" functionality
seems it would be (sort of) simple with upstart, just need it to emit an event and start a process... what we really need is a gui for setting up upstart events... or something
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EdLesMann wrote on the 20 Mar 08 at 19:01
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I have a cron job that I have run every day at 4am because that was the only time of the day that I knew I would not be sitting in front of my computer. This cron job runs a simple bash script with three parts that I edit regularly.
The first part is one time jobs (eg: wget latest.download.tar.gz ).
The second part is regular jobs (eg: rsync /home to /backup )
The third part is frequently reoccurring jobs (eg: rsync /backup to second system every Sunday)
I have only now thought about having this run during a screensaver. Most of the tasks I have would be perfect for this. Open a menu, add this task, tell it how often you want it to run (or what days), and let the screensaver do the work next time I leave. Kinda like a version of cron that only runs when you are gone. I think it's brilliant but needs to be well thought out.
Scheduling jobs to launch should be easy enough, but what happens say if you pick up the phone and step away for 20 minutes and the job it launches was the rsync of /home that will take 2 hours? Or worse...I have a physics program that I used to use for work and I would save and launch all my jobs at night because CPU and Memory was going to be all used up while it ran. Come back from the phone and your computer is useless until the job completes! Even suggestions from posters above like trackerd or clamav, leave for 20 minutes and when you come back your computer is being used for a good amount of time doing a job that you wanted to be done when you were not there!
I don't want to scare anyone from this idea because I think it is a very good idea. I just think it is going to need to be well thought out in how it handles tasks. Especially if the tasks are going to be long tasks or heavy resource tasks. Maybe the program can just be "dumb" and execute the items in order and it is up to the user to ensure that they don't get put into the problem above.
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eyerouge wrote on the 4 Apr 08 at 01:51
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Nice idea. Makes perfect sense.
Also, since it's up to each individual to set it up and determine if he/she is going to use it for programs that take 3 min or 3 hours straight there's little to worry about on that front: You get the result you set yourself.
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