Greetings
It's possible there may be few enough "oldies but goodies" that this thread could qualify for including a Poll, but since I am only going to mention one of those (Stars or Starfield, the view from the bridge of Starship Enterprise as so many called it, featuring the onrushing "cone" of stars as if we are hurling through Space), as a distant runner-up. I chose to keep it open for the more esoteric ScreenSavers.

My all-time favorite, a completely hypnotic erver-morphing image such as one might view through a really good kaleidoscope, has been absent from my desktop for many years because I have not been able to find it, despite several exhaustive searches and the willingness to pay. It might have been easier to find if I hadn't inherited it in a pack of 7 CDs that was given me by my late Mother-in-Law b ecause it wasn't what she'd expected. It was advertised as a cornucopia of new and breakthru apps and games when in reality it was mainly Nagware ("first one's free!). However the screensaver was absolutely jawdropping, breathtaking and highly hypnotically beautiful kaleidescope. It was published somewhere around 1994-1996 amd yo this day shocks me that it was so complex yet smooth for back then. I had it on my shop PC for several years and often found customers staring transfixed in awe.

If anyone knows of an extreme quality kaledoscope screensqaver, I'd love a screenie or link.

Xscreensaver has several Kaleidoscope screensavers built into it. Xscreensaver is my screensaver of choice on Linux.

The best Kaleidoscope screensaver I've ever seen, I must say, was a Windows shareware thing called Kaleidoscope95; I think I paid $15 to register it, and I'm still using it on Windows 7. It has dozens of configuration options and, on top of it all, will dance to the music if you are playing audio. I don't even know if it's still available, but I doubt it.

Later: I found a link for the publisher. They are indeed kaput. It was in this article:

http://www.technofileonline.com/texts/tec091398.html

Electricsheep.
jdk

I like the one that turns the screen off.

Indeed. If there's anything overheating and resource hogging, but breathtaking and highly hypnotically beautiful it's Electric Sheep.

:P

Electric Sheep is truly amazing--sometimes overwhelming--but would it qualify as kaleidoscope-like?

:wow:

How are you using that?
Debian Package Search shows it's no longer available?

In truth I haven't used it for a while. I recall you have to set up xscreensaver. I believe you can get the package on the ElectricSheep website.
jdk

Thanks, I'll have to give it a go some time.

Thanks! Since electric sheep is fractal and kaleidoscopes are fractal, I'd say each is a subset of fractal animation and fo sho electric sheep twirls my beanie

These are not kaleidoscope screensavers (and I don't use a screensaver anymore), but I liked the Matrix one and the one with the face of a guy in flames smoking a pipe. I think both are (were?) included in most Linux distros.

If I install a Linux distro that does not default to xscreensaver, but instead has some lamer derivative thereof such as gnome-screensaver or kscreensaver or any of their lamer spawn, I immediately replace said lamer screensaver with xscreensaver.

A real screensaver is an apt-get away.

(Not that I have strong feelings about lamer screensavers or anything of that nature.)