Hi all,
I'm the one responsible for the new xfce4-screensaver project which is now included in the Xfce infrastructure (git, bugzilla, release manager). I've introduced this project as an alternative to light-locker, GNOME/MATE Screensaver, and Xscreensaver.
Pros:
- Integration with the Xfce desktop (Xfdesktop, Xfce Power Manager, Xflock, Xfconf, Garcon, Xfce Settings Manager)
- Support for xdg-screensaver, ConsoleKit, Systemd
- DBUS interface for limited control and querying of the screensaver
- Idle time and inhibition state are based on the X11 Screensaver extension
- No GNOME or MATE dependencies
- Based on the GNOME and MATE screensavers, so the majority of the codebase is broadly used and tested
Cons:
- Yet another screensaver
- Young, not widely tested
I sought to make this project after shipping light-locker in Xubuntu for years. For hardware that supports VT swiching effectively, light-locker has been great and served us well. For hardware that does not VT switch well, users are getting locked out of their desktop and losing their work. Since the VT switch is basically how light-locker functions, this is not something that can be easily remedied and is pretty much dependent on the kernel and graphics drivers.
There's been a lot of interest already, and there are packages available across several other distributions. This by no means that it should be included in Debian, but there is a strong possibility that we will have it packaged in Ubuntu.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and I'm also available on #debian-xfce if we want to have a longer conversation about it.
Just as a note, I'll be releasing a new version in the next few days with a large number of improvements.
Thanks!
Sean (bluesabre)