Display hack
<graphics> A program with the same approximate purpose as a kaleidoscope: to make pretty pictures.
Famous display hacks include
munching squares,
smoking clover, the
BSD Unix "rain(6)" program, "worms(6)" on miscellaneous Unixes, and the
X "kaleid(1)" program.
Display hacks can also be implemented without programming by creating text files containing numerous escape sequences for interpretation by a video terminal; one notable example displayed, on any VT100, a Christmas tree with twinkling lights and a toy train circling its base.
The
hack value of a display hack is proportional to the aesthetic value of the images times the cleverness of the algorithm divided by the size of the code.
Synonym
psychedelicware.
[
Jargon File]
