[xubuntu-users] Keep display on permanently

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Sun, 3 Jan 2021 09:33:27 -0800, MR ZenWiz wrote:
>Have you tried uninstalling xfce4-screensaver altogether?

Hi,

when using Xubuntu Live-DVDs I noticed, that after using the power
manager GUI to set everything energy saving for the display to off, then
still the screensaver is active.

However, for whatsoever X based Linux _install_, a starting point is
adding

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option "BlankTime" "0"
    Option "StandbyTime" "0"
    Option "SuspendTime" "0"
    Option "OffTime" "0"
EndSection

to either /etc/X11/xorg.conf or /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/some_file

and for whatever WM/DE you are using, to not autostart (if needed
to disable) any power manager and/or screensaver.

For my Linux installs I tend to use plain openbox sessions, no DE
involved and only launch xfce4-power-manager or similar, to allow
turning of the display on demand.

However, AFAIK nowadays at least some Linux media players automatically
do the trick vice versa. If some software turns off displays, then when
using those media players, nothing does turn off the displays anymore.

What I'm missing for Linux is a feature such as e.g. photo related
apps on iPadOS do provide. While the display's light by default is
dimmed, it's not dimmed anymore, when using photo related apps.

For Linux I'm using an EIZO display, if I would use Windows, but I
don't do so, I could chose EIZO screen profiles by the operating system
on demand. On Linux it's possible to chose profiles by the EIZO display
itself only, but AFAIK it's not such advanced, as when controlling
everything by the operating system. IIRC I can control colour by the
EIZO display's profiles, but not dimming.

Linux is a good alternative to proprietary solutions, especially
related to privacy, but hardware related features are a weak point of
Linux. Reminds me of something quite odd I experienced today. For my old
Toshiba SSDs Toshiba provided Linux software, but for my new Toshiba
SSD + the old once I needed to make a bootable USB stick, based upon
an Apple format, but running a Linux and then to copy the software that
runs without issues on any other Linux install, see
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ocz-ssd-utility/#comment-784140 .

To enjoy the pros of Linux (or FreeBSD), we need to accept some
cons. For some tasks I'm using Apple, but I'll never ever drop Linux
(or FreeBSD) as soon as the primary part is privacy or customization of
some other features.

Controlling displays by Linux is a PITA. I've written a bunch of huge
shell scripts to get tailored profiles for different dual-display
purposes, including LCD, but also mode lines for CRTs, even setting
different panel and wallpaper profiles, that fit best to the chosen
dual-display purposes.

Regards,
Ralf