Show HN: ANSI-Saver – A macOS Screensaver(github.com) Hi, I've been working on something I've been thinking for long time but since I had no experience with macOS screen savers I always posponed. Now thanks to Claude I was able to create a screensaver that scroll ANSI files while your computer is idle. It allow to use local ANS files or packs directly from 16colo.rs. |
The options could be baud rates: 56k, 14.4, 2400
My terminal loads ANSI each time it opens, but requires downloading artpacks first: https://github.com/retlehs/ansimotd
I also like how your README suggests specific packs to grab
Added a modem emulation mode:
Still a bit rough around the edges. I am currently adding per-character animation so the grid enters like a "wave"
Apple are dicks about making it easy to test on older macOS revisions, but I'm sure that'd actually be easier than you'd expect too. (I have a FOSS project that has macOS as a supported target. It targets OS X Mavericks, released in 2013. I don't have any easy way of testing anything older than macOS Ventura, released in 2022, and to be honest I don't really care to figure out how to do any better, but, last time somebody complained about OS X Mavericks incompatibility, and I fixed the problem, which was actually very easy to do: it did apparently work.) Put in a modicum of effort and I'm sure you can make this thing work for every Mac sold since like 2015, and there'd be a non-zero chance it'd work for some older ones too.
Thinking back to when BBSs were a thing, since that'd be on topic: perhaps Americans got a lucky break with the Apple II, in production from 1977-1993 (says Wikipedia) and seemingly a viable commercial platform for a measurable fraction of the period? For me, growing up in the UK in the late 20th century, the whole computer ecosystem seemed to get pretty much completely refreshed about every 10 years at the very most. Buy a BBC Micro in 1983: platform dead by 1990. Buy a ZX Spectrum in 1983: platform dead by 1991. Buy an Atari ST in 1985: platform dead by 1992. Buy an Amiga in 1986: platform dead by 1994. The PC was a bit of an exception, as the OS remained the same (for good or for ill...) for longer, but the onward march of hardware progress meant that you'd need new hardware every few years if you wanted to actually run recent software.
Anyway, my basic thinking is that if in March 2026 you are releasing some software that requires you to have a computer manufactured at some point in the 2020s, then this is hardly without historical precedent. It might even simply be the natural order of things.
Me? I set the displays to go to sleep after N minutes.
It seems to also download the HTML for the 16colors page, and will occasionally display it.
There are so many packs on that site to choose from, it would be great to get some pointers on which ones to install.
I tried building myself, and the build ended with a certificate error. (I get it, distributing software always hits unexpected snags.)
Then I installed from zip and when I use preview (in the screen saver options,) I just get a blank screen. There's a message at the top of the screen, but most of it is truncated from the notch from the camera.
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Edit: I tried adding sources, but they don't seem to download. Not sure why. Sigh.