bsod — Blue Screen of Death emulator

Synopsis

bsod [-display host:display.screen] [-foreground color] [-background color] [-window] [-root] [-mono] [-install] [-visual visual] [-delay seconds] [-fps]

Description

The bsod program is the finest in personal computer emulation.

bsod steps through a set of screens, each one a recreation of a different failure mode of an operating system. Systems depicted include Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, MS-DOS, AmigaDOS 1.3, Linux, SCO UNIX, BSD UNIX, HPUX, Solaris, Tru64, VMS, HVX/GCOS6, IBM OS/390, OS/2, MacOS (MacsBug, Bomb, Sad Mac, and OSX), Atari ST, Apple ][+, and NCD X Terminals.

Options

bsod accepts the following options:
-window
Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default.
-root
Draw on the root window.
-mono
If on a color display, pretend we're on a monochrome display.
-install
Install a private colormap for the window.
-visual visual
Specify which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual.
-delay delay
The duration each crash-mode is displayed before selecting another.
-only which
Tell it to run only one mode, e.g., -only HPUX.
-fps
Display the current frame rate and CPU load.

Environment

DISPLAY
to get the default host and display number.
XENVIRONMENT
to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

X resources

Notable X resources supported include the following, which control which hacks are displayed and which aren't. doWindows, doNT, doWin2K, doAmiga, doMac, doMac1, doMacsBug, doMacX, doSCO, doAtari, doBSD, doLinux, doSparcLinux, doHPPALinux, doBlitDamage, doSolaris, doHPUX, doApple2, doOS390, doTru64, doVMS, doMSDOS, doOS2, doHVX, and doATM. Each of these is a Boolean resource, they all default to true, except for doAtari, doBSD, doSparcLinux, and doHPPALinux, which are turned off by default, because they're really not all that interesting looking unless you're a fan of those systems.

There are command-line options for all of these: e.g., -bsd, -no-bsd. (Also note the -only option.)

Bugs

Unlike the systems being simulated, bsod does not require a reboot after running.

Trademarks

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows 95, and Microsoft Windows NT are all registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Apple Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. Amiga is a registered trademark of Amiga International, Inc. Atari ST is probably a trademark, too, but it's hard to tell who owns it. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds, but it isn't his fault. OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

Author

Concept cribbed from Stephen Martin <smartin@mks.com>. This version is by Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, with contributions from many others.