please help: xv on FC6 x86_64 won't set root window

[Phil Meyer]

Cameron Simpson wrote:
> On 15Mar2007 15:50, Phil Meyer <pmeyer at themeyerfarm.com> wrote:
> | Aaron Konstam wrote:
> | >On Thu, 2007-03-15 at 13:04 -0600, Phil Meyer wrote:
> | >>Correct, xv is not relevant any more.
> | >>And yes, I was a fan of xv for years, but that was many years ago,
> | >>now. :)
> | >>    
> | >I don't know why xv is not relevant. It works more easily to display
> | >images, change image coding, manipulate sizes, crop, etc that anything
> | >else I have seen.
> | 
> | As you stated, there has been no development on xv for years now.  That 
> | alone makes it irrelevant.
>
> That is a non sequitur. I use xv routinely to view images. It is fast to
> load, VERY easy to use, has the nice shnauser tool etc. "cat" doesn't
> get much development either.
>
> | But here are some more reasons:
> | 1. No support for 'Desktop' controls.  Only supports the X root window.
>
> Not everyone uses a "desktop" tool. I don't.
>
> I use fvwm-root to set wallpaper images though, as it sets the property a
> lot of pseudo-transparent terminals honour.
>   
A purist you may be, but there are advantages to Gnome, and KDE, 
although the resource requirements do seem to get higher and higher.
> | 2. Antiquated user interface.
>
> Yet faster and _easier_ than many recent tools.
>   
Perhaps, but xv is not something that I would recommend to anyone any more.
> | 3. Newer tools may be superior, although not as comprehensive; ie: 
>
> Hmm, an oxymoron too! Yay.
>   
The old saying that 'UNIX users do it with small modular tools' rings 
true here.  Using more than one tool to mess with images is appropriate 
to the functionality desired.
> | 4. xv is not maintained as an rpm (that I know of)
>
> It's shareware, not freeware or GPL. The standard repositories won't
> carry it. It's easy to build and has several handy patches.
>
> | xv had its day, and I regret its passing, but in my most humble opinion, 
> | it has surely passed.
>
> I trust you've abandoned the command line too then.
>   

Haha, funny you should say that.  More than 25 years of CLI for me, and 
punchcards and teletype before that.

I first saw xv when I was asked to build it on SUNOS in -- hmmm for sure 
1991 but possibly earlier.  If my memory holds, that was SUNOS 4.0.3C.

When xv went dark, I moved on.

% gthumb .

Works for me!