On Sat 27 May 2017 at 12:32:06 (+0100), Brian wrote: > On Fri 26 May 2017 at 17:57:40 -0500, Michael Milliman wrote: > > > On 05/25/2017 05:56 AM, Richard Owlett wrote: > > > > > > If I had read the man page more slowly that using the menu to set the > > > image as wallpaper was unnecessary. Use: > > > feh --no-xinerama --bg-fill > > > /usr/share/backgrounds/mate/desktop/GreenTraditional.jpg > > > > > > > > And actually, the --no-xinerama flag is not needed, at least on my > > system. I use feh --bg-fill ... and it works just fine. Of course, > > that is a very limited (and safe) usage of feh. I don't think it wise > > to use it for anything much more (IMHO). > > Surprising after all these years that feh is now revealed as an unsafe > image viewer.
Wow, I didn't realise I'd participated in a revelation. I noticed the overwriting problem in September 2007, within days of buying a digital camera that set the orientation flag. (Previously, I'd been using a work cast-off which didn't set it.) I'd used xzgv for some years as my image viewer but never had much luck with its --exif-orient option, so I tried feh as an alternative because it appeared to honour it. Very soon after using feh, I noticed that the timestamps displayed by mc on my camera picture directories were getting screwed up. Of course, these picture files get backed up straight from the SD card before I even look at them, so I was able to restore the original pictures without any difficulty once I'd worked out what to blame. (However there are still probably a few downloaded images that are not in their original state, because I have no practical way of discovering which ones they are.) Apologies for not bringing it up then. I didn't resubscribe here for another 8 years and was only reminded about the problem on seeing this thread. FWIW I use xsetbg (xloadimage) for my desktops, but my laptops use the background colour as a battery-state and, in extremis, CPU temperature indicator. So, for example, if the power cord dislodges, the presently green background will switch to yellow. > I use it to look at an image prior to printing it from feh > and see that as quick, reliable and convenient but not as unwise. Understood. I didn't know whether you were a feh user, or had just read the man page, when I made my mouse comment. In any case, such single-use instances as proof-checking and wallpaper-setting may well justify its use, but my comment about its misdescription and dangers was intended for readers of this list who might use it as a general-purpose viewer after installing it in the wake of this thread. BTW I checked the error message I mentioned earlier. Feh itself emits the incorrect error message for PNG files, but the correct message is emitted by the spawned jpegtran program for JPGs. Cheers, David.
