XScreenSaver is very old, apparently.

[Geezer]

I was just typing my password to unlock xscreensaver, and along with the password prompt was the message:

This version of XScreenSaver is very old! Please update!

It is the version that is available in Quarterly, 5.44. What is wrong with it? How do I update it, without moving completely to Latest? Is there a more recent version even available in Latest?

 

[Geezer]

 

[George]

The latest version is 6.01. Version history is here: https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/changelog.html

If you want the FreeBSD port to update, maybe contact the maintainer. He is a well known graphics developer I think. See x11/xscreensaver.

I believe you can disable the error message, too, in some xscreensaver config file.

If I remember correctly the error message stems from a conflict where linux distros refused to update xscreensaver, so the author added this little hint.

 

[memreflect]

I run using Latest, and it's still 5.44 here as well. PR 254178 is already open, so it's just a matter of time hopefully.

 

[zirias@]

It seems there are some peculiarities (like a strangely broken tarball from upstream) holding back the upgrade. I upgraded to 6.01 today nevertheless and added my results to PR 254178. Status: works for me on FreeBSD 13, but probably needs work…

If someone wants to test, apply the patch "direct upgrade to 6.01, rebased" I added there. Then either add my other patch ("drop privileges in xscreensaver-gfx") or remove @(,,4755) from the first line of pkg-plist, so it just reads bin/xscreensaver. For background (my assumptions), see my messages in the PR.