To say that Flash has some issues on Linux would be an understatement. It's never been as smooth or as memory efficient on Linux as it is on other operating systems (Windows in particular), and now it's been announced that Linux will no longer be officially supported (aside from the built-in Google Chrome Flash support), after the next version.
Aside from that, however, is that when watching a Flash video (on YouTube or similar websites), or sometimes even when playing a game, your computer's screensaver will kick in. You'll be happily watching the video on YouTube…
When suddenly your screensaver kicks in, or you see a dark screen, like below.
That's no fun at all! Of course, the solution is easy: jiggle the mouse. But the point is that you shouldn't need to do this. And thanks to a handy utility called Caffeine, you don't need to anymore.
Caffeine is a little panel applet (it will work on the old GNOME 2 desktop or Unity, Ubuntu's new environment, equally well), that you can use to either manually turn off (or on) the screensaver, or better yet, you can add programs in its settings so that it automatically turns itself on whenever you launch one of those programs. Here's how it works.
Caffeine isn't in the Ubuntu repositories, so you'll need to add the personal package archive (PPA) the developers have set up. So we'll need to first open up the Terminal.
Now type sudo apt-add-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa to add the PPA to your software lists.
Now type sudo apt-get update to update your software lists, then sudo apt-get install caffeine to install the program.
Once installed, you can launch Caffeine. First, however, we'll launch its settings (which will also launch the Applet), so we can configure it to our liking.
You'l see a window like this.
From here there's a lot you can do. You can use the Autostart settings to launch Caffeine at login (or you can do it manually whenever you feel like you'll need it). Probably the two "best" (read: most useful) settings are the next two options: Automatic activation and the ability to run automatically when you're viewing a Flash video.
The first (Automatic Activation) lets you select certain programs. In the screenshot above you can see that we've already added Firefox and VLC, and are in the process of adding Totem. When those programs are running, Caffeine will "see" this and automatically disable your screensaver. When you turn off the program, the screensaver is enabled.
The second option is also fantastic. Even without setting up automatic activation programs, Caffeine will sense when you're watching a Flash video and disable the screensaver for you. It can do the same thing for those who enjoy playing Quake Live.
Finally, there is the tray icon. If you think you'll be disabling and enabling the screensaver manually, it makes sense to enable the tray icon.
Otherwise, you can set Caffeine the way you want, choose to hide the tray icon, and save a bit of space.
Now, assuming the tray icon is turned on, how do you know when Caffeine is actively supressing the screensaver? Simple. If Caffeine is turned "off" so that your screensaver is active, you'll see this icon.
When Caffeine is running, so that your screensaver won't turn on, you'll see this icon.
Simple, really, but so useful! Yes, it's true that many video players offer a setting so that even though you aren't moving a mouse or hitting any keys while viewing a video, it will supress your screensaver. But if you have a lot of video players, you'll need to configure that setting, assuming the program offers it. Caffeine is so much simpler. One program that controls a single setting, so you can keep watching your videos. Perfect.
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