OpenRiot v5.5 — The Tasteful Renaissance
“Your SSD is not a pet. It does not recognize you by smell. Moving it to a new machine is like teleporting into a different dimension — everything looks the same, but the laws of physics are wrong.” — Ancient OpenBSD proverb, probably carved into a ThinkPad somewhere
Release Overview
OpenRiot v5.5 is what happens when you sober up mid-party and realize the lock screen wallpapers were, shall we say, enthusiastically calibrated for a different audience. We’ve applied the digital equivalent of a tasteful black bar, replaced the questionable choices with 35 new backgrounds that won’t get you fired in a screen-share, and fixed a CPU frequency bug that made your mouse feel like it was having a seizure.
Total changes: 13 commits, 2 existential crises, 1 mouse saved from caffeine overdose.
🔒 Lock Screens: From NSFW to SFW (Sorta)
The Problem: Our lock screen collection had drifted into territory that made HR departments nervous. Let’s be honest — some of those wallpapers were aggressively artistic. Users reported feeling the need to alt-tab faster than a teenager closing a browser tab when their mom walks in.
The Fix: We’ve purged the most egregious offenders and added 35 new backgrounds that range from “cyberpunk cityscape” to “abstract geometric thing that looks expensive.” The new collection is still cool — we’re not your dad — but it’s now the kind of cool you can leave on a projector during a standup meeting without everyone suddenly forgetting what they were talking about.
The “Riot-y” Aesthetic:
- Cleaner compositions
- Smaller file sizes (your SSD thanks you)
- Less… anatomical accuracy
- More “digital art you’d frame” and less “digital art you’d hide in a folder named ‘tax_documents_2017’”
“The first rule of riot club: your lock screen shouldn’t require a content warning.”
⚡ CPU Frequency: Stop Gaslighting the Mouse
The Problem: OpenRiot was shipping with apmd -H (high performance always), which sounds great until you realize it was about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. Users on Tiger Lake Intel Xe were reporting hw.setperf=0 — their CPUs were stuck at minimum frequency like a slug in molasses. The result? Mouse jitter so bad it looked like your cursor was having a panic attack every time it woke from idle.
The Fix: We switched to apmd -A (adaptive) and set hw.perfpolicy=auto in /etc/sysctl.conf. Now your CPU behaves like a sane adult:
| Power Source | Behavior | Mouse Feeling |
|---|---|---|
| AC power | Full performance | Smooth as butter |
| Battery | Aggressive throttling | Still smooth, but your battery lives longer |
“We told the CPU to stop pretending it was a sloth and start acting like the ferocious tiger it is. Or at least a caffeinated house cat.”
Bonus: We also made sure we don’t keep appending duplicate lines to /etc/sysctl.conf on every reinstall. We’re many things, but we’re not that kind of monster.
📖 README: The Snapshot Conspiracy
The Problem: Our README was telling users to select http for OpenBSD sets during install. Since 7.9 is currently -current/snapshot, the installer was constructing URLs like .../7.9/ which doesn’t exist yet because 7.9 hasn’t been released. Users were hitting 404s and having to manually figure out that snapshots live under .../snapshots/. Their confusion was palpable. Their rage was justified.
The Fix: The install table now recommends disk (sets are literally on the USB stick, people) with http as an alternative that requires snapshot path knowledge. We’ve also added a helpful note that 7.9 is -current, so if you do use HTTP, you’ll need to know what that means.
“The sets were right there on the install medium the whole time, like a waterfall guidebook in a bookstore that makes you hike five miles first.”
🎨 New Backgrounds: Moar, Finally
We’ve added 35 new lock screen backgrounds across three batches. Because apparently we couldn’t decide on a release schedule and just kept making more art. The collection now includes:
- Cyberpunk skylines that Blade Runner would steal
- Abstract geometry that looks good even when you’re drunk
- Riot-themed compositions that don’t require an age gate
- At least three images that are probably just旺 rendered noise but look expensive
Total lock screen count: 36 (plus stealth variants). Your Super+W keybinding now has options.
🐛 Bug Fixes: The Usual Suspects
Kora Icons: Fixed the installer so Kora actually works. Previously it was like that friend who says they’ll bring guac to the party and shows up with a single lime.
Fish History: Fixed a lingering issue where fish history was getting weird. We think. We’re pretty sure. Fingers crossed.
Spinning Cursor: Fixed the spinning cursor that appeared during background changes with Super+W and Super+Shift+W. Your cursor is no longer doing interpretive dance when you swap wallpapers.
Rofi Paths: Fixed a smol path issue with rofi that was causing icon lookup failures. Turns out rofi is very particular about where its toys live.
Bibata Cursor: Fixed lingering Bibata cursor issues after the Great Cursor Migration of v5.0. Some cursors were still pointing to the wrong dimension.
🧾 Files Changed
| File | Nature of Change |
|---|---|
install/packages.yaml |
apmd -H → apmd -A, added hw.perfpolicy=auto sysctl |
README.md |
Install guide now recommends disk for sets, warns about snapshot paths |
Locked/* |
35 new lock screens, purged the problematic ones |
backgrounds/* |
3 batches of new wallpapers |
source/lock/lock.go |
Updated to handle new background structure |
source/lock/cache.go |
Cache logic updated for new collection |
config/fish/conf.d/custom_commands.fish |
History fix (hopefully) |
config/rofi/config.rasi |
Path fix for icon lookups |
config/themes/kora.tgz |
Fixed Kora icon installation |
| Various cursor/theme files | Bibata and cursor path fixes |
🗣️ Final Words
“In retrospect, maybe ‘make it edgier’ wasn’t the best design brief for lock screen wallpapers. We’ve learned. We’ve grown. We’ve added more geometric shapes.”
This release is dedicated to every user who ever had to frantically mash Super+L because someone walked by their desk. Your shame is now our shame, and we’ve fixed it. Mostly.
Upgrade with the usual command:
curl -fsSL https://OpenRiot.org/setup.sh | sh
— The OpenRiot Crew
“So long, and thanks for all the fish… and the workplace-appropriate wallpapers.”