xclock.org

Three clocks

This page is a modest tribute to three analog clocks that run on the X Window System – they are so-called X clients – namely xclock, oclock, and swisswatch, shown at work in the following three figures, respectively:

Both xclock and oclock are shipped with the X Window System, whereas swisswatch is a third-party application for the X Window System.

Of these three clocks, xclock is probably the most familiar and widely used one, dating from around 1985. In the figure above, xclock is displayed with its default colors and in its default size. xclock can also be invoked as a digital clock. The man page for xclock describes it as an "analog / digital clock for X".

The face of oclock is less detailed than that of xclock, but at the same time, it might be considered more aesthetically pleasing. In the figure above, oclock is displayed with its default colors and in its default size (where the background color seen in the figure is inherited from the color of the desktop on which oclock is used: here, a shade of blue). The man page for oclock describes it as a "round X clock".

swisswatch can also emulate the appearance of oclock. The man page for swisswatch describes it as "the mother of all X Toolkit clocks".

Perhaps it's partly out of a sense of nostalgia, but I find it easy to feel fondness for these three clocks, having used them all (but especially xclock) at various times over a number of years.