xscreensaver: Can't open display: :0 xscreensaver: running as user/user (1000/1000) xscreensaver: Errors at startup are usually authorization problems. But you're not logging in as root (good!) so something else must be wrong. Did you read the manual and the FAQ? http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/faq.html http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/man.html