Shimmer dimmer
Charly's Column – f.lux
You don't have to be a vampire to be sensitive to bright light at night. Charly, who – as regular readers know – is a practicing light conservationist, now makes it clear to his desktop PC that it's not good to be too dazzling at night.
If you ask me, it has to be possible to adjust lighting to suit your needs in an unobtrusive and fully automated way. I enabled night mode on my Android smartphone. In the evening, the display shows an ever-decreasing amount of blue light as time progresses. At first, this seems a bit strange and takes getting used to, but it is very friendly on the eyes. Without night mode, I get dazzled when I unlock the phone. This is because its display – like most monitors – is adjusted to a color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.
Cirque du Soleil
Light with a temperature of 6500 Kelvin has a higher blue component than sunlight, which does not exceed 5800 Kelvin even on a clear day. For work during the day in a bright room, 6500 Kelvin is completely OK. In the evening with dim light, I feel as if my PC displays are so bright that work becomes tiring. Of course, I could manually adjust the brightness and color temperature using the buttons on my displays – but that is something that I want to be done automatically. My choice of dimmer goes by the name of f.lux.
Installing f.lux
F.lux is simply pronounced "flux". It is available as a command-line tool [1] or with a GUI [2]. I decided to go for the graphical variant. F.lux is written in Python 3, which means quickly installing some packages on my Ubuntu test system for it to run:
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.