Re. http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-help/2002/05/20/0004.html

xsetroot -bitmap <bitmap> will work (though I think that it only works
with b&w X bitmaps---it certainly doesn't like xwd(1)'s output).

 [SIDE NOTE: The xwud(1) man-page cross-references xpr(1), but we do not
             seem to have xpr in the standard X distribution, nor in
             pkgsrc.  I have no idea what xpr is good for, though it
             presumably is related to the task of loading and saving
             image bit-maps, since it gets cross-referenced.]


xpmroot (.../pkgsrc/x11/xpmroot) also be an option, and should support
color; you may need to convert your images to XPM's, of course.  (^&


  ``I probably don't know what I'm talking about.'' --rauch@math.rice.edu