This is a very simple Python 2 module with one function returning the amount of time in milliseconds since last user activity. It only works under X11. Dependencies: libxss, X11 xss development headers (libxss-dev package on Ubuntu) To install it, run: python2 setup.py install To use its only function: import actmon actmon.get_idle_time() actmon.get_idle_time() returns the number of milliseconds since last user activity (mouse, keyboard) under X11. Author: Alexandre Gravier development at: http://github.com/agravier/actmon