sometimes people also complain about xscreensaver's lock screen because it doesn't use a widget library, but the alternative lock screens can often be crashed through bugs in the widget libraries they use
the flaming screen is just the xscreensaver logo (it's supposed to save your screen from burnin, originally)
i hadn't ever heard of anyone thinking it was malware, that's pretty funny
jwz is a more brilliant troll than i gave him credit for
sometimes people also complain about xscreensaver's lock screen because it doesn't use a widget library, but the alternative lock screens can often be crashed through bugs in the widget libraries they use