Now that I have you here after tricking you with a gimmicky title, let’s discuss something super-fun: the Unix fortune program. This is a beauty of a program that I use to greet me every time I login or open a new terminal. It makes me feel like I can keep going, if just for one more day.
Here are the bits from my .bashrc:
# If a fortune program is installed.
if which fortune > /dev/null
then
if which cowsay > /dev/null
then
# Pipe to cowsay for even more laughs.
fortune -e | cowsay -W 60 -f stegosaurus
else
fortune
fi
fi
Here is a list of the installed fortune programs I have on my machine (does not print a fortune):
$ fortune -f
100.00% /usr/share/games/fortunes
36.13% fortunes
14.92% chalkboard
5.70% starwars
10.56% calvin
10.73% riddles
21.96% literature
Consider all fortune files equal, regardless of size, and print a fortune:
$ fortune -e
How does one acquire and create these fortune databases? That’s a great question, friend!
One can comb through the Internets, hunched over a keyboard and sweaty, or one can simply download them from my GitHub fortune repo.
Then, follow these two simple steps.
-
Create a fortune database:
$ strfile -c % calvin calvin.dat -
Install the files:
$ sudo cp calvin* /usr/share/game/fortune
That’s it! Have a nice espresso beverage and celebrate!
For even more “cows”:
$ ls /usr/share/cowsay/cows
To choose one of those cowfiles when printing a fortune, use the -f flag for cowsay:
$ fortune -e | cowsay -W 60 -f pony
Conclusion
Don’t forget to have fun! Learning is the spice of life!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
_________________________________________________
/ Han Solo: \
| |
| Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting |
| |
\ crops, boy. /
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\ . .
\ / `. .' "
\ .---. < > < > .---.
\ | \ \ - ~ ~ - / / |
_____ ..-~ ~-..-~
| | \~~~\.' `./~~~/
--------- \__/ \__/
.' O \ / / \ "
(_____, `._.' | } \/~~~/
`----. / } | / \__/
`-. | / | / `. ,~~|
~-.__| /_ - ~ ^| /- _ `..-'
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