Nice looking terminal applications

In this post, we delve into the amazing world of terminal applications, uncovering a selection of apps that add a touch of personality to the command line experience. These applications invite users to embrace the simplicity and elegance of the terminal interface.

sl (Steam Locomotive)

sl, short for Steam Locomotive, is a whimsical terminal application that adds a touch of charm to your terminal. This program features a tiny train chugging across your screen. You can also customize its behaviour with a simple script.

sl

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install sl

Arch linux

sudo pacman -S sl

Fedora

sudo dnf install sl

cmatrix

With cmatrix you can transform your terminal into a mesmerizing cascade of characters. This terminal application creates a visual display reminiscent of the iconic digital rain from the Matrix movies, offering a very nice backdrop for your terminal windows. Use CTRL+C to exit out of the program. You can also customize it with the options I will list below.

cmatrix

Options (Check -h for more!):

• -b -> Bold characters
• -r -> Rainbow mode
• -C -> Color for matrix (default green)

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install cmatrix

Arch linux

sudo pacman -S cmatrix

Fedora

sudo dnf install cmatrix

lolcat

lolcat injects a burst of color into your terminal output by rainbow-fying text. This colorful application adds a playful twist to your messages, making them visually amazing. In order to rainbow-fy the output of a command, you have to pipe into lolcat.

ls -l | lolcat # An example

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install lolcat

Arch linux

sudo pacman -S lolcat

Fedora

sudo dnf install lolcat

cowsay

cowsay is a fun and quirky terminal utility that generates ASCII art of a cow speaking any message you input. This whimsical tool adds a touch of humor and personality to your terminal interactions. For example you can show a message by piping the output of the echo command:

echo "Hello" | cowsay

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install cowsay

Arch linux

sudo pacman -S cowsay

Fedora

sudo dnf install cowsay

cowsay + fortune

You can combine cowsay with fortune to generate random quotes or sayings spoken by the ASCII cow. This combination is one of my favourites:

fortune | cowsay

asciiquarium

Last but not least, we have asciiquarium, which lets you experience the serenity of an underwater world. This terminal application transforms terminal into a virtual aquarium filled with ASCII sea creatures, providing a unique and calming visual display.

asciiquarium

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ytvwld/asciiquarium && sudo apt update
sudo apt install asciiquarium

Arch linux

sudo pacman -S asciiquarium

Fedora

sudo dnf install asciiquarium

I have a post in which I explain how to install it using its source code here