7 Shell Commands Which Make You Have A Smile
Tags: linux, ubuntu
Published: 2020-01-10 07:08:31

Friday now! Let's have some fun.

Shell command is a powerful tool for [improving developer’s productivity](https://www.coderscat.com/awesome-linux-command-line-tips), there are also some really funny command tools for making you have a smile and in a good mood after day-long work.

You can play word games in terminals, create a beautiful ASCII picture and more.

## 1. sl

I didn’t have a typo here, yes, it is `sl`.

```bash
$ sudo apt-get install sl  # Linux
$ brew install sl          # MacOs
```


`sl` is a funny command, if you run it you will get a train come from right to left, the output looks like this:

![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_114808.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_114808.png)



## 2. fortune

```bash
$ sudo apt-get install fortune  # Linux
$ brew install fortune          # MacOs
```


`fortune` will display quotes, funny predictions, jokes or even poetry in the terminal.

![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_115317.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_115317.png)



You could find more details on [fortune – Display random quotes](http://software.clapper.org/fortune/)

## 3. cowsay

```bash
$ sudo apt-get install cowsay  # Linux
$ brew install cowsay          # MacOs
$ cowsay hello
```


`cowsay` will display a cow with the words you inputted as arguments.

![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_120220.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_120220.png)



It’s funnier to combine with `fortune` using pipeline:

![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_120418.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_120418.png)



## 4. toilet

`toilet` could be used to make a beautiful ASCII picture with your inputs, you could even add color for the result.

![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_121943.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_121943.png)



## 5. oneko

`oneko` is my favorite one, this program will show a cat which chases your mouse cursor, have a look at this [vedio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaV9giuY-UQ).

I didn’t find out the MacOs version.

```bash
$ sudo apt-get install oneko  # Linux
```


## 6. xeyes

This is an application which comes with package of x11-apps. It’s not just for fun, but also a useful utility if you have a big screen and a small cursor.

```bash
$ sudo apt-get install x11-apps  # Linux
$ xeyes
```


![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_133754.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_133754.png)



## 7. cmatrix

`cmatrix` shows flying text in terminal, just like you saw in “The Maxtrix” movie!

The source code is here: [abishekvashok/cmatrix](https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix)

![2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_141015.png](https://www.coderscat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_01_10_funny-shell-commands.org_20200110_141015.png)



Have fun and happy coding!

Related Posts:
[Awesome Command-line tips to 10x your productivity](https://www.coderscat.com/awesome-linux-command-line-tips)