This is a quick guide on how to add a randomized quote/fortune to your terminal on launch. I currently have mine set up to display right after neofetch. Here’s a photo of a few examples:
This is utilizing the fortune program to randomly select a quote/phrase/fortune and display it on every terminal right below neofetch (or whatever autoloading program you have on your terminal).
All you need to do is find your .bashrc file, usually located in /home/yourUSER/.bashrc
Open it and paste the following code below neofetch, or wherever you prefer:
printf "\033[38;2;65;80;94m%s\033[0m\n" "$(fortune -s -n 79 | tr -d '\t' | tr '\n' ' ')"
Here’s what my .bashrc looks like as an example:
The reason why there’s so much syntax involved in this command is mainly due to formatting. You can edit this however you like, but the command above limits the fortune to only 1 line and 79 characters or less. You should experiment with the character limit that best suits your font size and terminal; 79 worked the best for my setup.
The string of numbers and symbols following ‘printf’ is just setting the color of the text using an ANSI Escape Code. I chose a grayish blue as it fit with my current theme.
Here’s an explanation of the full syntax below. From this, you should be able to edit and personalize how you please:
printf "\033[38;2;65;80;94m%s\033[0m\n" "$(fortune -s -n 79 | tr -d '\t' | tr '\n' ' ')"
fortune -s -n 79
fortune: A command-line utility that displays a random quote or saying (a “fortune”).
-s: Selects only short fortunes.
-n 79: Limits the output to a maximum of 79 characters.
| tr -d '\t'
tr: A command that translates or deletes characters.
-d ‘\t’: Deletes all tab characters from the fortune output.
| tr '\n' ' '
This replaces all newline characters (\n) with spaces (‘ ’).
Ensures the fortune prints as a single line instead of multiple lines.
printf "\033[38;2;65;80;94m%s\033[0m\n" …
printf: A formatted print command.
\033[38;2;65;80;94m: This is an ANSI escape sequence for setting foreground color using RGB.
38;2;65;80;94 means:
Set foreground color (38)
Use true color mode (2)
RGB: Red=65, Green=80, Blue=94
%s: Format specifier for a string.
\033[0m: ANSI escape code to reset color formatting.
\n: Newline after the output.
$(...)
This is command substitution.
It captures the entire output of the pipeline (fortune … | tr … | tr …) and passes it as an argument to printf.
