Linux has a history of including some fun "easter eggs" in its software. In this article, we'll tell you about some fun commands and options to lighten up your day. Not all of them are "easter eggs", but we think you'll enjoy them none-the-less.
Those of you familiar with Douglas Adams, writer of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, will appreciate a relevant help option included in the vim text editor.
If you haven't already, install vim. In Ubuntu/Debian, you can type:
sudo apt-get install vimIn CentOS/Fedora, you can type:
sudo yum install vimOpen the editor from the command line:
vimType the following to access a special vim help menu:
:help 42What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? *42*
Douglas Adams, the only person who knew what this question really was about is
now dead, unfortunately. So now you might wonder what the meaning of death
is...Type the following, twice, to exit vim:
:q
:qNot to be outdone, Emacs, the text-editor famous for including everything but the kitchen sink, includes a surprising number of games that can be accessed from within the editor itself.
First, install emacs. On Ubunut/Debian, this would be:
sudo apt-get install emacsOn CentOS/Fedora, execute this command instead:
sudo yum install emacsYou can find out what games are available by checking out this directory:
cd /usr/share/emacs/*/lisp/play
ls5x5.elc decipher.elc gametree.elc meese.elc spook.elc
animate.elc dissociate.elc gomoku.elc morse.elc studly.elc
blackbox.elc doctor.elc handwrite.elc mpuz.elc tetris.elc
bruce.el dunnet.elc hanoi.elc pong.elc yow.elc
bubbles.elc fortune.elc landmark.elc snake.elc zone.elc
cookie1.elc gamegrid.elc life.elc solitaire.elcTo execute them, open Emacs:
emacsNext, type theEsckey, followed byx(for execute), and then type the name of the game you wish to start:
Esc-x
pong
To quit Emacs when you are finished, typeCtrl, followed byx, and thenCtrlandc:
Ctrl-x
Ctrl-cOn Ubuntu and Debian, theapt-getpackage manager has had an embedded easter egg for a long time now.
If you type the help command for apt-get, you will get a hint:
apt-get help. . .
. . .
-c=? Read this configuration file
-o=? Set an arbitrary configuration option, eg -o dir::cache=/tmp
See the apt-get(8), sources.list(5) and apt.conf(5) manual
pages for more information and options.
This APT has Super Cow Powers.
The last line tells us that the easter egg is active in this version of apt. Type:
apt-get moo (__)
(oo)
/------\/
/ | ||
* /\---/\
~~ ~~
...."Have you mooed today?"...With apt-get's affinity for cows, users may be curious as to whetheraptitude, another apt tool, also implements a fun easter egg.
We can check the help like before:
aptitude help. . .
. . .
-u Download new package lists on startup.
(terminal interface only)
-i Perform an install run on startup.
(terminal interface only)
This aptitude does not have Super Cow Powers.
Well that is disappointing. Let's try it anyways though:
aptitude mooThere are no Easter Eggs in this program.A fairly straight forward answer. But persistence is important. Let's add some verbosity:
aptitude -v mooThere really are no Easter Eggs in this program.And again...:
aptitude -vv mooDidn't I already tell you that there are no Easter Eggs in this program?If you keep adding more "verbosity", you will eventually get this:
aptitude -vvvvv mooAll right, you win.
/----\
-------/ \
/ \
/ |
-----------------/ --------\
----------------------------------------------It doesn't look like too much. Let's add another "v":
aptitude -vvvvvv mooWhat is it? It's an elephant being eaten by a snake, of course.This is a reference to the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
There are some strange options available in some common programs that you may wish to check out.
You can configuresudo, used to elevate the privileges of a command, to insult users when they type in an incorrect password.
To do so, edit the sudoers file with a tool called visudo, which edits and validates modifications to the sudo configuration file.
sudo visudoNear the top, add a line that reads:
Defaults insultsSave and close the file.
Next, empty the cache that stores your password for a certain amount of time and then mistype your password for a sudo command:
sudo -k
sudo ls[sudo] password for demo: # Type an incorrect password hereHave you considered trying to match wits with a rutabaga? [sudo] password for demo: My pet ferret can type better than you! [sudo] password for demo: Wrong! You cheating scum!
Nmap is a commonly used network exploration tool that can be used to perform security audits on your system.
Install it on Ubuntu/Debian with the following command:
sudo apt-get install nmapOn CentOS/Fedora, install it by entering:
sudo yum install nmapNmap provides you with the unusual option of being able to output its data in "script kiddie" format.
Let's see what the normal output looks like first, by running the command against the Nmap website itself:
nmap scanme.nmap.orgStarting Nmap 5.21 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2013-09-18 17:43 UTC
Nmap scan report for scanme.nmap.org (74.207.244.221)
Host is up (0.072s latency).
Not shown: 998 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
22/tcp open ssh
80/tcp open http
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 1.40 secondsNow, let's enable the alternate output with these options:
nmap -oS - scanme.nmap.org$tart|ng NMap 5.21 ( http://Nmap.org ) at 2013-09-18 17:45 UTC
Nmap $cAn r3p0rt F0r scanM3.nmaP.oRg (74.207.244.221)
Ho$t 1z Up (0.071z laT3ncy).
Not sh0wN: 998 cl0$Ed p0rt$
POrT ST4TE $ERV!C3
22/tcp opEn Ssh
80/tcP 0p3n HtTp
Nmap d0n3: 1 iP AddrESz (1 h0$t Up) $canNed !n 1.34 secondzBasically, it replaces certain letters with similar looking characters to emulate "hacker" language or leet-speak.
There are two different network-reachable, command line Star Wars tributes accessible from your terminal.
Simon Jansen, Sten Spans, and Mike Edwards created a full Star Wars tribute in ASCII (text) animated art accessible through telnet. In layman's terms: you can watch a text version of Star Wars in your terminal!
First, downloadtelnet, a precursor to SSH, if it is not already installed:
On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install telnetOn CentOS/Fedora:
sudo yum install telnetAll you have to do from here is point telnet to the correct server:
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl /~\
R2-D2! |oo )
Where are you? # _\=/_ #
\\ / _ \ //
\\//|/.\|\\//
\/ \_/ \/
|\ /|
\_ _/
| | |
| | |
[]|[]
| | |
_______________________________/_]_[_\_____________________________When you've had enough, holdCtrland]. You will be given a prompt where you can type "close":
Ctrl-]
closeA newer tribute to Star Wars has been achieved by Ryan Werber by naming the network hops to a specific address.
If you run traceroute, a program that traces the path of packets to a remote host, you will see the intro to Star Wars in the network names along the way.
Simply type:
traceroute -m 254 -q1 obiwan.scrye.netThe route will begin to populate. After a few stops, you will begin to see the magic:
. . .
. . .
15 Episode.IV (206.214.251.1) 77.506 ms
16 A.NEW.HOPE (206.214.251.6) 87.194 ms
17 It.is.a.period.of.civil.war (206.214.251.9) 77.699 ms
18 Rebel.spaceships (206.214.251.14) 78.171 ms
19 striking.from.a.hidden.base (206.214.251.17) 87.624 ms
20 have.won.their.first.victory (206.214.251.22) 86.249 ms
21 against.the.evil.Galactic.Empire (206.214.251.25) 77.505 ms
22 During.the.battle (206.214.251.30) 85.622 ms
23 Rebel.spies.managed (206.214.251.33) 78.121 ms
24 to.steal.secret.plans (206.214.251.38) 77.049 ms
. . .
. . .After going through the introductions to Episodes IV, V, and VI, Ryan then continues with other avenues of entertainment:
99 Were.no.strangers.to.love (206.214.251.206) 77.472 ms
100 You.know.the.rules.and.so.do.I (206.214.251.209) 78.054 ms
101 A.full.commitments.what.Im.thinking.of (206.214.251.214) 78.512 ms
102 I.just.wanna.tell.you.how.Im.feeling (206.214.251.217) 79.884 ms
103 Gotta.make.you.understand (206.214.251.222) 79.427 ms
104 Never.gonna.give.you.up (206.214.251.225) 77.032 ms
105 Never.gonna.let.you.down (206.214.251.230) 78.909 ms
106 Never.gonna.run.around.and.desert.you (206.214.251.233) 80.286 msThere are a few programs that you probably don't need for any other purpose, but can be fun if you have some time.
If you've ever accidentally typed sl when you meant to list a directory's contents with ls, then you may want to install a program "sl".
On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install slOn CentOS/Fedora:
sudo yum install slNow, whenever you accidentally type "sl" instead of "ls", you'll have to smile:
sl ( ) (@@) ( ) (@) () @@ O @ O @
(@@@)
( )
(@@@@)
( )
==== ________ ___________
_D _| |_______/ \__I_I_____===__|_________|
|(_)--- | H\________/ | | =|___ ___| _________________
/ | | H | | | | ||_| |_|| _| \___
| | | H |__--------------------| [___] | =|
| ________|___H__/__|_____/[][]~\_______| | -|
|/ | |-----------I_____I [][] [] D |=======|____|______________________
__/ =| o |=-~~\ /~~\ /~~\ /~~\ ____Y___________|__|________________________
|/-=|___|=O=====O=====O=====O |_____/~\___/ |_D__D__D_| |_D__D__D
\_/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \A train will chug across your screen each time.
If you need some more cheap amusement at the command line, and didn't get your fill of cows from the "apt" easter egg, you can downloadcowsayandfortune.
On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install fortune cowsayOne CentOS/Fedora:
sudo yum install fortune cowsayCowsay inserts any input into a word bubble and draws an ASCII cow to talk to you:
cowsay "hello, I'm a cow" __________________
< hello, I'm a cow >
------------------
\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\
||----w |
|| ||The fortune program spits out quotations, fortunes, jokes, nonsense that can be piped into cowsay:
fortune | cowsay ________________________________________
/ Q: What looks like a cat, flies like a \
| bat, brays like a donkey, and |
| |
\ plays like a monkey? A: Nothing. /
----------------------------------------
\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\
||----w |
|| ||If you're not too fond of cows, you can get other characters as well:
fortune | cowsay -f tux _____________________________________
/ You never know how many friends you \
| have until you rent a house on the |
\ beach. /
-------------------------------------
\
\
.--.
|o_o |
|:_/ |
// \ \
(| | )
/'\_ _/`\
\___)=(___/For a full list of the available characters, type:
cowsay -lCow files in /usr/share/cowsay/cows:
apt beavis.zen bong bud-frogs bunny calvin cheese cock cower daemon default
dragon dragon-and-cow duck elephant elephant-in-snake eyes flaming-sheep
ghostbusters gnu head-in hellokitty kiss kitty koala kosh luke-koala
mech-and-cow meow milk moofasa moose mutilated pony pony-smaller ren sheep
skeleton snowman sodomized-sheep stegosaurus stimpy suse three-eyes turkey
turtle tux unipony unipony-smaller vader vader-koala wwwMy personal favorite is the stegosaurus:
fortune | cowsay -f stegosaurus _________________________________________
/ Q: What lies on the bottom of the ocean \
\ and twitches? A: A nervous wreck. /
-----------------------------------------
\ . .
\ / `. .' "
\ .---. < > < > .---.
\ | \ \ - ~ ~ - / / |
_____ ..-~ ~-..-~
| | \~~~\.' `./~~~/
--------- \__/ \__/
.' O \ / / \ "
(_____, `._.' | } \/~~~/
`----. / } | / \__/
`-. | / | / `. ,~~|
~-.__| /_ - ~ ^| /- _ `..-'
| / | / ~-. `-. _ _ _
|_____| |_____| ~ - . _ _ _ _ _>As you can see, not very useful, but pretty fun.
This guide probably didn't impart any essential knowledge or improve your Linux abilities, but hopefully it helped you relax and perhaps even explore your system a little bit.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other good easter eggs or unusual, fun commands.
Article ID: 271
Created On: Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 3:30 AM
Last Updated On: Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 3:30 AM
Authored by: ASPHostServer Administrator [asphostserver@gmail.com]
Online URL: http://faq.asphosthelpdesk.com/article.php?id=271