Rebranding Your Linux Terminal: Adding Personal Touch with a Custom Message

The Linux terminal is the heart and soul of many developers, sysadmins, and tech enthusiasts. It's where commands are executed, scripts are run, and magic happens. But have you ever thought about adding a personal touch to your terminal? Something that makes it uniquely yours? Well, one simple way to do that is by customizing the Message of the Day (motd).

In this blog post, we'll explore how you can rebrand your Linux terminal by editing the motd file, injecting some personality into your command line experience.

What is the Message of the Day (motd)?

The Message of the Day, or motd, is a customizable message that is displayed to users when they log into a Unix or Linux system. It's often used to convey important information, such as system updates, news, or announcements. But it can also be used for more creative purposes, like adding a personal touch to your terminal.

Getting Started

First things first, let's open up the motd file for editing. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:

bashCopy codesudo nano -c /etc/motd

This will open the motd file in the nano text editor with the cursor positioned at the beginning of the file.

Adding Your Custom Message

Now comes the fun part – adding your custom message to the motd file. You can replace the existing text with whatever you like, but for the sake of this example, let's use the following ASCII art:

markdownCopy code

__  __    _    __  __ _____  _      ___ _   _ _____ ___ _____ _____ ____ _   _
\ \/ /   / \  |  \/  |_   _|/ \    |_ _| \ | |  ___/ _ \_   _| ____/ ___| | | |
 \  /   / _ \ | |\/| | | | / _ \    | ||  \| | |_ | | | || | |  _|| |   | |_| |
 /  \  / ___ \| |  | | | |/ ___ \   | || |\  |  _|| |_| || | | |__| |___|  _  |
/_/\_\/_/   \_\_|  |_| |_/_/   \_\ |___|_| \_|_|   \___/ |_| |_____\____|_| |_|

Feel free to replace this with your own ASCII art or text if you prefer.

Adding Contact Information

In addition to your custom message, you may want to include contact information for support or inquiries. Simply locate the section in the motd file where you want to add this information and replace the existing text with your email and support contact details.

Saving Your Changes

Once you're happy with your custom message and contact information, you can save your changes in nano by pressing Ctrl + O, then press Enter to confirm the filename. Finally, exit nano by pressing Ctrl + X.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it – your Linux terminal is now rebranded with a custom message and contact information of your choice. Whether you're adding a personal touch or sharing important information with users, customizing the motd is a simple yet effective way to make your terminal experience your own.

So go ahead, unleash your creativity, and make your Linux terminal truly yours!

Ref: https://www.asciiart.eu/text-to-ascii-art