motd-for-debian-desktop

Simple MOTD for Debian Desktop

Ubuntu-like "message of the day" screen for Debian desktop terminals, without the requirement of PAM

(Can be used in any Linux distro, but only tested in Debian)

(terminal background not included)

Dependencies:

• Figlet: Displays the ascii art for what your hostname / custom banner reads

• Lolcat: Colors the ascii art in randomly generated colored gradients

Install

Vanilla Debian or Ubuntu

apt update && apt install figlet lolcat

(optional) If using RVM:

apt update && apt install figlet
gem install lolcat

Create the message of the day script

As the user you want to see the motd upon each terminal launch, run [ie. run the following command separately for root, user, user1 etc; if you want all accounts to have a motd]:

nano ~/motd.sh

and paste the contents of motd.sh

Save & exit.

Make the shell script executable:

chmod +x ~/motd.sh

Finally, refresh your bashrc file without logging out:

. ~/.bashrc

to see your new message of the day.

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(optional) If you are using RVM, run whereis lolcat and replace the existing path, from:

LOLCAT=/usr/games/lolcat #whereis lolcat

to the location in your terminal:

LOLCAT=~/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.4.1/bin/lolcat

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Tested in Gnome and Tilix terminals (the motd loads upon each new launch, without having to log out of your active desktop session).

Base code from Ubuntu's server motd