configuration-files/etc

Notes about items placed in etc

These files can either go in your root-level /etc/ directory, or a user-level directory of your choosing. I chose the name "etc" so that it would make sense what these files are for.

Special instructions for using motd.sh

When your console shows the message of the day on login, it echoes the plaintext of the file /etc/motd. So dropping this script in its place won't do anything except print the source code. Instead, remove or back up the orginal /etc/motd file, then execute this script to replace it with the resulting script. On my machine, this is the resulting file:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

printf '^[[37m\n'
printf '                         .^.\n'
printf '                        /   \\\n'
printf '                       /     \\\n'
printf '               ^[[34m*******^[[37m/       \^[[34m*******\n'
printf '          ***** *****^[[37m/         \^[[34m***** *****\n'
printf '      ***** ********^[[37m/  ^[[33mBARCLAY^[[37m  \^[[34m******** *****\n'
printf '     *** **********^[[37m/             \^[[34m********** ***\n'
printf '      ***** ******^[[37m/               \^[[34m****** *****\n'
printf '          ***** *^[[37m/        _--_     \^[[34m* *****\n'
printf '               *^[[37m/      _-"^[[34m****^[[37m"\\    \^[[34m*\n'
printf '               ^[[37m/    _-" ^[[34m*****   ^[[37m"\\   \\\n'
printf '               \\__-"              "\\_/\n'
printf '\n'
printf '             \\\\//_ Live long and prosper\n'
printf '^[(B^[[m\n'

Next, add a system-wide call to this script so that it is executed on login. For example, I use ZSH, so I edited my system-wide /etc/zshenv file like so:

/bin/bash /etc/motd

This way, whether I shell into this machine remotely, log in directly, or su to another user, this motd is always displayed.