10 Awesome Linux Terminal Commands to Wow Your Screen

1. cmatrix command

Install the Matrix‑style falling characters effect with: sudo apt-get install cmatrix Run cmatrix to see the green rain of characters scrolling across the terminal.

2. sl command

The sl command shows a steam locomotive steaming across the screen, a playful reminder not to mistype ls. sudo apt-get install sl Execute sl to watch the animated train.

3. htop command

htop

provides an interactive, color‑coded process viewer similar to Windows Task Manager. sudo apt-get install htop Running htop displays a dynamic, green‑themed interface with CPU, memory, and process information.

4. hollywood command

The hollywood package creates a full‑screen, retro‑style hacking animation, popular on short‑video platforms. sudo apt-get install hollywood Launch it to see cascading green code, fake terminal windows, and other visual effects.

5. cal command

cal

prints a calendar for a given month and year directly in the terminal. cal 9 2020 The output shows the September 2020 calendar.

6. cowsay command

cowsay

renders an ASCII cow (or other characters) that says a supplied message. sudo apt-get install cowsay Example: cowsay "Hello, world" prints a cow saying the phrase.

7. aafire command

The aafire utility (provided by the libaa-bin package) displays flame‑like ASCII art. sudo apt-get install libaa-bin Run aafire to watch the fire animation in the terminal.

8. yes command

yes

repeatedly outputs a specified string until interrupted (Ctrl+C). yes hello,world This example floods the terminal with "hello,world" lines.

9. bastet command

bastet

launches a Tetris‑like game that runs directly in the terminal. sudo apt-get install bastet After installation, execute bastet to start playing.

10. Emoji‑style command

The final entry is a meme‑style command that outputs an animated emoji or emoticon, widely shared as a humorous terminal “trick”.