Cool Linux Terminal Tricks: pv, toilet, rig, aview, xeyes & cowsay

pv command

Install pv (Pipe Viewer) using the system package manager:

# yum install pv        # Red Hat‑based systems
# sudo apt-get install pv   # Debian‑based systems

Example that creates a typing‑effect by limiting the output rate to 10 bytes per second and suppressing the progress bar:

echo "Howtoing.com is a community of Linux Nerds and Geeks" | pv -q -L 10

Flags : -q – quiet mode; no progress information is printed. -L – limit the transfer rate (bytes per second). Adjust the numeric value to change the typing speed.

toilet command

After installing toilet (e.g., sudo apt-get install toilet or yum install toilet), the following Bash loop prints the current date inside a bordered box that updates every second:

while true; do
  echo "$(date | toilet -f term -F border)"
  sleep 1
done

Press Ctrl+Z (SIGSTOP) to pause the script; fg resumes it.

rig command

rig

generates a random personal identifier (name, address, phone, etc.) each time it runs. Install it with the package manager and invoke it directly: # rig The output is useful for testing scripts that require fake personal data.

aview (asciiview) command

The aview package provides asciiview, which renders images as ASCII art in the terminal. After installing the package, display an image (e.g., elephant.jpg) with: asciiview elephant.jpg -driver curses The -driver curses option forces a pure‑text display.

xeyes command

xeyes

is a small X11 program that opens a window containing two eyes that follow the mouse cursor. Install it (usually part of the x11-apps package) and run: xeyes The program demonstrates basic X11 event handling.

cowsay command

cowsay

prints a message inside an ASCII speech bubble, defaulting to a cow. Install it with the package manager, then:

List all available characters: cowsay -l Display a message with a specific character (e.g., an elephant): cowsay -f elephant "Howtoing is Best" Display a message with the GNU mascot: cowsay -f gnu "Howtoing is Best" Additional options such as -W (wrap width) and -n (no trailing newline) can be combined for custom layouts.