Terminal Command That Will Shock Your Friends: cmatrix

One of the most visually striking and unexpected terminal commands is cmatrix, which emulates the “digital rain” from the film The Matrix. It creates the illusion that your terminal has been transformed into a high-tech hacker’s interface, complete with cascading green code.

The Command

cmatrix -C green -b -u 2

Explanation of Options

  • -C green — Specifies the colour. green gives the iconic Matrix effect, but other colours like red, blue, or yellow are also available.
  • -b — Enables bold characters, making the text brighter and more intense.
  • -u 2 — Sets the update speed. Lower numbers mean faster animation. Valid range: 0 (fastest) to 10 (slowest).

This combination results in a vivid, fast-moving digital rain effect.

Installation

You’ll need to install cmatrix first. It is available via most package managers:

On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install cmatrix

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install cmatrix

On Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S cmatrix

On macOS (with Homebrew):

brew install cmatrix

Additional Fun Terminal Effects

1. Star Wars in ASCII

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

This connects you to a public Telnet server that plays Star Wars Episode IV in ASCII art. It’s completely safe and incredibly impressive.

Note: If telnet is not installed:

  • On Ubuntu/Debian: 
    sudo apt install telnet

2. Animated Fish Tank (asciiquarium)

asciiquarium

This command runs a delightful ASCII art aquarium in your terminal.

To install on Ubuntu:

sudo apt install libcurses-perl
wget http://www.robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/asciiquarium -O /usr/local/bin/asciiquarium
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/asciiquarium

On macOS with Homebrew:

brew install asciiquarium

3. Rainbow Terminal Output with lolcat

Combine it with other commands:

echo "Hacking in progress..." | lolcat

Or even:

cmatrix | lolcat

Install lolcat:

sudo gem install lolcat

Prank Mode: Auto-Launch on Terminal Open

Want to take it a step further and prank a friend or just amuse yourself? Add the cmatrix command to the terminal startup script.

For Bash

Add the following to the bottom of ~/.bashrc:

cmatrix -C red -s

For Zsh

Add the same line to ~/.zshrc.

To revert the prank, simply remove the line.

Summary

Command Description
cmatrix Matrix-style terminal animation
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl Star Wars Episode IV in ASCII
asciiquarium Animated ASCII fish tank
echo "text" | lolcat Rainbow-coloured terminal output

These commands are not only safe but also excellent for demonstrations, personal flair, or harmless pranks.

Would you like a complete Bash script that bundles several of these into a “shock show”?

Discover more from WIREDGORILLA

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Similar Posts