Fortune is a command-line tool that adds a touch of inspiration, humor, or wisdom to your day by printing a random quotation in a fortune-cookie style. It offers a delightful and often surprising way to discover new quotes, jokes, or thought-provoking messages with each invocation.
The primary purpose of Fortune is to provide a moment of delight or inspiration by presenting a random quotation from its extensive collection. The quotes, known as “fortunes,” cover a wide range of topics, including philosophy, literature, humor, and more. Whether you’re seeking a dose of motivation, a lighthearted joke, or a profound insight, Fortune has something to offer for everyone.
When you run the Fortune command, it randomly selects a fortune from its database and presents it to you. The fortunes are typically short, concise, and designed to be easily digestible. They are presented in a format reminiscent of fortune cookies, which adds an element of surprise and anticipation to the experience.
Fortune’s collection of quotations is often sourced from diverse authors, books, movies, and other literary or cultural references. This ensures a rich variety of content and introduces users to new ideas, perspectives, or cultural references they may not have encountered before. Each fortune provides a unique nugget of wisdom, a witty remark, or a memorable line that sparks thought or evokes a smile.
Fortune also provides options to customize the selection of quotations. For instance, you can choose to display only a specific category of fortunes, filter by keywords, or even add your own custom fortunes to the collection. This versatility allows you to tailor the output of Fortune to your preferences or specific thematic needs.
The light-hearted nature of Fortune makes it a popular choice for various applications. It can be used to add a touch of inspiration or entertainment to your command-line interactions, spice up your shell prompt, or even serve as a source of random quotes for web applications, scripts, or presentations.
Moreover, Fortune has become an integral part of the Unix and Linux culture, often included as a standard utility in many distributions. Its availability and widespread usage have made it a beloved tool among users who appreciate its ability to bring a smile or a moment of reflection during their interaction with the command-line interface.
fortune Command Examples
1. Print a quotation:
# fortune
2. Print an offensive quotation:
# fortune -o
3. Print a long quotation:
# fortune -l
4. Print a short quotation:
# fortune -s
5. List the available quotation database files:
# fortune -f
6. Print a quotation from one of the database files listed by fortune -f:
# fortune /path/to/file
Summary
In summary, Fortune is a delightful command-line tool that randomly prints quotations in a fortune-cookie style. By presenting a wide range of quotes, jokes, or thought-provoking messages, Fortune adds an element of surprise, inspiration, or humor to your day. With its customizable options and vast collection of fortunes, Fortune offers a fun and enjoyable experience for users, leaving them with a nugget of wisdom or a smile on their face.