If you are a developer on macOS, then you probably have Homebrew installed already. If not, check out the guide here to install it.
Here is a list of the top 5 coolest Homebrew tricks that just brighten up a developer’s day with humour or the sheer uselessness of them.
1: Cowsay
This is a classic favourite. It’s so simple, yet cool. Essentially, it’s a script that shows a cow – or another animal – saying something.
Installation command:
brew install cowsay
Syntax:
cowsay hi
Replace ‘hi’ with whatever you want to say.
2: Fortune
This is quite a cool one. It’s a simple program that displays a random quote or aphorism.
Installation command:
brew install fortune
Syntax:
fortune
This should pop a random quote or joke into your Terminal to hopefully stir up some laughs or giggles. Essential for the workplace.
3: sl
This one is just the best. It’s hilarious. It stands for ‘steam locomotive’ and was created to make fun of people who regularly type ‘sl’ instead of ‘ls’ as a typo.
Installation command:
brew install sl
Syntax:
sl
This should create a beautiful animation of a steam locomotive on your screen. And no, there isn’t a way to get rid of it until it finishes.
4: cmatrix
This is a program that simulates the Matrix movie’s digital rain effect in the Terminal. Very useful when someone questions your capabilities.
Installation command:
brew install cmatrix
Syntax:
cmatrix
This should create a rain of randomised strings on your screen. To exit, use the holy ⌃c (control+c).
5: figlet
This is a program is similar to cowsay. But instead of using a cow, it displays a large ASCII banner.
Installation command:
brew install figlet
Syntax:
figlet hi
Replace ‘hi’ with whatever you want to say. It’s great for getting your message across visually.
Have fun!
Kind regards,
Oscar 🙂
for sl there are different tags
Yeah, but I wanted to keep this post super simple. The tags don’t really add much functionality tbh.