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Technology news and Jobs 
The Linux distillery Linux, the language of love
The Linux distillery Linux, the language of love | Linux, the language of love |
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| by David M Williams | |
| Thursday, 14 February 2008 | |
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According to Wikipedia, not one but two Saint Valentines are formally recognised on February 14th, Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome, both martyred early in the second and third centuries AD. There’s debate over which one is linked to romance or even if they were one and the same person. Nevertheless, the facts of the matter are moot: it’s now a major tradition. It’s not even confined to this world; even Azeroth is not safe from the marketing juggernaut. Fortunately, no matter how tongue-tied you may be, Linux is here to help send your missives of devotion. #1 – banner Harking from its text terminal days, banner is one of those brilliant commands that serves no real purpose overall but yet comes in handy now and then. The banner command takes in a line of text either as command line parameters or, if not supplied, as prompted input and then massively oversizes each letter to produce huge characters. This is suitable for printing – perhaps on tractor fed paper for that pure retro look. You can also send the output to a text file or directly to your crush via e-mail. Be warned that if the message is viewed using a proportional font it’ll just look like meaningless garbage. Word wrap will also kill its punch, but on the whole your thoughtful message will be met with squeals of delight and praised for its pure creativity. When asked, “Did you do this yourself?” the answer is surely, “Yes” because that command didn’t type itself. Use the banner command by calling it from a command line and passing in a message, e.g.: banner I love you! Send the output to a text file for review or editing by redirecting output: banner I love you! > msg.txt or simply generate and e-mail it in one single hit: banner I love you! | mail –s “Happy Valentine’s Day” This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it #2 – send a Tux e-card No other operating system can boast a cutesy mascot like Linux; sure BSD has a saucy devil but that’s sure to offend some. And has a bunch of flying window panes ever made you hot under the collar? By contrast, Tux the penguin is adorable. Tux-ecards.com is a great site that sends animated greeting cards featuring Tux via e-mail. The Valentine’s collection features such winning one-liners as chown –R you ./myheart Send this, and any geek in your life is sure to respond with passion. The way it works is simple; choose an occasion (Valentine’s Day, of course). Next, select which of the various animated messages you’d like to use. Click on the animation to play it, and press different letter keys to choose different animations. Please read on for more hot tips! CONTINUED |
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