cowsay — Clarus Command Guide

Install

# RHEL / Alma / Rocky (often via EPEL)
sudo dnf install epel-release
sudo dnf install cowsay

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install cowsay

# openSUSE
sudo zypper install cowsay

# Arch
sudo pacman -S cowsay

What it does

cowsay takes text (arguments or stdin) and prints it in a speech (or thought) bubble, followed by an ASCII art figure. It’s a classic terminal “personality” tool—great for MOTD, scripts, or pairing with fortune.

How it works (mechanical)

Renders a bubble sized to your text (wrap width can be controlled).
Selects an ASCII “cowfile” (a template stored on disk) to draw the character.
Outputs plain text (no colors by default), so it’s safe to pipe into other tools.

Quick Start

# Say something
cowsay Hello, world!

# Read from stdin
echo "Server reboot at 02:00" | cowsay

# Pair with fortune
fortune -s | cowsay

10 Practical Examples

Basic usage
```
cowsay "Moo."
```
Use stdin
```
echo "Patch window tonight" | cowsay
```
Thought bubble
```
cowsay -T "U " -W 40 "Thinking..."
```
Tip: Many distros provide cowthink as a companion command.

Set wrap width

cowsay -W 30 "This will wrap at 30 columns."

No word wrap

cowsay -n "Keep my spacing exactly as typed."

List available cowfiles
```
cowsay -l
```
Pick a specific cowfile
```
cowsay -f tux "Linux approved."
```

Random cowfile (shell)

# Pick a random cowfile name
cowsay -l | tail -n +2 | tr ' ' '
' | sed '/^$/d' | shuf -n 1

Then use it with -f, e.g. cowsay -f <name> "...".

“Borg mode” / “dead” / “greedy” / “paranoid” etc.

cowsay -b "Resistance is futile."
cowsay -d "I'm dead tired."
cowsay -g "I want snacks."
cowsay -p "Who's behind me?"

These flags tweak the cow’s eyes/tongue.

Fortune + cowsay in your shell greeting

# Add to ~/.bashrc (or ~/.zshrc)
fortune -s | cowsay

Notes & Gotchas

Package names vary: some distros ship cowsay plus extra cowfiles in a separate package.
Where cowfiles live: commonly under /usr/share/cowsay/cows (varies by distro).
Script safety: output is plain text; watch for quotes/newlines if you’re embedding inside other scripts.
Wide terminals: if bubbles look odd, set an explicit wrap with -W.

Historical Context

cowsay began as a playful UNIX/Linux terminal program (popularized on Debian and beyond) and became a beloved “geek culture” staple. It’s one of those tiny tools that makes the command line feel alive.

Modern Equivalent

No strict replacement needed—cowsay is still the go-to for ASCII speech bubbles. Modern equivalents are mostly variations: other ASCII art generators, prompt frameworks, or MOTD scripts that combine multiple text effects.

Related Commands

fortune — feed quotes into cowsay.
lolcat — colorize cowsay output.
figlet / toilet — big ASCII banners.
banner — classic banner text.