fortune ☆
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Description:
Infamous electronic fortune-cookie generator
Type: Formula  |  Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Other
Tags: cli utility games terminal quotes
Install: brew install fortune
About:
Fortune is a classic Unix utility that displays a random quote or witticism from a pre-compiled database of phrases. It serves as a simple, entertaining command-line tool for adding personality to terminal sessions or system messages. Its value lies in its minimalism and the extensive, community-curated collections of quotes available.
Key Features:
  • Randomly selects and displays quotes from text databases
  • Supports multiple, separate quote databases (e.g., riddles, definitions, people)
  • Simple, lightweight command-line interface
  • Customizable via flags to control output format and database selection
Use Cases:
  • Adding a fun, random message to shell startup scripts (.bashrc, .zshrc)
  • Displaying daily tips or quotes in terminal multiplexers like tmux
  • Generating random text for testing or placeholder content
Alternatives:
  • sl – A different terminal novelty that prints a steam locomotive, offering visual amusement rather than text-based quotes.
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Sep 13, 2025 6:45pm 0 VERSION_BUMP c26e6ca8
May 22, 2023 10:39am 0 VERSION_BUMP 9d1a75fc
Nov 18, 2022 3:35pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 4c4c8d47
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