Ubuntu Linux : get matrix effect on terminal

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This time I made a thought to share something interesting.It is not related to system admin but it is just for fun.

I generally use ubuntu most of the time for my desktop purposes. Hope you will like this matrix effect on your terminal.

First you have to install cmatrix package into your system. It is already available on Ubuntu repo, so no additional repo require to add. Run the command

sudo apt-get install cmatrix

It will install the cmatrix package.

Now on terminal run the command

cmatrix
matrix

And how it looks.

You can find more options in cmatrix by typing command cmatrix --help. In given below output, you can see available help options. 

sharad@sharadchhetri:~$ cmatrix --help
 Usage: cmatrix -[abBfhlsVx] [-u delay] [-C color]
 -a: Asynchronous scroll
 -b: Bold characters on
 -B: All bold characters (overrides -b)
 -f: Force the linux $TERM type to be on
 -l: Linux mode (uses matrix console font)
 -o: Use old-style scrolling
 -h: Print usage and exit
 -n: No bold characters (overrides -b and -B, default)
 -s: "Screensaver" mode, exits on first keystroke
 -x: X window mode, use if your xterm is using mtx.pcf
 -V: Print version information and exit
 -u delay (0 - 10, default 4): Screen update delay
 -C [color]: Use this color for matrix (default green)
sharad@sharadchhetri:~$

Enjoy cmatrix! It is really cool.

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9 thoughts on “Ubuntu Linux : get matrix effect on terminal”

  1. Nice effect. Some issues though, the characters don’t fade out like in the matrix film, and the text is too fast and frequent

    • Hi Rob,

      You can get many options from its help page. You can change color and speed too.

      sharad@sharadchhetri:~$ cmatrix --help
 Usage: cmatrix -[abBfhlsVx] [-u delay] [-C color]
 -a: Asynchronous scroll
 -b: Bold characters on
 -B: All bold characters (overrides -b)
 -f: Force the linux $TERM type to be on
 -l: Linux mode (uses matrix console font)
 -o: Use old-style scrolling
 -h: Print usage and exit
 -n: No bold characters (overrides -b and -B, default)
 -s: "Screensaver" mode, exits on first keystroke
 -x: X window mode, use if your xterm is using mtx.pcf
 -V: Print version information and exit
 -u delay (0 - 10, default 4): Screen update delay
 -C [color]: Use this color for matrix (default green)
sharad@sharadchhetri:~$

      Regards
      Sharad

  2. I am from MAC OS (pls don’t hate me), and when I type it down it says “command not found”. I’m new to the terminal. Can u pls halp?

    • Hi Bob,

      In Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Desktop, run given below two command. I am not sure if you are trying the command in Linux or MacOS. 

      sudo apt update
sudo apt install cmatrix

      sharad@linuxworld:~$ sudo apt install cmatrix
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libpango1.0-0 libpangox-1.0-0
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
Suggested packages:
  cmatrix-xfont
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  cmatrix
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 15.8 kB of archives.
After this operation, 50.2 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 cmatrix amd64 1.2a-5build2 [15.8 kB]
Fetched 15.8 kB in 0s (35.8 kB/s)  
Selecting previously unselected package cmatrix.
(Reading database ... 205813 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../cmatrix_1.2a-5build2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking cmatrix (1.2a-5build2) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up cmatrix (1.2a-5build2) ...
sharad@linuxworld:~$

      Regards
      Sharad

  6. umm.. it says “unable to locate package” im connect to the internet and everything, but it doesnt seem to work :/

    • Hi,

      Not sure which OS version you are using. But you can check with below given command , if the package is available in repo or not.

      sudo apt-get update
apt-cache policy cmatrix

      Regards
      Sharad

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