Last Updated on May 25, 2022
Summary
I’ve got a strange affinity with ASCIIQuarium. In part, I always love software that’s a single file. This one is a mere 27K in size. But it’s more than that. The Perl script almost has a calming effect on me, even though the animated devouring of fish by the sharks have an almost haunting quality.
The ASCII animations are almost an art form. Maybe it’s taking me back to my childhood, as in the 1970’s and 1980’s, ASCII art was the only way to create graphics.
If you’re feeling stressed at the end of a long day, fire up ASCIIQuarium. It’s a lot cheaper than having to run your own aquarium, and almost as enjoyable.
There’s no command line arguments to learn. You can pause the animation, or redraw the screen. And that’s about it.
Website: robobunny.com
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Kirk Baucom (code), Claudio Matsuoka, Joan Stark (ASCII art)
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
ASCIIQuarium is written in Perl. Learn Perl with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction / Installation
Page 2 – In Operation
Page 3 – Summary
Complete list of articles in this series:
| Linux Candy | |
|---|---|
| ASCIIQuarium | Embrace marine life from the terminal with beautiful ASCII art |
| ASCII Art Converter | A small utility that converts images into ASCII art |
| BobRossQuotes | Collection of quotes from Bob Ross |
| Boxes | Command line ASCII boxes |
| Buoh | Online strips comics reader |
| cacafire | Color ASCII fire |
| catclock | xclock with an enhanced cat mode |
| cbonsai | Generate bonsai trees in the terminal |
| christmasfetch | Festive cheer on the desktop |
| chucknorris | Chuck Norris jokes in your terminal |
| cornyjokes | Corny jokes for the terminal |
| CMatrix | ncurses program that simulates the display from “The Matrix” |
| ctree | A Christmas tree right on your terminal |
| eDEX-UI | Sci-fi computer terminal emulator and system monitor |
| emoj | Simple tool that to find suitable emojis for pasting to your clipboard |
| Emote | Modern popup emoji picker |
| Evolvotron | Interactive generative art |
| Fantascene | Dynamic wallpaper changer |
| Fondo | Find beautiful wallpapers from Unsplash |
| gti | Typo-based curio inspired by Steam Locomotive |
| Hollywood | Fill your console with Hollywood melodrama technobabble |
| linuxwave | Generate music from the entropy of Linux |
| lolcat | Rainbows and unicorns |
| No More Secrets | Recreates the data decryption effect from the Sneakers movie |
| nook | Plays Animal Crossing hourly themes on the hour |
| nyancat | Terminal-based Pop Tart Cat Animation |
| oneko | Animal chasing fun |
| pipes.sh | Animated pipes terminal screensaver |
| ponysay | cowsay reimplemention for ponies |
| projectM | Music visualizer originally based on Milkdrop |
| pscircle | A different take on the venerable ps command |
| PyBonsai | Generates procedural ASCII art trees |
| pyjokes | One line jokes for programmers |
| Pywal | Generate color schemes on the fly |
| Relaxator | Relax to soothing sounds |
| Rusty Aquarium | Monitoring by visualization |
| Steam Locomotive | C program written in 295 lines. It's harmless fun |
| Ternimal | Animated lifeform in the terminal |
| terminal-parrot | Party parrot time |
| tetris | Tile-matching puzzle video game in your terminal |
| Variety | Wallpaper manager with many desktops and wallpaper sources |
| WallGen | Generate HQ poly wallpapers with a few arguments. |
| WallpaperDownloader | Download, change, and manage wallpapers |
| xcowsay | Displays a cow on your desktop with message |
| XDecorations | Add some festive cheer to your desktop |
| XScreenSaver | Framework and collection of screensavers |
| yosay | Like cowsay but with less cow |
What and where is CPAN? It would be helpful if you would add a link. This is, after all, a Linux Links article!)
We’ve added a link to CPAN.
CPAN is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a huge collection of Perl software and documentation.
Here’s a tip Angus. Google is your friend.
Actually, I put a link in my comment.
Yes, but we generally don’t allow links in comments.
Well done for promoting the lighter side of Linux. I’m looking forward to more in this ‘Candy’ series.
I like that some of the programs are just a welcome distraction