This document describes a simple and reversible method to enhance the Slackware login experience by displaying a random fortune message using cowsay, along with information about the last user login.

The setup uses Slackware's native /etc/profile.d/ mechanism and applies only to interactive login shells.

• use Slackware-native mechanisms
• avoid background services or hooks
• affect only interactive login shells
• remain easy to disable or remove
• preserve a clean and predictable login process

• Slackware 15.0 or Slackware -current is in use
• bsd-games is installed (provides fortune)
• cowsay is installed
• a Bourne-compatible login shell is used (sh, bash, etc.)
• the user has root access

The fortune program is provided by bsd-games:

# slackpkg install bsd-games

The cowsay package is available on SlackBuilds.org. Download the build script, then as root:

# lftp -c "open https://slackbuilds.org/slackbuilds/15.0/games/; mirror cowsay"
# cd cowsay
# sudo sh cowsay.SlackBuild
# sudo installpkg /tmp/cowsay-*.t?z

Create the following file as root:

/etc/profile.d/fortune-cowsay.sh

Add the following content:

#!/bin/sh
#
# Display last login information and a fortune message on
# interactive login shells.
#
 
# Do nothing if hushlogin exists
if [ -e "$HOME/.hushlogin" ]; then
    return
fi
 
# Only run for interactive shells
case $- in
*i*)
    echo
 
    # Display last user login (ignore shutdown/reboot entries)
    last -n 10 | grep -vE 'shutdown|reboot' | head -n 1 | \
    awk '{ORS=""; print "Last login: " $1 " on " $2; $1=$2=""; print $0}' && echo ""
 
    echo
 
    if command -v cowsay >/dev/null 2>&1; then
        fortune fortunes fortunes2 linuxcookie | cowsay
    else
        fortune fortunes fortunes2 linuxcookie
    fi
 
    echo
    ;;
esac

Make the script executable:

# chmod +x /etc/profile.d/fortune-cowsay.sh

Slackware's bsd-games package installs its own login fortune scripts in /etc/profile.d/. To avoid duplicate output, disable them:

# chmod -x /etc/profile.d/bsd-games-login-fortune.sh
# chmod -x /etc/profile.d/bsd-games-login-fortune.csh

Log in as a user with an interactive shell or start a new login session:

$ su -l username

You should see:

• a “Last login” line (excluding reboot and shutdown entries)
• a random fortune displayed via cowsay (if installed)

A typical login may display output similar to the following:

Last login: user on pts/0 Mon May  5 22:01:45 2025

 _______________________________________
/ You will be attacked by a beast with \
\ big teeth. Film at 11.               /
 ---------------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

To disable the login message for a specific user, create an empty file in their home directory:

$ touch ~/.hushlogin

This follows standard Unix behavior and requires no further changes to the system configuration.

• If cowsay is not installed, only the fortune message is displayed
• The script affects login shells only
• Non-interactive shells are not impacted
• The script can be disabled system-wide at any time with chmod -x

Using /etc/profile.d/ to display a fortune and login information is a clean and idiomatic way to customize Slackware's login environment.

This approach adds personality without sacrificing simplicity, predictability, or control, and can be disabled at any time with minimal effort.

• fortune(6) manual page
• cowsay(1) manual page
• cowsay on SlackBuilds.org

* Originally written by r1w1s1