On Jul 14, 2014, at 10:44 AM, Cary Gordon wrote:

> I remember when system administrators would change the MOTD daily. The '80s
> were so pastoral.

	0 0 * * * /bin/fortune > /etc/motd

or, for those running Vixie cron (which most people weren't in the 80s) :

	@daily /bin/fortune > /etc/motd


... but then, everyone went the way of 'web portals' and the like, rather than assuming everyone was going to be (telnet|tn3270)ing into a (unix|cms) system so they could check their e-mail, nntp, gopher, etc.

-Joe

ps. is it disturbing that the talk of motd is making me nostalgic for ASCII art?





> On Monday, July 14, 2014, Joe Hourcle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> On Jul 14, 2014, at 8:21 AM, Riley Childs wrote:
>> 
>>> My MOTDs are not as fun...
>>> 
>>> RUN GET OUT OF HERE
>>> YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TODAY
>>> RESTRICTED ACCESS HERE.
>> 
>> I would expect that in the banner, not the motd:
>> 
>>        $ more /etc/banner
>> 
>>        This US Government computer is for authorized users only. By
>> accessing
>>        this system you are consenting to complete monitoring with no
>>        expectation of privacy. Unauthorized access or use may subject you
>> to
>>        disciplinary action and criminal prosecution.
>> 
>> 
>> The banner gets displayed before the login prompt, the motd gets displayed
>> after ... there's also an assumption that the motd changes regularly, as
>> it's 'message of the day' ... although most people have it be completely
>> random and just call fortune or never bother changing it.
>> 
>> -Joe
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cary Gordon
> The Cherry Hill Company
> http://chillco.com