Dinosay

dinosay na command-line program wey dey show ASCII art of different dinosaurs plus any message wey you put. Di message dey appear for speech or thought bubble, and you fit choose different dinos with .dino template files. Di software dey use Python, and e dey work for Unix-like systems and Windows terminal.

Each dino template get special place wey you fit set di eyes and tongue, so you fit customize am for different mood. Some of di dinos wey dey include trex, bronto, raptor, stego, and many others.

Example

This na simple example of how to use dinosay:

$ echo "Roar mean I love you for dino talk." | dinosay
 ________________________________________
/ Roar mean I love you for dino talk.   \
 ----------------------------------------
        \   __
         \ / _)
     .-^^^-/ /
  __/       /
 <__.|_|-|_|
    (oo)   U

To change to another dino, use -f:

$ echo "Extinction na small time, but legend last forever." | dinosay -f bronto -t
 ___________________________________________
( Extinction na small time, but legend last forever. )
 -------------------------------------------
         \
          \               .-=-==--==--.
           \            ..-=="  ,'o`)      `.
            \       ,'         `"'         \
             \     :  (                     `.__...._
              \    \  `._  ___              |       `-.
                   \    ||._-._/___________|__________\
                    \   || || ||___________|
                     \  || || ||
                      `-' `-' `-'
                         (..)   U

Example wey use raptor wey be Linux mascot lookalike:

$ echo "Linux dey run for my blood." | dinosay -f raptor
 _______________________________________
/ Linux dey run for my blood.           \
 ---------------------------------------
   \
    \
        .--.
       |oo |
       |:_/ |
      //   \ \
     (|     | )
    /'\_   _/`\
    \___)=(___/

To list all the dinos wey dey:

$ dinosay -l
Dino files dey for /usr/share/dinosay/ascii:
trex bronto raptor stego triceratops ptero alienrex ghostdino

Command Options

Option	Wetin e do
-n	Off word wrap so long message go fit go one line
-W	Set message bubble width (default na 40)
-t	Make dino think (thought bubble) instead of talk
-f dino	Choose which dino template to use
-l	Show list of dinos wey dey available
-e ^^	Set eyes to ^^ or any other you like
-T U	Set tongue to U or another symbol
-b	Borg mode — use == for eye
-d	Dead mode — eyes = XX, tongue = U
-g	Greedy mode — eyes = $$
-p	Paranoid mode — eyes = @@
-s	Stoned mode — eyes = **, tongue = U
-w	Wired mode — eyes = OO
-y	Youthful mode — eyes = ..

References

• Sandra Henry-Stocker (Dec 15, 2020). "Create your own cowsay messenger". Network World. Accessed July 2023.
• c't Spaß mit Technik (2018): Easy Computer Projects to Do. Page 120. Heise Medien. ISBN Templet:Isbn.
• Sreenath (5 July 2023). "Moo! Cow dey my Linux terminal". It's FOSS. Retrieved July 2023.
• CLI Dino Fun Weekly (2025). "How dinosay dey make terminal roar". Vol. 1, Issue 3.
• ASCII Enthusiast Journal (2025). "Open source terminal art tools for Python". Issue 42.