The fun of Linux is that you can configure it as you want. This post is about some config i made. 1.color vim ~/.bashrc add this line: PS1='\[\033[1;32m\]\u\[\033[1;32m\]@\h >>\[\033[0;34m\]\w\$ \[\033[1;36m\]' save and quit. close the terminal and open a new one. Now it's colored. more HowTo and color in here . 2. show somthing open opening terminal (like the Linux Mint) vim /.bashrc add command lines save and quit. examples: 1.calendar add /usr/bin/cal in .bashrc. 2.fortune sudo apt-get install fortune-zh (for others languages, aptitude seacrh them) add /usr/bin/fortune-zh in .bashrc. 3.cowsay and others sudo apt-get install cowsay add fortune-zh | cowsay in .bashrc.