Watch Star Wars In Linux Terminal via Telnet

I do not need to tell you about Star Wars and its cult status. It has been one of the most popular sci-fi movie franchises in the history of cinema.

Hardcore fans of Star Wars have seen these movies a number of times. If you are such a Star Wars fan, perhaps you won’t mind watching it again.

I am not talking about a digitally remastered version of the Star Wars movie. In fact, in terms of graphics, it’s nowhere close to what you would expect. It’s fun nonetheless.

No, it won’t be HD, Blue Ray edition. Instead, it will be the ASCII version of Star Wars episode IV and you can watch it in Linux Terminal, in true geek way :)

Watch Star Wars in Linux Terminal Via Telnet

Open a terminal and use the following command to install telnet:

sudo apt install telnet

And then use this command to watch Star Wars in ASCII art.

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

Wait for a few seconds and you can see animated ASCII art in the terminal like this:

And it will keep on going:

To stop the animation, press ctrl+]. After that type quit to come out of telnet command.

Trace The Story Of Star Wars With Traceroute [May not work anymore]

Alright! This one is not exactly watching Star Wars but it’s still fun. In this trick, you can read or should I say ‘trace the story of Star Wars’.

Open your terminal. If not already installed, install traceroute:

sudo apt install traceroute

Now use the traceback to IP 216.81.59.173 in the following manner:

traceroute 216.81.59.173

And be prepared to be amazed at the output.

1 76 ms 96 ms 99 ms 192.168.1.254
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 18 ms 18 ms 17 ms 195.66.225.189
4 22 ms 24 ms 24 ms 10gigabitethernet1-1.core1.lon1.he.net [195.66.224.21]
5 24 ms 24 ms 24 ms 10gigabitethernet2-4.core1.par2.he.net [72.52.92.42]
6 97 ms 97 ms 100 ms 10gigabitethernet7-1.core1.ash1.he.net [184.105.213.93]
7 109 ms 109 ms 112 ms 10gigabitethernet1-2.core1.atl1.he.net [184.105.213.110]
8 109 ms 108 ms 108 ms 216.66.0.26
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 149 ms 148 ms 144 ms Episode.IV [206.214.251.1]
11 146 ms 149 ms 144 ms A.NEW.HOPE [206.214.251.6]
12 145 ms 149 ms 148 ms It.is.a.period.of.civil.war [206.214.251.9]
13 147 ms 148 ms 159 ms Rebel.spaceships [206.214.251.14]
14 147 ms 147 ms 144 ms striking.from.a.hidden.base [206.214.251.17]
15 144 ms 148 ms 144 ms have.won.their.first.victory [206.214.251.22]
16 149 ms 147 ms 148 ms against.the.evil.Galactic.Empire [206.214.251.25]
17 147 ms 157 ms 148 ms During.the.battle [206.214.251.30]
18 148 ms 152 ms 147 ms Rebel.spies.managed [206.214.251.33]
19 147 ms 149 ms 149 ms to.steal.secret.plans [206.214.251.38]
20 146 ms 146 ms 149 ms to.the.Empires.ultimate.weapon [206.214.251.41]
21 148 ms 148 ms 149 ms the.DEATH.STAR [206.214.251.46]
22 150 ms 149 ms 148 ms an.armored.space.station [206.214.251.49]
23 147 ms 147 ms 148 ms with.enough.power.to [206.214.251.54]
24 147 ms 149 ms 149 ms destroy.an.entire.planet [206.214.251.57]
25 145 ms 150 ms 147 ms Pursued.by.the.Empires [206.214.251.62]
26 146 ms 147 ms 152 ms sinister.agents [206.214.251.65]
27 150 ms 154 ms 147 ms Princess.Leia.races.home [206.214.251.70]
28 146 ms 147 ms 148 ms aboard.her.starship [206.214.251.73]
29 148 ms 151 ms 148 ms custodian.of.the.stolen.plans [206.214.251.78]
30 148 ms 147 ms 146 ms that.can.save.her [206.214.251.81]
31 146 ms 150 ms 147 ms people.and.restore [206.214.251.86]
32 146 ms 149 ms 149 ms freedom.to.the.galaxy [206.214.251.89]
33 152 ms 149 ms 148 ms 0——————-0 [206.214.251.94]
34 150 ms 147 ms 152 ms 0——————0 [206.214.251.97]
35 148 ms 151 ms 149 ms 0—————–0 [206.214.251.102]
36 145 ms 153 ms 146 ms 0—————-0 [206.214.251.105]
37 144 ms 148 ms 149 ms 0—————0 [206.214.251.110]
38 145 ms 189 ms 150 ms 0————–0 [206.214.251.113]
39 147 ms 148 ms 149 ms 0————-0 [206.214.251.118]
40 154 ms 146 ms 150 ms 0————0 [206.214.251.121]
41 148 ms 153 ms 150 ms 0———–0 [206.214.251.126]
42 154 ms 154 ms 149 ms 0———-0 [206.214.251.129]
43 147 ms 147 ms 149 ms 0———0 [206.214.251.134]
44 150 ms 149 ms 148 ms 0——–0 [206.214.251.137]
45 152 ms 153 ms 156 ms 0——-0 [206.214.251.142]
46 147 ms 152 ms 149 ms 0——0 [206.214.251.145]
47 172 ms 160 ms 148 ms 0—–0 [206.214.251.150]
48 151 ms 153 ms 154 ms 0—-0 [206.214.251.153]
49 149 ms 149 ms 149 ms 0—0 [206.214.251.158]
50 152 ms 149 ms 151 ms 0–0 [206.214.251.161]
51 153 ms 152 ms 151 ms 0-0 [206.214.251.166]
52 150 ms 150 ms 152 ms 00 [206.214.251.169]
53 150 ms 155 ms 149 ms I [206.214.251.174]
54 152 ms 152 ms 155 ms By.Ryan.Werber [206.214.251.177]
55 152 ms 153 ms 150 ms When.CCIEs.Get.Bored [206.214.251.182]
56 151 ms 153 ms 150 ms read.more.at.beaglenetworks.net [206.214.251.185]
57 151 ms 151 ms 145 ms FIN [216.81.59.173]

More terminal fun

In fact, watching Star Wars is not the only fun thing you can do in the Linux terminal. You can run a train in a terminal or get Linux logo in ASCII art.

Running a Train in the Linux Terminal With sl Command

Choo choo! All aboard the choo choo train in the Linux terminal.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

Display Linux Distribution Logo in ASCII Art in Terminal

Wondering how they display Linux logo in terminal? With these tools, you can display logo of your Linux distribution in ASCII art in the Linux terminal.

It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash

I let you enjoy Star Wars in Linux :)