cMatrix

Supported on Ubuntu (Linux) and macOS (Intel and Apple silicon).

Digital Rain Demo

Demo.mp4

Custom head and tail colors via string or hex

Clone

cd /path/to/your/src
git clone https://github.com/shr00mie/cmatrix.git
cd cmatrix

Setup (two steps)

Script	Role
./scripts/01_check_install_deps.sh	System packages (compilers, Notcurses, etc.).
./scripts/02_compile_install_bin.sh	make, then install under PREFIX (default ~/.local): binary, man page, data, fonts.

sudo is only for step 1 on Ubuntu when apt runs as a non-root user. Step 2 / make install does not need sudo for a normal ~/.local install. Details, package lists, and edge cases are in the scripts.

./scripts/01_check_install_deps.sh
./scripts/02_compile_install_bin.sh

Default paths

Default PREFIX is ~/.local.

Artifact	Linux	macOS
Binary	~/.local/bin/cmatrix	same
Man page	~/.local/share/man/man1/cmatrix.1	same
Data (uninstall helper, optional scripts)	~/.local/share/cmatrix/	same
Patched DejaVu (rain PUA glyphs)	~/.local/share/fonts/DejaVuSansMono.ttf (from data/fonts/DejaVuSansMono_patched.ttf) + fc-cache -fv ~/.local/share/fonts/	~/Library/Fonts/DejaVuSansMono.ttf

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

macOS font helper: $HOME/.local/share/cmatrix/set-terminal-font.sh (see also data/macos/). Use DejaVu Sans Mono in the terminal profile for correct glyphs.

Execution flags overview

Run cmatrix with options like:

cmatrix -a -b -T green -H white -F 24

Common flags (from cmatrix -h / cmatrix.1):

• -a : asynchronous scroll
• -b : bold characters on
• -B : all bold characters (overrides -b)
• -c : matrix glyphs mode (movie-style halfwidth column stream + Latin; needs UTF-8 and a terminal font that includes those code points)
• -o : old-style scrolling
• -k : every character change
• -s : screensaver mode (exits on first keystroke)
• -V : print version and exit
• -F fps : frame rate (allowed range: 12–60; default 24)
• -T, -H, -O : each takes a color as a name (string) or hex (#RRGGBB). Defaults: tail green, head mint, message red.
• -M message : add a centered message

ToDo:

• tweak init sequence to make drop spawn more parabolic.
• migratory messages; appear in random locations. appear. stick around for like 10 seconds, get wiped, then get revealed somewhere else on screen.
• play around with total active columns and tail lengths a bit more. they're close, but not quite where i want them.
• mess with how drops spawn in columns with existing tails and how the squeegee fade works with various length sliding windows.
• update Ubuntu helper to query GNOME Terminal profile font and patch preferred font with rain PUA glyphs.
• modify patched font to pass PuTTY filter.
• verify that cmatrix running on remote box via PuTTY displays properly on windows.

• automate finding, enumerating, and editing PuTTY font and Terminal-type string config via powershell script.
• clone Emily Blunt.

Uninstall

make uninstall

Uses 02 in uninstall mode with your PREFIX / DESTDIR (see script).

Uninstall helper and optional system-wide font

After make install, a copy of the uninstall helper lives at:

~/.local/share/cmatrix/uninstall.sh

You can run it directly; make uninstall also invokes the logic from the repo via the install script.

data/fonts/install-dejavu-user-font.sh is not part of the default two-step flow. Use it only if you want to replace the distro’s system DejaVu under /usr/share/fonts/... (requires root). Normal installs use user fonts only (~/.local/share/fonts/ on Linux).

Attribution

This work builds on cmatrix, maintained by Abishek V Ashok and contributors.