Message of the day explained

Many computer systems display a message of the day or welcome message when a user first connects to them, logs in to them, or starts them. It is a way of sending a common message to all users, and may include information about system changes, system availability, and so on. More recently, systems have displayed personalized messages of the day.

On many time-sharing systems, the contents of the message of the day are fetched from a system file:

• Compatible Time-Sharing System;^[1]
• Multics: the motd info segment;^{[2] [3]}
• TOPS-10
• Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS)
• Unix-like systems: the /etc/motd file, though most modern Linux distributions do not support the file.
• Univac VS/9^[4]
• CP/CMS^[5]

Usage

The contents of the special file are displayed after the user logs in successfully, typically before the login shell is started.^[6]

Newer Unix-like systems may generate the message dynamically when the host boots or a user logs in.^[7]

Various server-based PC games display messages of the day, including Half-Life, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Battlefield. They may be personalized, encouraging users to try new features or make in-game purchases.^[8]

Some IRC servers also display a message of the day on login.^[9]

See also

• System console
• fortune (Unix)

Notes and References

1. A New Version of FAP . 80 . CTSS Bulletin . April 23, 1965 .
2. Web site: Multics Glossary -M- .
3. A.K. Bhushan, "Scenarios for using ARPANET computers", Request for Comments 254, Network Working Group, IETF https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc254.txt
4. "The Univac 60/90 Mainframe Computer" https://studylib.net/doc/8373525/the-univac-90---60-mainframe-computer, p. 5
5. "CP-67 Operator's Guide", Program Number 360D-05.2.005, Control Program-67/Cambridge Monitor System, October 1970, p. 4 http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/cp67/GH20-0856-0_CP-67_Operators_Guide_Oct1970.pdf
6. The complete FreeBSD: documentation from the source, By Greg Lehey, p.572
7. Book: Ubuntu 11.04 Server Guide. 9781596822603. Project. Ubuntu Documentation. May 2011.
8. Web site: 2019-06-20 . How to build a dynamic message of the day with AWS Lambda AWS for Games Blog . 2022-07-31 . aws.amazon.com . en-US.
9. Web site: Internet Relay Chat: Client Protocol.