install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install asciiquarium

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add asciiquarium

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · asciiquarium · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install asciiquarium

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · asciiquarium · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#asciiquarium

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/as/asciiquarium/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S asciiquarium

Arch Linux sync databases · asciiquarium · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

overview

Package summary

Aquarium animation in ASCII art

Project links

Commands and aliases

asciiquarium

history

Project history and usage

ASCIIQuarium is a Perl terminal toy that animates an aquarium scene in ASCII art using Curses and Term::Animation. It is the sort of small, durable package that persists in Unix package collections because it is whimsical, dependency-light, and instantly demonstrable.

Project history

The official README identifies the program as Asciiquarium v1.1 by Kirk Baucom and describes it as an aquarium/sea animation in ASCII art. The script header gives a 2003 copyright date for Kirk Baucom and points users to the robobunny.com project page as the current version location.

The GitHub mirror/import used by current package managers was created in 2011 by Claudio Matsuoka. Its first commit message says it imported Kirk Baucom's ASCIIQuarium 1.0, and the README credits Matsuoka with new fish species and minor improvements backported from an Android live wallpaper.

Adoption history

ASCIIQuarium's adoption is mostly package-culture adoption rather than application-platform adoption: it is useful as a terminal demo, a Curses/Perl curiosity, and a bit of ASCII-art nostalgia. The input facts list Alpine, Homebrew, Fedora, Nix, and Arch packages, which is broad for a terminal toy.

Its README includes Ubuntu setup notes for Perl Curses and Term::Animation, reflecting the older CPAN-plus-distro packaging style. Package-manager formulas are valuable because they hide those Perl module requirements behind a single install.

How it is used

The program is a single Perl script. Users put it somewhere on PATH and run `asciiquarium`; while it is running, `q` quits, `r` redraws the aquarium, `p` toggles pause, and `-c` selects classic mode with only species from Asciiquarium 1.0.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, ASCIIQuarium is a tiny example of why toy packages matter: it exercises terminal capabilities, Perl module dependencies, curses support, and package naming conventions while also being fun enough to keep around.

Timeline

2003: Script header copyright date for Kirk Baucom.
2011: GitHub repository created and initial import commit records ASCIIQuarium 1.0.
2011: Version 1.1 documented with new fish species.
2023: GitHub repository still received updates/pushes.

Related projects

Term::Animation and Curses are required Perl modules.
Joan Stark's ASCII art is credited for much of the artwork.
An Android live wallpaper is mentioned as the source for some backported species.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`asciiquarium`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version1.1

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/html/

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/html/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:asciiquarium
Version	1.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/asciiquarium
Homepage	https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/html/
Repository	https://github.com/cmatsuoka/asciiquarium
Upstream docs	https://github.com/cmatsuoka/asciiquarium#readme
License	GPL-2.0-or-later
Source archive	https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/asciiquarium_1.1.tar.gz
Dependencies	ncurses
Uses from macOS	perl
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	asciiquarium
Version Scheme	0
Revision	6
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

asciiquarium

nix profile install nixpkgs#asciiquarium

normalized package name match
Matched by: Asciiquarium

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/as/asciiquarium/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

apk95%

asciiquarium 1.1-r2

An aquarium/sea animation in ASCII art

https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/html/

sudo apk add asciiquarium

License: GPL-2.0-or-later
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: asciiquarium
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Asciiquarium

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: asciiquarium from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

dnf95%

asciiquarium 1.1-28.fc44

ASCII art aquarium/sea animation

http://www.robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/html/

sudo dnf install asciiquarium

License: GPL-2.0-or-later
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: noarch
Source Package: asciiquarium
2 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Asciiquarium

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: asciiquarium from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

pacman95%

asciiquarium 1.1-7

An aquarium/sea animation in ASCII art

https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/html

sudo pacman -S asciiquarium

License: GPL2
Architecture: any
2 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Asciiquarium

Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: asciiquarium from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/asciiquarium.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install asciiquarium with Homebrew, apk, dnf, Nix, pacman