Fortune Swahili is a command-line utility that provides access to a curated collection of 5,698 traditional Swahili proverbs.
Key Features
Extensive Collection
5,698 authentic Swahili proverbs
Simple Integration
Standard Debian package format
Minimal Footprint
Lightweight with zero dependencies
📦 Quick Installation
1Add GPG Key
Import the repository signing key to verify package authenticity:
curl -fsSL https://giftcharles.github.io/fortune-swahili/public.key.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/fortune-swahili.gpg2Add Repository
Add the Fortune Swahili repository to your sources:
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/fortune-swahili.gpg] https://giftcharles.github.io/fortune-swahili stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fortune-swahili.list3Install Package
Update your package list and install:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install fortune-swahili4Run the Command
Execute the command to display a random Swahili proverb:
fortune-swahiliOptionally, add this command to your shell configuration file (.bashrc or .zshrc) for automatic execution on terminal startup.
🔧 Usage Examples
# Get a random proverb
fortune-swahili
# Add to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc for daily wisdom
echo 'fortune-swahili' >> ~/.bashrc
# Use with cowsay for fun (if installed)
fortune-swahili | cowsay📚 Resources
Contributing
Contributions to expand the proverb collection or enhance the tool are welcome. Please visit the GitHub repository to submit issues or pull requests.
Development
Quick developer commands to run locally (requires Python 3):
# create venv and install deps
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r scraper/requirements.txt
# build package (uses data/ by default)
cd scraper
./build_deb.sh ../data
# work with curated JSON files in scraper/ (do not re-run raw HTML parsing)
ls scraper/*.json
# normalize and merge curated JSON extracts into data/quotes.json
python3 normalize_mwambao.py
# create apt-repo locally
./make_apt_repo.sh ./fortune-swahili_0.2_all.deb ./apt-repo
"If you plan to publish via GitHub Actions, ensure the repository secrets GPG_PRIVATE_KEY and GPG_PASSPHRASE are configured.