RIG(6)

📦 version 1.11, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 RIG(6) — the Random Identity Generator, bestie edition 💖

okay so this is a page from the Games Manual of your Unix system, and it's about a little icon called RIG. Let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

RIG — the Random Identity Generator. that's the whole name. short, sweet, slays 💅

🌸 USAGE 🌸

rig [ -f | -m ] [ -d datadir ] [ -c num ]

that's it. that's the summoning ritual 🕯️✨

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So like… Rig is a utility that will piece together a random first name, last name, street number and address, PLUS a geographically consistant city, state, ZIP code, and area code — and yes bestie, "consistant" is spelled exactly like that in the original, they mean all of those pieces match the same area. no mixing a Florida ZIP with an Oregon area code, that would be a vibe violation fr fr 😭

It's suitable for such applications as feeding the NY times registration page to fend off junk (snail) mail and telemarketers, or for registering on BBS's to which you don't wish to reveal your real information. yes this is the main character fake-identity energy you've been looking for. go off, anonymous icon 👑

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -f, -m — Respectively, use female and male names. If neither or both options are selected, RIG uses both female and male names. so like, if you're indecisive, it just does both for you. the algorithm is more decisive than me honestly 💀
  • -d datadir — Use data files found in datadir. Without this option, the default directory of /usr/share/rig is assumed. like, it's not gonna guess, it goes to the default unless you tell it otherwise ✨
  • -c num — Output num identities. Default is 1. one identity per run, unless you ask for a whole squad 🎀

🎀 FILES 🎀

the whole data-file family, all living together:

  • /usr/share/rig/locdata.idx
  • /usr/share/rig/street.idx
  • /usr/share/rig/fnames.idx
  • /usr/share/rig/mnames.idx
  • /usr/share/rig/lnames.idx

🌈 HISTORY 🌈

Based on "fake" written for MS-DOS. Unfortunately the author and publish date are unknown. we simply do not know. mystery era 🕵️‍♀️

First UNIX version written from scratch in 1999. iconic year, no notes.

This manpage based on RIG version 1.10.

👑 AUTHORS 👑

UNIX version (c) 1999-2002 Ian Turner with contributions from Ian Prowell, Nick Rusnov, and Schneelocke. Geography Database is from the original version and I believe it to be held in the public domain. Names database is from the US Census at http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/ , courtesy of Trent Stanley.

Send all comments and bug-reports to:

vectro@RIG.sourceforge.net
ok real talk bestie: that's the actual email, the actual copyright range, and the actual credit list. do not skip the contributors, they ate 💖

and that's a wrap on RIG(6), from the Games Manual, dated 4 JUN 2002 🎀 tysm for reading, you understood the whole thing, periodt ✨💜

📦 where this page comes from