In Mavericks it is possible to to show a custom message on the logon/lock screen.
This can be done via "Preferences" -> "Security" -> "Show a message when the screen is locked".
Now I'm wondering if it is possible to display a message that is randomly read from a provided text file and changes every time at logon. For example I'd like to have a file "quotes.txt" with each line being a quotation such that I get some kind of "Quote of the Day" feature.
I guess this could easily be achieved by a script running whenever the users logs off (log in would be possible as well, I suppose), that reads in a random line and sets the "lock screen message" string accordingly. So I'm basically asking, if there is a way to access this string for example via command line to programmatically change it.
Best Answer
You can set the text from Terminal by running
The text is displayed in three lines with a max length of 68 characters each so it it might help to pre-select/format the quotes to match these limitations.