You can ask Telnet to connect to towel.blinkenlights.nl and, when the service is delivering its animation, watch the ASCII version of Star Wars in a terminal. It is a network connection to a public server, so the remote host decides whether the film stream stays available.
Connect to the ASCII Star Wars service
Run the command below to ask the Telnet client to open a session with the public service.
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
To close Telnet, press Ctrl + ], type q at its prompt, and press Enter.
Connection closed by foreign host means your Telnet client reached the service and the remote side ended the session.
Install Telnet when the command is missing
Choose the package command for your distribution if Telnet is missing, then rerun the connection command.
sudo apt update && sudo apt install telnet
Debian and Ubuntu use the telnet package name, and Linux shell types explains the program that receives your command.
sudo dnf install telnet
Fedora systems install the Telnet client through DNF. Read Linux command-line basics before changing system packages if package management is new to you.
sudo pacman -S inetutils
Arch Linux provides Telnet through the inetutils package.
What the terminal animation looks like
The service draws the film with moving ASCII characters instead of video frames. Its look is intentionally low fidelity, which is the entire point of opening it in a text terminal.
The characters shift in place as the scene progresses, so give the terminal its normal width and avoid resizing it during playback. Your shell is only displaying the remote stream, not rendering a local video file.
For another terminal-based listening session, try using Spotify in the Linux terminal, which uses a local client.
Troubleshoot the Telnet connection
Use the message from Telnet to decide what to do next. The table separates a missing local client from a remote session that your computer cannot control.
| What you see | What it means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| telnet: command not found | The client is not installed. | Install the package for your distribution, then run the Telnet command again. |
| Connection refused or timed out | The host or network path is not accepting the connection. | Check your network, then try again later. |
| Connection closed by foreign host | The host accepted the session and then ended it. | Wait and try again. Your command reached the service. |
Telnet sends traffic without the protections that make SSH suitable for remote administration. Use the SSH command for remote host access, and reserve Telnet here for this public animation.
If you want to inspect a different plain-text network service, the Netcat command gives you a more flexible tool for connection and troubleshooting work. It helps you separate a client problem from a server response.
How do I watch ASCII Star Wars in a Linux terminal?
Install Telnet if your distribution does not include it, then run telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl. The animation plays only while the public host keeps the session open.
How do I quit the Telnet Star Wars animation?
Press Ctrl + ] to open the Telnet prompt, type q, and press Enter to exit the Telnet client.
Why does Telnet say Connection closed by foreign host?
Your Telnet client reached the host, but the remote service ended the session. Wait and try again because the public host controls availability.
Run telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl after installing the client, then use the connection message to tell whether the public animation is available.