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What are some programs/tools/packages that you can't live without? (piefed.social)

submitted 2 days ago by steel_for_humans@piefed.social to c/linux4noobs@programming.dev

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Disclaimer: I tried searching for something like "useful programs", "useful packages", "useful tools", "recommended packages", etc. Don't see any posts like that, if this is a duplicate, then it's not intentional and my search skills have failed me.

Anyway, I was watching a YT video today and the guy launched a cool program in his terminal, I paused to see what he was running. It was btop, of course being new I never heard about it. Then I thought -- how many cool tools/packages are there, which people use, but I am not aware of?

So what do you like? What do you install on a fresh install? What are the most useful tools in your belt? What can't you live without on Linux?

Perhaps I'll find something useful :)

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[–] OliMoli2137@piefed.social 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Here are some useful programs I use:

console utilities/programs:

zoxide: memorizes which directories you cd into, so you can later type shorthands for them
procs: modern replacement for the ps command. basically lists your processes
neofetch/fastfetch: displays your system info in a fancy way. 99% Linux users use that
inxi: displays detailed system info but in a less fancy way. people usually attach the output of inxi -Fxz to a forum post where they need help troubleshooting
asciinema: cool program that records your terminal sessions as text files
agg: converts asciinema recordings to gif
yt-dlp: insanely powerful youtube downloader (remember to only download things you are permitted to!)
sl: ragebait when you misspell ls
yazi: fancy file manager with image previews! minimal or no configuration required
cava: audio visualizer. when you press f it cycles colors!
htop/btop: you already mentioned. task managers basically
ncdu: interactively shows disk usage per file

GUI apps:

qalculate: very powerful calculator (has both qt and gtk frontends)
gparted: probably the best gui disk management tool so far
localsend: send files locally over wifi direct
blueman: gui bluetooth manager
freetube: awesome youtube client (NOTE: against youtube terms of use!)
baobab: gui disk usage analyzer
cheese: photo taking app with funny effects

[–] Havatra@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 day ago

Great list! And just to add a bit:

yt-dlp is indeed insanely powerful, and works for way more than just YouTube, for both audio(music) and video. Supported sites

LocalSend is supported on all platforms, and is perfect for situations where you traditionally use a USB to move files.

[–] NostraDavid@programming.dev 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Some recommendations:

baobab -> QDirStat
qalculate -> speedcrunch
ncdu -> gdu ("I am you, but faster")

I prefer lsd to ls or eza/exa (RIP exa).

[–] OliMoli2137@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

thanks for suggestions. but a couple of controversial things:

lsd is written in Rust, which I personally have no problem with but there are people that do
eza and lsd development appear to have been assisted by AI, which I don't really know a lot about but generally dislike

i have no problems with qdirstat or gdu, so i'll give them a try. i'll maybe try speedcrunch as well

[–] entwine@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago

lsd is written in Rust, which I personally have no problem with but there are people that do

Huh? Do you mean to say it's non-GPL? Some people have been going around rewriting GPL C/C++ utilities in Rust, but publishing them under non-GPL licenses, and that has been controversial. I don't think I've seen people having a problem with Rust specifically.

[–] morto@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

baobab: gui disk usage analyzer

taking some advantage from this thread, does any of you know a tool like baobab, but for android?

[–] OliMoli2137@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

there's DiskUsage on F-Droid

[–] morto@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

Thanks, I will check it

[–] Zoop@beehaw.org 2 points 1 day ago

That's what I've been using for aaages. It's perfect, frankly. I highly suggest it.