tinfoil-hat
Well-Known Member
Hi, I'd like to have a thread about Software you guys use and appreciate that others maybe aren't aware of.
What's some cool software others (may) not know?
- Thread starter tinfoil-hat
- Start date
Condobloke
Well-Known Member
This installs ms fonts via Debian....there for no crap from ms following
easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com
10 Things to Do First in Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon
Easy tips, tweaks and tricks for Linux Mint and Ubuntu, both for beginners and for advanced users. Complete starter's guide with simple how-to's.
easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com
MzQ1NjExN2
Well-Known Member
Qalculate! is a nice GUI calculator program.
For terminal calculator:
sudo apt-get install qalculate-gtkFor terminal calculator:
sudo apt-get install qalc
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CaffeineAddict
Well-Known Member
I don't use any special program that's not already well known to share, but calculators do matter to me, for my taste and needs "Galculator" is good one, because it has memory buttons, M+, MR etc. which many calculators out there don't have.
Condobloke
Well-Known Member
Stellarium
astronomy program
Available in Linux Mint repository, or : https://stellarium.org/
Also, GPredict, satellite tracking program
Linux mint repository or at : https://oz9aec.dk/gpredict/
astronomy program
Available in Linux Mint repository, or : https://stellarium.org/
Also, GPredict, satellite tracking program
Linux mint repository or at : https://oz9aec.dk/gpredict/
Before looking I thought it was some type of programming to read my horoscope, but good to see it's about space.
Huh... I had no idea that you were into satellites. Do you try to listen to them? If so, 'saveitforparts' on YouTube would be a fine channel for you to watch.
As for the question...
Well, I never know what's obscure or not. I have a ton of software that's installed, much of which could be considered obscure.
The one I will list is one that is also useful. If you want to download from YouTube, this is the tool for you. It combines yt-dlp and ffmpeg into one, while providing a nice GUI. The settings may take some getting used to, but there are all the configuration tools you need. You can download giant playlists. You can download giant playlists and only download the .mp3 files. You can even pick the quality of the downloaded .mp3 files, all the way up to .flac. (This, of course, depends on how good the uploaded quality is.
The name of this tool is Stacher7. I've mentioned it before. I've now used it for a few months.
wendy-lebaron
Well-Known Member
ranger is good. but the main problem is it relies too much on python. also have to open a terminal for it. which is clunky in certain situations. just a bit of criticism, not to get offended about.
somewhere in linux mint forum. i found something that has been helpful to me. because none of the existing file managers. completely satisfy me. especially nemo is slow and sometimes. doesn't respond to the keyboard appropriately. i'm not that convinced with twin-pane file managers. if so i would have been a fan of midnight commander.
github.com
with wayland session. even on gnome or gtk-based desktop. it's recommended to use the qt6 version.
---
checking out a topic like this one on another forum. i found something that tickles the eyes. but it might be a bit too heavy.
www.waveterm.dev
do not press "shift+ctrl+k" in this program! if you want to preserve your history. done on it before you do the keypress. it has some rough spots. installs into /opt which some of you might not like. but it might work on debian "bullseye". even though i have to check for sure. i scanned the executable with "readelf" program. for "glibc" version. but instead one of the dependencies might fail to load on that system.
---
i wanted to recommend "btop" also. (system monitor) but the latest release might not even work on debian "trixie". might want even higher "glibc" than 2.41. also to me the options are incomplete. the author is very intent on showing off with pictures. the program doesn't like some elements hidden away. such as "net" indicator. it's useless when the computer is completely offline. "htop" is better. although that has its disadvantages.
somewhere in linux mint forum. i found something that has been helpful to me. because none of the existing file managers. completely satisfy me. especially nemo is slow and sometimes. doesn't respond to the keyboard appropriately. i'm not that convinced with twin-pane file managers. if so i would have been a fan of midnight commander.
Double Commander
Double Commander has 8 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
github.com
with wayland session. even on gnome or gtk-based desktop. it's recommended to use the qt6 version.
---
checking out a topic like this one on another forum. i found something that tickles the eyes. but it might be a bit too heavy.
Wave Terminal — Upgrade Your Command Line
Stop Context Switching by Bringing Context Into Your Terminal. Wave is an open-source terminal with superpowers, integrating file previews, file editing, AI, web browsing, and workspace organization. Available for MacOS, Linux, and Windows.
www.waveterm.dev
do not press "shift+ctrl+k" in this program! if you want to preserve your history. done on it before you do the keypress. it has some rough spots. installs into /opt which some of you might not like. but it might work on debian "bullseye". even though i have to check for sure. i scanned the executable with "readelf" program. for "glibc" version. but instead one of the dependencies might fail to load on that system.
---
i wanted to recommend "btop" also. (system monitor) but the latest release might not even work on debian "trixie". might want even higher "glibc" than 2.41. also to me the options are incomplete. the author is very intent on showing off with pictures. the program doesn't like some elements hidden away. such as "net" indicator. it's useless when the computer is completely offline. "htop" is better. although that has its disadvantages.
MzQ1NjExN2
Well-Known Member
I like Galculator as well. I would have no problem using that.
OP
tinfoil-hat
Well-Known Member
I found an outbound firewall for desktop linux, i really like. It's called OpenSnitch
github.com
GitHub - evilsocket/opensnitch: OpenSnitch is a GNU/Linux interactive application firewall inspired by Little Snitch.
OpenSnitch is a GNU/Linux interactive application firewall inspired by Little Snitch. - evilsocket/opensnitch
github.com
CaffeineAddict
Well-Known Member
This was recommended a while ago in one thread, not sure if you can train it so that it remembers your choices and it builds a firewall or you're prompted every time a program is restarted?
If later then it's not that good, but if it can save what you allow/deny then it's OK.
OP
tinfoil-hat
Well-Known Member
yes you can. also you can alter your decisions afterwards
That's a neat one. I've used it before. It's based on an application used in macOS that does the same thing.
I still maintain that the Python SimpleHTTPServer module has to be THE simplest way I know of for quickly sharing files 'n'stuff across your LAN.
Quoting from TheLinuxCode:-
"
To start the server, run:
This will fire up SimpleHTTPServer on port 8000. You can use any open port number you want.
Now your current directory is accessible at:
You‘ll see output like this when the server starts:
Hit CTRL-C to stop the server.
That‘s all you need to get started! Behind the scenes, this:
If you don‘t pass a custom port, SimpleHTTPServer will default to port 8000. You can always check the IP address and port its listening on from the console output."
It really IS the simplest 'web' file server I know of. I've been using it across my own LAN for several years, because it leverages the ability, baked-in to most browsers, of acting as a 'local' file manager if & when required.
One of our senior members found a variant some years ago at GitHub, which adds the ability to upload as well as download, plus allows specifying the destination directory (the original is restricted to whatever directory you launched the server in). This is the one I tend to use myself nowadays.
I also start mine in "/", since this gives me full access to absolutely everything.
Mike.
Quoting from TheLinuxCode:-
"
Getting Started with SimpleHTTPServer
Since SimpleHTTPServer is bundled with Python, there‘s no installation needed. Just open up a terminal in the directory you want to serve files from.To start the server, run:
Code:
python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000This will fire up SimpleHTTPServer on port 8000. You can use any open port number you want.
Now your current directory is accessible at:
Code:
http://localhost:8000You‘ll see output like this when the server starts:
Code:
Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000 ...Hit CTRL-C to stop the server.
That‘s all you need to get started! Behind the scenes, this:
- Imports the SimpleHTTPServer module
- Creates a SimpleHTTPRequestHandler instance to handle requests
- Starts the HTTP server on the port specified
If you don‘t pass a custom port, SimpleHTTPServer will default to port 8000. You can always check the IP address and port its listening on from the console output."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It really IS the simplest 'web' file server I know of. I've been using it across my own LAN for several years, because it leverages the ability, baked-in to most browsers, of acting as a 'local' file manager if & when required.
One of our senior members found a variant some years ago at GitHub, which adds the ability to upload as well as download, plus allows specifying the destination directory (the original is restricted to whatever directory you launched the server in). This is the one I tend to use myself nowadays.
I also start mine in "/", since this gives me full access to absolutely everything.
Mike.
OP
tinfoil-hat
Well-Known Member
Cool, I am using it and am very happy with itI still maintain that the Python SimpleHTTPServer module is one of the simplest ways I know of for quickly sharing files 'n'stuff across your LAN.
Quoting from TheLinuxCode:-
"
Getting Started with SimpleHTTPServer
Since SimpleHTTPServer is bundled with Python, there‘s no installation needed. Just open up a terminal in the directory you want to serve files from.
To start the server, run:
Code:python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000
This will fire up SimpleHTTPServer on port 8000. You can use any open port number you want.
Now your current directory is accessible at:
Code:http://localhost:8000
You‘ll see output like this when the server starts:
Code:Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000 ...
Hit CTRL-C to stop the server.
That‘s all you need to get started! Behind the scenes, this:
But you don‘t need to worry about any of those details. Just run the single command and you have a web server!
- Imports the SimpleHTTPServer module
- Creates a SimpleHTTPRequestHandler instance to handle requests
- Starts the HTTP server on the port specified
If you don‘t pass a custom port, SimpleHTTPServer will default to port 8000. You can always check the IP address and port its listening on from the console output."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It really IS the simplest 'web' file server I know of. I've been using it across my own LAN for several years, because it leverages the ability, baked-in to most browsers, of acting as a 'local' file manager if & when required.
One of our senior members found a variant some years ago at GitHub, which adds the ability to upload as well as download, plus allows specifying the destination directory (the original is restricted to whatever directory you launched the server in). This is the one I tend to use myself nowadays.
Mike.
It certainly is. I wrote a whole article on it. It's a quick and easy tool. It's probably best to ensure your router is not allowing inbound connections on that port.
The "cool" program of late for me is:
pstree. It's in the psmisc package in debian and may be installed by default in other distros. Cool programs vary over time, but this one is the cherry for the moment. It's useful in a number of ways. One, is to gain a quick overview of what's running on a machine which is very useful if one is working in an environment with multiple machines. Secondly, but no less useful, is checking what is unnecessary for the running of a particular machine. What's unnecessary can be stopped, disabled or removed so that the machine isn't using up resources with unnecessary processing.It's clear that with modern high-spec machines, the plentiful resources available in memory, cpu and drive capacity can make managing unnecessary programs irrelevant since it makes no perceptible difference to performance to the user. Nevertheless, and regardless, it may be of interest.
The examples of using pstree output on two machines below is quite terse because both machines have been through the process of removing unnecessary programs, but I think there is enough data to show something of interest, I hope
. Both machines are running debian forky.MACHINE 1:
Code:
[~]$ pstree
systemd─┬─atopacctd
├─avahi-daemon───avahi-daemon
├─colord───3*[{colord}]
├─connmand
├─crashhelper───{crashhelper}
├─cron
├─cups-browsed───3*[{cups-browsed}]
├─cupsd
├─dbus-daemon
├─dhclient
├─dwm─┬─11*[xterm───bash]
│ ├─xterm───bash───pstree
│ └─2*[xterm───bash───vi───{vi}]
├─firefox-bin─┬─forkserver─┬─Isolated Web Co───29*[{Isolated Web Co}]
│ │ ├─Isolated Web Co───28*[{Isolated Web Co}]
│ │ ├─Privileged Cont───26*[{Privileged Cont}]
│ │ ├─RDD Process───4*[{RDD Process}]
│ │ ├─Socket Process───5*[{Socket Process}]
│ │ ├─Utility Process───4*[{Utility Process}]
│ │ ├─3*[Web Content───25*[{Web Content}]]
│ │ └─WebExtensions───30*[{WebExtensions}]
│ └─98*[{firefox-bin}]
├─gpm
├─login───bash───startx───xinit─┬─Xorg───2*[{Xorg}]
│ └─xterm─┬─bash
│ └─ssh-agent
├─polkitd───3*[{polkitd}]
├─rsyslogd───3*[{rsyslogd}]
├─rtkit-daemon───2*[{rtkit-daemon}]
├─sshd
├─systemd─┬─(sd-pam)
│ ├─dbus-daemon
│ ├─pipewire───{pipewire}
│ ├─pipewire
│ ├─pipewire-pulse───{pipewire-pulse}
│ └─wireplumber───4*[{wireplumber}]
├─systemd-journal
├─systemd-logind
├─systemd-timesyn───{systemd-timesyn}
├─systemd-udevd
├─titleBarStart───sleep
├─vnstatd
├─waterfox─┬─3*[Isolated Web Co───26*[{Isolated Web Co}]]
│ ├─Privileged Cont───25*[{Privileged Cont}]
│ ├─RDD Process───4*[{RDD Process}]
│ ├─Socket Process───5*[{Socket Process}]
│ ├─Utility Process───4*[{Utility Process}]
│ ├─3*[Web Content───16*[{Web Content}]]
│ ├─WebExtensions───25*[{WebExtensions}]
│ └─94*[{waterfox}]
└─wpa_supplicant
[~]$MACHINE 1 is pretty streamlined and doesn't run terribly much. One can see the main user programs it's running are:
firefox browser
waterfox browser
atop process monitor
dwm window manager running 13 xterms
connman network manager
cups for printing
There are some contrasts with MACHINE 2, described below.
MACHINE 2:
Code:
$ pstree
systemd-+-NetworkManager---3*[{NetworkManager}]
|-atop
|-atopacctd
|-auditd---{auditd}
|-avahi-daemon---avahi-daemon
|-colord---3*[{colord}]
|-crashhelper---{crashhelper}
|-cron
|-cups-browsed---3*[{cups-browsed}]
|-cupsd
|-dbus-daemon
|-dhclient
|-dwm-+-6*[xterm---bash]
| |-xterm---bash---pstree
| |-xterm---bash---vi---{vi}
| `-xterm---bash---firefox-esr-+-2*[Isolated Web Co---20*[{Isolated Web Co}]]
| |-Privileged Cont---20*[{Privileged Cont}]
| |-RDD Process---4*[{RDD Process}]
| |-Socket Process---5*[{Socket Process}]
| |-Utility Process---4*[{Utility Process}]
| |-Web Content---18*[{Web Content}]
| |-2*[Web Content---14*[{Web Content}]]
| |-WebExtensions---20*[{WebExtensions}]
| `-80*[{firefox-esr}]
|-exim4
|-gpm
|-irqbalance---{irqbalance}
|-login---bash---startx---xinit-+-Xorg---2*[{Xorg}]
| `-xterm-+-bash
| `-ssh-agent
|-packagekitd---3*[{packagekitd}]
|-polkitd---3*[{polkitd}]
|-rsyslogd---3*[{rsyslogd}]
|-rtkit-daemon---2*[{rtkit-daemon}]
|-sshd
|-systemd-+-(sd-pam)
| |-at-spi-bus-laun-+-dbus-daemon
| | `-4*[{at-spi-bus-laun}]
| |-at-spi2-registr---3*[{at-spi2-registr}]
| |-dbus-daemon
| |-gvfsd---3*[{gvfsd}]
| |-gvfsd-fuse---6*[{gvfsd-fuse}]
| |-pipewire---{pipewire}
| |-pipewire
| |-pipewire-pulse---{pipewire-pulse}
| |-wireplumber---4*[{wireplumber}]
| |-xdg-desktop-por---4*[{xdg-desktop-por}]
| |-xdg-desktop-por---5*[{xdg-desktop-por}]
| |-xdg-document-po-+-fusermount3
| | `-7*[{xdg-document-po}]
| `-xdg-permission----3*[{xdg-permission-}]
|-systemd-journal
|-systemd-logind
|-systemd-timesyn---{systemd-timesyn}
|-systemd-udevd
|-titleBarStart---sleep
`-vnstatdThe interesting aspect I think is to see what the user of MACHINE 2 is using that the user of MACHINE 1 doesn't use, or doesn't need, or finds so unnecessary to have removed.
The programs in place of and in excess of those for the user of MACHINE 1, in particular are:
NetworkManager for networking
exim4 for mailing
auditd for auditing
packagekit for GUI package management
gvfsd for gnome GUI programs
xdg-desktop-portal for GUI package management and other things
at-spi2 for accessibility
It's clear that the user of MACHINE 2 uses far more GUI programs than the user of MACHINE 1 so has a lot more resources being used to support those programs.
pstree just provides the quick eye-catching view that captures the essence of what's happening. It has quite a few options, not shown here, so can go into much greater detail if the user wants it.
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