Linux CLI programs to replace your GUI

Posted in computers on January 21st, 2010 by karrth

While many people enjoy using their GUI, sometimes it is just not efficient to do so.  Or maybe you don’ t have the resources to load an X-Window manager… So  I present to you some very useful programs that don’t need X.

System Tools

  • htop – like top (processes monitor), but with colors and an improved interface
  • iftop - instead of monitoring processes, it monitors your ethernet devices and displays connection speeds and average transfer rates
  • mkisofs and cdrecord - make an ISO and then burn it to disc!
  • screen – a terminal multiplexer that allows you to manage virtual terminal sessions within your one session.  Think of it as multiple desktops for the terminal.
  • smbstatus – if you run a Samba server/share on your machine, you can see here who’s connecting to it and what files they have open
  • wireless-tools – gives you a couple programs including iwconfig and iwlist that make it easy to connect to a wireless AP through terminal
  • wpa_supplicant – needed if you want to connect to a WPA encrypted AP with the wireless-tools.  Here’s a quick tutorial.

Internet

  • finch – chat with your friends (or enemies) with this terminal version of Pidgin
  • irssi - an amazing slick little IRC chat client
  • lynx and elinks – both are text based web browsers so you can cruise the web without those pesky graphics
  • mutt – read your Gmail (or other mail) from the terminal.  Mutt supports IMAP, POP3, and SSL Certificates, among other things.
  • rtorrent - this torrent client is great for sending to the background with screen, and even watches folder for new torrent files.  Check out this user guide for help.

Media

  • mplayer/mencoder- did you know that it was not only a media player, but that you could convert video, audio, or even rip dvds?  Doh!
  • moc - gives you a nice ncurses interface for playing music on your terminal
  • ushare – share your media with your Xbox 360 or PS3.  There’s also a web and telnet interface you can use once you’ve started the program.

Be sure to check the man pages for all the features these programs offer!  And don’t forget to explore the programs that are already on your machine – you’d be surprised and what’s there already.

Further reading:

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