List of Linux Tools I put on almost every Linux / Debian host
- Click here to download eget, then type
$ eget schollz/croc - Change "schollz/croc" to any github repo discussed below …
- Desktop GUI Apps
- Terminal File Explorers
- LS like Directory Viewers
- Text Editors and Viewers
- Process Explorers
- Network Related Apps
- Misc CLI Terminal Apps
- Software Installer App
- geany -> GUI editor/ like "notepad++" for Windows
- wireshark -> network packet reviewer
- visual Studio Code -> (
sudo snap install --classic code - guake -> GUI terminal client for linux, more options than the built in terminal
- tabby -> Modern, feature-rich terminal emulator with excellent cross-platform support[8]
- xplr -> Very graphical, best on large screens (sayanarijit/xplr on Github)
- 🌟 nnn -> Efficient and elegant (
! - lf -> Cross platform (best for Windows, imho) (gokcehan/lf on Github)
- eza -> Modern replacement for ls with more features, colors and Git integration (successor to exa)[8]
- 🌟 lsd -> Another ls clone, cross-platform (works on Linux, Mac Win) can also show directory sizes (Peltoche/lsd GitHub) - personal favorite
- micro -> For those new to Linux, or aren't into vi or vim (/zyedidia/micro on Github)
- ne -> Terminal editor (like nano / code highlighting, "esc" or F1 for menus)
- 🌟 vim -> VI editor with tons of extras - personal favorite
- neovim -> Text editor that can be configured to mirror VS Code, with a lot of plugins and extensibility[8]
- vimrc -> config script for vim (from Github amix/vimrc) -> ⭐ Try out vim_awesome based on this
- bat -> "cat" clone with syntax highlighting, git integration and other features[8]
- sublime text -> Sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose with slick UI and amazing performance[3]
- glances -> Lots of system info in one "glance", cross-platform (available for Windows) --installs python
- 🌟 htop -> Supercharged top clone — personal favorite[4]
- btop -> TUI CLI graphics, fast, less dependencies than Glances[8]
- bottom -> A btop inspired process monitor, cross platform
- system informer -> Official successor to Process Hacker - a powerful, multi-purpose tool to monitor system resources and detect malware[4]
- croc -> Seamlessly and securely send files between 2 systems (cross platform runs on PC, MAC, Linux, Debian etc) (schollz/croc on Github)
- network-manager -> installs nmtui Terminal Network Manager app (set IPs, etc)
- hping3 -> check if something is on the network, way more powerful than "ping"
- nmap -> Network scanner -> Check out ncrack for a network authentication tool
- bmon -> TUI network bandwidth monitor
- mtr -> Traceroute and ping in one, great for network troubleshooting
- dog ->
Dig - neoss --
ss - zabbix -> Free monitoring system for networks, servers, and applications that can monitor on-premises resources and cloud services[5]
- chkservice -> TUI Linux systemd service review from the terminal (linuxenko/chkservice on Github)
- ncdu -> Terminal disk and folder space viewer
- dust -> More intuitive version of du with bar chart visualization[8]
- duf -> Disk utility TUI with pretty graphs (a better
df - lynis -> Linux security auditing by CISOFY
- apt-show-versions -> shows package versions / if needing upgrade ("$ apt-show-versions -u")
- nala -> Frontend for apt with a more user-friendly interface and colored output[8]
- fd -> Linux find clone with saner default options (PC, MAC, Linux, Debian, etc) (sharkdp/fd on Github)
- fish -> "friendly interactive shell" beats the pants off of bash, (Fishshell.com)
- starship -> Customizable cross-shell prompt with extensive customization options[8]
- zoxide -> Smarter cd command that learns your habits and helps you navigate faster[8]
- tig -> TUI client for git (jonas/tig on Github)
- miller -> Does about everything awk and sed does for json/csv/etc files (johnkerl/miller on Github)
- most -> Linux pager, better than "less" or "more"
- tldr -> Simplified man pages that just tell you what you need to know with practical examples[8]
- lazydocker -> TUI terminal software for Docker containers (jesseduffield/lazydocker on Github)
- json-tui -> Easy way to review json files, has a cool table view (ArthurSonzogni/json-tui Github)
- jc -> Shows common Linux command output in json format (kellyjonbrazil/jc on Github)
- visidata -> Reading CSV files or other large data sets (visidata.org)
- eg -> TLDR.sh like tool that helps with Linux commands (srsudar/eg on Github)
- procs -> A
ps - sd -> A
sed - ripgrep -> Extremely fast text search tool that respects gitignore rules[8]
- ripgrep-all -> A
grep - fzf -> A command-line fuzzy finder that enhances search and navigation in the terminal. Ideal for quickly finding files, command history, git, and more (junegunn/fzf on GitHub)
- fastfetch -> Faster, more feature-rich neofetch alternative for system information display[8]
- pandoc -> Universal document converter that can convert between various markup formats[8]
- 03/18/25 - Major 2025 update with latest alternatives: eza (exa successor), neovim, tldr, zoxide, starship, dust, nala, fastfetch
- 11/19/23 - Updated Readme for consistency and readability
- 01/29/23 - Huge improvements to the linux installer, added
eget - 11/05/22 - Now the apps at the left are links to where you can get these tools (happy holidays 🥳)!
-
Using jc and json-tui together can produce some pretty results, the top of the picture shows the table view output of
sudo jc -p lsof -i |json-tui(the bottom showing the standardlsof -iimage -
Another powerful combination is using ripgrep with fzf for interactive file searching:
rg --files | fzf -
For terminal productivity, combining zoxide with starship creates an efficient navigation experience with informative prompts
Sources [1] Top Embedded Linux Alternatives in 2025 - Slashdot https://slashdot.org/software/p/Embedded-Linux/alternatives [2] Top Linux Mint Alternatives in 2025 - Slashdot https://slashdot.org/software/p/Linux-Mint/alternatives [3] Top 10 Acme Text Editor Alternatives & Competitors in 2025 - G2 https://www.g2.com/products/acme-text-editor/competitors/alternatives [4] 12 Great Process Explorer Alternatives: Top Process Monitoring ... https://alternativeto.net/software/process-explorer/ [5] 20 Best Linux Network Monitor Tools - 2025 (All Distributions) https://www.websentra.com/linux-network-monitor-software-and-tools/ [6] Debian running on Android (March 2025 update) : r/linux - Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j6iqek/debian_running_on_android_march_2025_update/ [7] Security update for libxml2 SUSE-SU-2025:0348-1 https://www.suse.com/support/update/announcement/2025/suse-su-20250348-1/ [8] Linux CLI Tool Upgrades/Alternatives : r/selfhosted - Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1fg3cou/linux_cli_tool_upgradesalternatives/