Some Unix/Linux/X11 tools, programs, and utilities

Contents

A collection of cool X11 tools

From https://cyber.dabamos.de/unix/x11/

• asclock - AfterStep clock with some language extensions.
• free42 - Simulation of the HP-42S scientific calculator and HP-82240 printer.
• fsv2 - A 3D filesystem visualiser, like fsn for SGI IRIX. Prone to crashing.
• glxgears - A simple OpenGL tool for testing your graphics adapter.
• gmixer - Audio mixer for X11, based on GTK+ 1.2.
• gvim - Improved version of the vi editor.
• Micropolis - Open-source version of the famous computer game SimCity. Available on GitHub.
• sunclock - A fancy clock for the X Window system, providing local time (legal time and solar time), sunrise, sunset and various geographical data through a point and click interface.
• Ted - A simple RTF editor for X11. Can either be compiled with MOTIF or GTK+ 2. The binary starts with an upper-case letter (Ted). Prone to crashing.
• tiemu - Emulator for Texas Instruments TI-89/TI-92 (Plus)/Voyage 200 graphical calculators. ROM files not included.
• x026 - X026 is an keypunch emulator, simulating the IBM 026. Perfect for writing FORTRAN code on Hollerith punch cards and getting a clearer picture on how laborious data input back then was. The default character set is BCD-H.
• x48 - Emulator of the HP 48GX graphing calculator. ROM image is included.
• xarchiver - XArchiver is a GTK+ 2 front-end to various archiving tools (tar, zip, 7z, …).
• xascii - XASCII displays the ASCII table in hex, decimal, and octal.
• xascii - XMountains renders a mountain scene into the root window. Also available as an XScreenSaver module.
• xbiff - XBiff shows a small mailbox with its flag raised when new mail arrives in your inbox. It simply monitors the size of a given file. For instance, the cache of the Sylpheed e-mail client can be watched with:
    xbiff*flip: false
  xbiff*fullPixmap: mailfull
  xbiff*emptyPixmap: mailempty
  xbiff*fullPixmapMask: mailfullmsk
  xbiff*emptyPixmapMask: mailemptymsk
  xbiff*shapeWindow: true
• xbill - An arcade game from 1994 in which the player has to prevent an evil computer hacker named “Bill” from installing a popular operating system on various machines. The OS can spread over networks and purges existing systems (BSD, Solaris, SGI IRIX, …). A contemporary modification of the game is known as XLennart.
• xboard - XBoard is a graphical front-end for chess engines like GNU Chess. Start it with:
    xboard -fcp 'gnuchess --xboard'
• xcalc - A simple and clean scientific calculator for X11. Additional colour styles imitating the Texas Instruments TI-30 and the Hewlett-Packard 10C are listed in the file /usr/local/share/X11/app-defaults/XCalc-color. Just copy one of the styles into your ~/.Xdefaults.
• xcalendar - A calendar with an integrated notebook.
• xchm - Microsoft Windows help file viewer for Unix.
• xchomp - Clone of the famous arcade game Pac-Man for X. See also the unofficial homepage.
• xclipboard - A client for clipboard management in X.
• xclock - An analog and digital clock for X.
• xclock-cat A Motif-based variant of MIT xclock from 1990 that features a “cat” mode. Available on GitHub.
• xcolorsel - Grabs the colours of X windows.
• xconsole - XConsole shows system console messages.
• xdiary - XDiary will help you keep track of your meetings, appointments and plan your time.
• xearth - Renders the earth in 3D on the root window, making itself an animated wallpaper. To show it inside a window, run:
    $ xearth -geometry 800x600 -shade -nolabel -wait 1 -timewarp 50 -noroot -twopix
  Similiar tools are XGlobe and XPlanet, which also texture the earth.
• xedit - A simple text editor for X. The automated backup function for edited files can be disabled by adding xedit*enableBackups: off to ~/.Xdefaults.
• xeyes - Eyes following the mouse cursor.
• xfontsel - Lists installed fonts and available font options.
• xgalaga - Clone of the classic game Galaga for X11.
• xinvaders3d - A 3D vector-graphics Space Invaders clone for X11.
• xkill - Command-line tool to kill X applications.
• xlennart - XLennart is a modification of the arcade game XBill. An evil and unpopular computer hacker named “Lennart” tries to install his malicious init system on various BSD and Linux systems. Like in XBill, the player has to hit him and restore infected systems.
• xload - XLoad shows the current CPU load.
• xlock - XLock locks the screen and optionally shows a screen saver. It can be combined with XAutoLock to activate it after a user defined time of inactivity. A more simple approach is used by XTransparentLock. Jamie Zawinski, the author of XScreenSaver, has listed some reason why you should use XScreenSaver instead of XLock.
• xlogo - XLogo simply draws the logo of the X Window System. The background and foreground colours can be altered in ~/.Xdefaults.
• xmahjongg - Classic Mahjongg game for X11. Several tile sets are available.
• xman - XMan displays system man pages.
• xmessage - XMessage displays arbitrary text messages.
• xmixer - Audio mixer for X11.
• xmmix - Motif-based audio mixer for X11.
• xmore - XMore is more for X.
• xmosaic - NCSA Mosaic, one of the first graphical web browsers, for X. The source code of version 2.7b is available on GitHub.
• xmotd - XMOTD shows the message of the day. Run it with xmotd -always /etc/motd. The appearance can be altered in ~/.Xdefaults.
• xneko - Neko (猫) is a cat chasing the mouse cursor all over the screen. Oneko is a modified version of xneko for BSD and Linux. In the port games/oneko-sakura several other creatures can be choosen, like tora-neko, Sakura Kinomoto, Tomoyo Daidouji, the BSD daemon, or a dog.
• xodometer - XOdometer tracks the total distance of your pointing device. The source code of the version from January 1996 is available on GitHub
• xosview - XOSView is a visual system monitor for X11.
• xplore - Yet another Motif-based file manager. Prone to crashing.
• xpostit - The most ugly note taking application on earth.
• xroach - XRoach displays disgusting cockroaches on your root window. These creepy crawlies scamper around until they find a window to hide under. Whenever you move or iconify a window, the exposed beetles again scamper for cover.
• xscreensaver - Jamie Zawinski’s famous screen saver for X11.
• xsnow - Let is snow on your desktop. Shows snow flakes, trees, and santa.
• xspread - XSpread is a simple spreadsheet application based on math/sc. It can be started without X11 by using the parameter -X.
• xterm - Terminal emulator for the X Window System.
• xtide - Harmonic tide clock and tide predictor for X.
• xv - Image viewer that displays various formats.
• xvkbd - Virtual keyboard for X applications.
• xwpe - A Borland-like integrated development environment (IDE).
• xzoom - Tool to magnify, rotate, and mirror a section of the X screen.

A little collection of cool unix terminal/console/curses tools

From https://kkovacs.eu/cool-but-obscure-unix-tools

Just a list of 20 (now 32) tools for the command line. Some are little-known, some are just too useful to miss, some are pure obscure – I hope you find something useful that you weren’t aware of yet! Use your operating system’s package manager to install most of them. (Thanks for the tips, everybody!)

• ack, ag (silver searcher), pt - A better grep for source code.
• calcurse & remind + wyrd - Calendar systems.
• cloc - Counts lines of code.
• cowsay & sl - I just couldn’t resist. :o)
• curl - Everybody’s favorite HTTP toolbox.
• dstat & sar - iostat, vmstat, ifstat and much more in one.
• duplicity & rsyncrypto - Encrypting backup tools.
• htop, atop & glances - Process, memory and io monitoring.
• iftop, iptraf & nethogs - To see where your traffic goes.
• ipcalc - For network assignments.
• ledger - Terminal-based accounting package.
• lftp - Does FTPS. Can mirror, kinda like rsync.
• mtr - traceroute 2.0.
• multitail - See your log files in separate windows.
• nethack & slash’em - Still the most complex game on the planet.
• newsbeuter & rsstail - Command line RSS readers.
• powertop - Helps conserve power on Linux.
• qalc - The best calculator. Ever. (For scripts too.)
• rsync - Keeps filesystems in sync over SSH.
• rtorrent & aria2 - Command line torrent downloaders.
• screen, dtach, tmux, byobu - Keep your terminal sessions alive.
• siege & tsung - Command line load test tools.
• slurm - Visualizes network interface traffic over time.
• socat & netpipes - Directing stuff easily in and out of sockets.
• taskwarrior - Todo management in the terminal.
• tig - A console UI for git.
• tpp - Presentation (“PowerPoint”) tool for terminal.
• ttyrec & ipbt - Record and play back terminal sessions.
• ttytter & earthquake - Nice trendy Twitter clients 😊
• vifm & ranger - Alternatives to the midnight commander.
• vim & emacs - The real programmers’ editors.
• xargs & parallel - Executes tasks from input (even multithread).

Additional tools mentioned by commenters on Hacker News thread

See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20713003

• AzPainter - a paint/drawing program
• ddd - X11 front-end for GDB
• oclock - Simple desktop clock (oclock -transparent for transparent background)
• tgif - Vector based drawing program for X11
• xclip - put contents of stdin on to the X11 clipboard
• xdaliclock - Digital clock with morphing digit transitions
• xdotool - do various things with windows on X11
• xev - Show xevents
• xfig - Simple drawing program for X11 (still maintained)
• xteddy - put a cute teddy bear on the deskdtop
• xvaccuum - Sucks all open windows into the mouse pointer