Modern Linux Command-Line Tools
Core Utilities
| Tool | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| eza | File listing | ls replacement with git integration, tree view, and color-coded file types. Handles symlinks, permissions, and extended attributes natively. |
| bat | Text display | cat with syntax highlighting for 200+ languages, git diff markers, and automatic paging. Integrates with fzf for live preview. |
| fd | File search | Parallel file finder. Respects .gitignore by default. 3-5x faster than find on large directories. Supports regex and glob patterns. |
| ripgrep | Text search | Recursive grep optimized for source code. Skips binary files and hidden directories automatically. Processes 10GB+ codebases in seconds. |
| zoxide | Navigation | Frecency-based directory jumper. Learns usage patterns to enable single-word navigation (z proj → /home/user/projects/current). |
| fzf | Fuzzy finder | Interactive filter for any command output. Integrates with shell history, file search, process selection. Fuzzy matching with 10M+ line performance. |
System Monitoring
| Tool | Focus | Description |
|---|---|---|
| btop | Process/resource | Resource monitor with interactive process management. Mouse-driven interface, network statistics, disk I/O graphs. |
| procs | Process info | ps replacement with tree view, TCP/UDP ports per process, and search filtering. Color-codes by CPU/memory usage. |
| bottom | Cross-platform | Terminal dashboard with customizable widgets. Graphs CPU, memory, network, disk over time. |
| glances | System overview | Monitors CPU, memory, network, disk, sensors. Web UI mode for remote monitoring. Plugin system for Docker, GPU stats. |
Disk Analysis
| Tool | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|
| dust | Graphical | du with immediate visual tree. Shows largest directories first. Handles permissions errors gracefully. |
| duf | Table view | df with color-coded usage warnings. Groups by device type (local, network, virtual). JSON output for scripting. |
| gdu | ncurses | Interactive ncdu in Go. Analyzes 1TB directories in under a minute. Supports deletion directly from interface. |
| broot | Tree browser | Navigable file tree with fuzzy search and preview. Execute commands on filtered results. |
Text Processing
| Tool | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
| sd | Find/replace | sed alternative with Perl regex syntax. Literal string mode for exact replacements without escaping. |
| choose | Column extraction | Splits on whitespace or custom delimiters. Zero-indexed, negative indices supported (choose -f : 0 -1 for first and last). |
| jq | JSON processing | Query and transform JSON with filter expressions. Handles streaming input for processing multi-GB files. |
| delta | Diff viewing | Git diff with syntax highlighting and side-by-side mode. Configurable line numbers, file headers, hunk navigation. |
Network Tools
| Tool | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
| gping | Ping monitor | Graphs ping latency in real-time. Multi-host support with color-coded lines. Exports statistics on exit. |
| xh | HTTP client | httpie in Rust with 10x faster startup. JSON requests by default. Session persistence for auth workflows. |
| dog | DNS lookup | dig replacement with clean table output. Supports DoH, DoT. Color-codes by record type. |
| trippy | Traceroute | Interactive traceroute with packet loss visualization. Shows latency distribution per hop. Supports ICMP, UDP, TCP. |
| aria2 | Download manager | Multi-protocol (HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent) with connection splitting. Continues interrupted downloads automatically. |
Development Tools
| Tool | Domain | Description |
|---|---|---|
| lazygit | Git UI | Terminal Git client with staging interface, interactive rebase, conflict resolution. Vim keybindings. |
| lazydocker | Docker UI | Container management TUI. Live logs, stats, shell access. Prunes unused resources with confirmation. |
| just | Task runner | Make alternative with explicit recipe syntax. No implicit rules or arcane variable expansion. Cross-platform. |
| hyperfine | Benchmarking | Statistical timing with warmup runs and outlier detection. Compares multiple commands, exports results to JSON/markdown. |
Shell Enhancement
| Tool | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
| starship | Prompt | Cross-shell prompt with git status, language versions, execution time. Sub-millisecond rendering. Configurable via TOML. |
Documentation
| Tool | Format | Description |
|---|---|---|
| tealdeer | tldr client | Rust implementation of tldr pages. Caches 1000+ examples locally. Updates via single command. |
| lnav | Log viewer | Merges multiple log files by timestamp. Syntax highlighting for syslog, JSON, Apache. SQL queries on log data. |
| tailspin | Log highlighter | Adds color to log streams based on severity, timestamps, IPs, UUIDs. Works as pipe filter. |
Nix-Specific
| Tool | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
| nh | Nix helper | Wraps common operations with better defaults. Automatic diff before system switch. |
| nom | Build monitor | Colorized Nix build output with progress bars. Groups build stages, shows warnings distinctly. |
Resources
- modern-unix - Curated CLI alternatives
- Arch utilities list - Comprehensive reference with descriptions