💎 The Hidden Gems ## 1. aria2 - The Ultra-Fast Downloader ## Usage: ## 2. btop - The TUI System Monitor ## Usage: ## 3. duf - Disk Usage/Free (Better df) ## Usage: ## 4. tldr - Manual Pages for Humans ## Usage: ## 5. yt-dlp - The Ultimate Video Downloader ## Usage: ## 6. pv - Pipe Viewer ## Usage: ## 7. plocate - Instant File Search ## Usage: ## 👾 The "Weird" Bonus ## 8. aplay (ALSA Utils) - Listen to your Data ## Usage: ## 🚀 Additional tools ## fzf (Fuzzy Finder) ## ripgrep (rg) We all know ls, grep, and top. But digging through a typical Linux installation often reveals powerful utilities that sit unused simply because nobody told us they were there. Here is a short list of the most useful command-line tools that might already be on your system, plus a few modern "superpowers" you should definitely add. Most people use wget or curl, but aria2 is a lightweight multiprotocol & multi-source download utility. It can split files into pieces and download them in parallel from multiple sources (HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent) simultaneously, maximizing your bandwidth. If you are still using top or even htop, you are missing out. btop provides a beautiful, mouse-clickable, gaming-style interface for monitoring CPU, memory, network, and processes. It features graphs, themes, and full process management. A modern alternative to the old df command. It displays your disk usage in a colorful, easy-to-read table with bar graphs, grouping devices automatically so you don't have to decipher /dev/sda1 vs tmpfs. Standard man pages are comprehensive but often overwhelming. tldr is a community-driven collection of simplified man pages that gives you just the most common practical examples. A fork of the famous youtube-dl. It is actively maintained, faster, and works on thousands of video sites (YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, etc.). It is a powerhouse for archiving content or grabbing audio. pv is a terminal-based tool for monitoring the progress of data through a pipeline. It allows you to see a progress bar, ETA, and speed for operations that normally show nothing (like cp, dd, or piping streams). plocate is a much faster alternative to mlocate. It creates an index of your filesystem, allowing you to find any file on your drive instantly—far faster than using find. aplay is standard on almost every Linux system (it's part of alsa-utils). While intended for audio files, it has a famous trick: it can play any file as raw PCM audio. This allows you to "hear" the structure of compiled code, images, or even your kernel. ⚠️ Warning: Lower your volume first! This produces loud static. These might not be installed by default, but they are the first things many power users install on a new machine. A general-purpose command-line fuzzy finder. It lets you search your command history, files, or processes by typing partial, fuzzy queries. A line-oriented search tool that recursively searches the current directory for a regex pattern. It is faster than grep and automatically ignores files in .gitignore. A cat clone with syntax highlighting and Git integration. It makes reading code in the terminal a pleasant experience. Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Download a file using 4 parallel connections
aria2c -x4 http://example.com/large-iso-file.iso Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Download a file using 4 parallel connections
aria2c -x4 http://example.com/large-iso-file.iso COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Download a file using 4 parallel connections
aria2c -x4 http://example.com/large-iso-file.iso CODE_BLOCK:
btop Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode CODE_BLOCK:
duf Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Forget how to use tar?
tldr tar Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Forget how to use tar?
tldr tar COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Forget how to use tar?
tldr tar COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Download a video in the best available quality
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." # Extract audio only as MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Download a video in the best available quality
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." # Extract audio only as MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Download a video in the best available quality
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." # Extract audio only as MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Create a progress bar for a file copy
pv largefile.iso > /backup/largefile.iso Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Create a progress bar for a file copy
pv largefile.iso > /backup/largefile.iso COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Create a progress bar for a file copy
pv largefile.iso > /backup/largefile.iso COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Update the database (usually runs automatically)
sudo updatedb # Find any file containing "config" in the name
locate config Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Update the database (usually runs automatically)
sudo updatedb # Find any file containing "config" in the name
locate config COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Update the database (usually runs automatically)
sudo updatedb # Find any file containing "config" in the name
locate config COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Play a random ISO or binary file as CD-quality audio
aplay -f cd /path/to/any/file.iso # Or listen to your mouse movements (if you have access)
sudo cat /dev/input/mice | aplay Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Play a random ISO or binary file as CD-quality audio
aplay -f cd /path/to/any/file.iso # Or listen to your mouse movements (if you have access)
sudo cat /dev/input/mice | aplay COMMAND_BLOCK:
# Play a random ISO or binary file as CD-quality audio
aplay -f cd /path/to/any/file.iso # Or listen to your mouse movements (if you have access)
sudo cat /dev/input/mice | aplay COMMAND_BLOCK:
sudo apt install fzf COMMAND_BLOCK:
sudo apt install ripgrep COMMAND_BLOCK:
sudo apt install bat - Repository: aria2 on GitHub - Repository: btop on GitHub - Repository: duf on GitHub - Repository: tldr pages - Repository: yt-dlp on GitHub - Homepage: ivarch.com/programs/pv - Homepage: plocate.sesse.net - Homepage: alsa-project.org - Install: sudo apt install fzf (Debian/Ubuntu)
- Repo: junegunn/fzf - Install: sudo apt install ripgrep (Debian/Ubuntu)
- Repo: BurntSushi/ripgrep - Install: sudo apt install bat (Debian/Ubuntu)
- Repo: sharkdp/bat
