Some cool stuff for Linux systems
So, in general, most things in Linux are actually cross platform and ubiquitous and typically just running in Chrome or in Electron (which is Chrome). There are still some really cool things though.
So, what are some? First, look at moreutils.
This is neat. First, there is pee which will tee your standard input to pipes instead of files. Neat right?
echo "Watch this!" | pee cat rev
Watch this!
!siht hctaW
Another neat tool in moreutils is sponge. This one is kind of like output redirection except that it avoids a few problems. For example, since it is used via pipe (most often) you don't have sudo issues, you don't have input file is also the output errors, and so on.
echo "Make a text file cuz I said so" | sponge testingSponge.txt
So, there's also this thing called xlibtool. This tool allows you to manipulate very particular window attributes. First, get a list of window ids.
xwininfo -tree -root | grep 'window id'
Then, using the id and xlibtool, we can manipulate windows.
xlibtool --iconify 0x1600005
Next, check out xclickroot. If you toss this thing in your .xinitrc or .xsession, you can add a function when clicking your bare desktop (if you are running some WM that doesn't have something for that). Let's say that you did this in xsession
`xclickroot -r proto-launcher`
This would launch proto-launcher any time you right clicked on your desktop. Pretty useful for something like evilwm.
Some of you, okay... most of you, will think those are lame. Put, did you ever want to play pong but in 3d?
What if you really miss the Borland Pascal IDE on DOS? Well, you can have that on Linux now!
What if you need diff, but you want it in X11? Linux has that too!
One of my favorite applications for Linux is the "worker" file manager. Every default in this thing can be customized, and it has a dual pane layout similar to mc or Norton Commander.
Everyone has his/her own taste for applications, but if you like exploring and tinkering, never turn down some... slightly retro Linux applications.