5 Linux terminal tools that simplify commands without programming

Writing for MakeUseOf, Afam explains that the Linux terminal can initially be a barrier for new users. While he used to paste commands from forums out of fear of breaking his system, he eventually found five small Linux terminal tools that handle complex tasks without requiring any programming knowledge.

According to the author, remembering the exact syntax of an old command can be difficult. By pressing Ctrl+R and typing a fragment like rsync or ffmpeg, the fzf tool provides a list of shell history that narrows down with every letter. The search works even if words are out of order or contain typos. Once a result is selected, it is placed on the prompt without running, allowing users to edit it or press Escape to cancel.

Run any of these commands to install fzf:

Linux distribution	Install command
Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian	sudo apt install fzf
Fedora	sudo dnf install fzf
Arch Linux, Manjaro	sudo pacman -S fzf

Afam notes that installing fzf via apt on Linux Mint does not enable keyboard shortcuts by default. To fix this, he added the following line to ~/.bashrc so Bash loads the bindings at startup:

source /usr/share/doc/fzf/examples/key-bindings.bash

Typing long directory paths like cd ~/projects/web/portfolio-site/src/components can become tiresome. With zoxide, the author can reach the same directory from anywhere by typing z port comp. The tool learns frequently used directories and ranks them based on how often and how recently they are visited. Running zoxide query --list --score displays this learned list, keeping daily folders at the top. Users can narrow searches with extra words, making it effective even when folders share partial names.

zoxide only tracks folders visited after its installation. It also requires adding eval "$(zoxide init bash)" to ~/.bashrc before the z command becomes available.

Run any of these commands to install zoxide:

Linux distribution	Install command
Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian	curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ajeetdsouza/zoxide/main/install.sh \| sh
Fedora	sudo dnf install zoxide
Arch Linux, Manjaro	sudo pacman -S zoxide

For commands like find, the standard man pages can be overwhelming. The tldr tool solves this by providing plain English entries with ready-made commands. It uses placeholders like {{root_path}} and {{*.ext}} to show the command's structure, helping users learn what to swap in rather than memorizing exact lines.

The author frequently uses this pattern:

find {{root_path}} -name '{{*.ext}}'

This tells the tool to start searching from a specific folder and match names fitting the pattern. Because the pages are community-written, Afam advises reading commands before running them.

These commands install tldr:

Linux distribution	Install command
Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian	pipx install tldr
Fedora	sudo dnf install tldr
Arch Linux, Manjaro	sudo pacman -S tldr

On Linux Mint, installing tldr with pipx requires installing pipx first.

Users can run out of storage without knowing what is occupying the space. Running ncdu ~ scans the home folder and lists contents by size, with the largest at the top. Users can navigate with the arrow keys and press Enter to open a folder.

When the author scanned his computer, he found the following:

Location	Size	What it turned out to be	What I did
~/projects	5.8GiB	My projects folder, the largest directory in my home folder	Used ncdu to see exactly where the space was going
~/.cache	2.0GiB	Cached application data that had piled up over time	Treated it as worth investigating before deciding what to clear

While the projects folder was expected, the cache was easy to miss. The ncdu tool surfaces where the data sits so users can take action. Pressing d within the tool permanently deletes a file or folder without a recovery option. For a complete system scan, users can run sudo ncdu -x /.

Linux distribution	Install command
Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian	sudo apt install ncdu
Fedora	sudo dnf install ncdu
Arch Linux, Manjaro	sudo pacman -S ncdu

Instead of a wall of green text, btop provides a colorful dashboard with live graphs for CPU, memory, disks, and network usage. The tool also responds to mouse clicks. Afam opens it while his machine is idle to establish a baseline, then watches the graphs during resource-heavy activities to identify what slows the computer down.

He closely monitors CPU load, the memory panel, and the top process, using the "Available" value to gauge remaining headroom. Pressing t opens a tree view to spot which app a process belongs to, while pressing k ends a process. The author avoids touching unrecognized processes.

Linux distribution	Install command
Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian	sudo apt install btop
Fedora	sudo dnf install btop
Arch Linux, Manjaro	sudo pacman -S btop

Afam concludes that his increased efficiency came from learning which tools help the most, rather than memorizing commands. Over time, these five utilities have become an indispensable base for his workflow, and none of them required writing a script.

This article was written by AI from reporting by makeuseof.com.