Cool Quick Linux Tools

These cool tools are awesome for tweeking your Linux workflow. Admin multiple machines at the same time, add GUI dialogs to your bash scripts, and more.

In Short: shFlags, xvkbd, xclip, Zenity, cssh, tree

Zenity Date Select Dialog

Let's start with the one utility, shFlags, that would be useful in any shell script. shFlags (Shell Flags) is a terrific library that simplifies handling of command-line flags, parameters, and arguments passed to your script. It aims to be a portable cross shell/OS alternative to getopt. In the tests I've done, shFlags rocks.

xvkbd is the X Virtual Keyboard and, as it sounds, is a virtual keyboard for the X window system. It can be useful for kiosk installations, however you can use its command-line functionality to send commands to X windows from within a script. The script can fill data in a window, nice.

xclip provides a command line interface to the X11 clipboard. Hugh? Without touching the mouse, you can copy data that can be later pasted in X. A script could process some data and put the result in the clipboard for the user. xclip's functionality does not end there, but I will leave that for you to discover.

Zenity, the key to providing GTK dialog boxes for shell scripts. Confirm decisions, get input, show progress all in a nifty GTK dialog called from within the shell script. The short examples on the website obviate how cool Zenity is.

ClusterSSH, available in most Linux repositories or downloadable from Sourceforge, allows you to ssh into and issue commands to multiple machines at the same time. Now making quick modifications on multiple clients is a breeze.

Tree. This seemingly simple command line tool is amazing for displaying your directory structure in a tree format. Visualize and analyze your directory and file structure quickly and easily.