8 free Linux apps that make the command line optional

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways You don't have to use the command line in Linux. With the help of these free GUIs, Linux becomes much easier. These tools can be easily installed. Linux is becoming more and more popular around the world. Part of the reason for that is the end of Windows 10. At the same time, Linux has come a long way since its early days of only targeting developers, admins, or computer science majors. This evolution has made it possible to never touch the command line (which is something that I firmly believe is possible). Also: The 4 most Windows-like Linux distros to try because change is hard For those who doubt the veracity of my claim, let me introduce you (and those new to Linux) to GUI apps that take the place of command-line tools. All of these apps are free to install and use. 1. Grsync If you've ever wanted to back up your Linux computer, you may have been told to look up rsync. Rsync is a command-line sync tool that is often used for backups. Although rsync is fairly straightforward to use, to the uninitiated, it can be a bit daunting. Fortunately, there's Grsync, a user-friendly GUI that makes Rsync much easier. That's not to say that Grsync makes rsync easy enough for anyone without having a fundamental understanding of rsync. For example, you need to understand the difference between source vs. destination, permission preserving, etc. For example, in the Source and Destination section of the GUI, you need to know that the source is what you want to back up and the destination is where you want to house the backup. You also need to understand the format of remote destinations that are in the SCP format, such as [email protected]:/home/jack/Documents/. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you don't add a trailing /, Grsync will create a sub-document to house the files. Grsync makes working with rsync a breeze. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 2. File Manager There are several commands your file manager can take care of, such as ls, mkdir, mv, cp, tar, and touch. For example, you open your file manager and it will show you the contents of the current directory (ls). You can right-click a file and select Copy (cp), drag and drop a file from one location to another (mv), right-click a file or folder and select Compress (tar), or create a new file by right-clicking an empty space in the file manager and selecting Create File (touch). The COSMIC File Manager is very user friendly and fast. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 3. Disks The Disks app takes over some more challenging commands, such as fsck, mount, parted, chown, and dd. This app is a handy GUI that also prevents you from having to edit the fstab configuration file (for mounting drives at boot), which is a huge plus. Just remember, the command Disks replace is very powerful, so make sure you know precisely the disk you are working with; otherwise, you could wind up formatting your primary drive housing the OS. Disks is installed on all GNOME-based distributions and several non-GNOME-based distributions (such as Pop!_OS). Disks makes working with drives much easier. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 4. Stacer Stacer is a great tool that can help clean up your OS (rm) and monitor resources (ps). You can also manage startup applications, search for files, end processes (kill and killall), uninstall applications (apt, yum, pacman, etc), and manage repositories (nano, add-apt-repository). Stacer has an easy-to-use GUI and a tab for each feature. This should be considered a must-use for anyone serious about dumping the command line. Also: How to install Arch Linux without losing your mind I do wish Stacer had a light theme, or would follow system themes. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 5. Meld If you've ever had to compare the contents of two files, you've probably used diff, which isn't exactly the most user-friendly command found in Linux. Thankfully, there are tools like Meld that help make comparing files much easier. Meld can also merge files. Keep in mind that Meld doesn't work with binary files (such as .odt or .docx), so you'll need to convert such documents into .txt format. Using this GUI is much easier than the diff command. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 6. Edit, Kate, or COSMIC Text At some point, you're going to need a basic text editor. The reason is that you might not want to have to edit a configuration file or other text file within the nano, vi, or emacs editors. Instead, use the likes of GNOME Edit, Kate, or COSMIC Text. The one caveat to using basic text editors is that you might have trouble editing configuration files that require sudo (or root) privileges. Each of these apps offers different features, but they all get the job of creating and editing flat text files done. COSMIC Text is one of the fastest text editors I've used. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 7. GNOME Software/KDE Discover/COSMIC Shop If you hate the idea of using the apt, dnf, pacman, zypper, snap, or flatpak commands to install software, you can always turn to your distribution's GUI front end, such as GNOME Software, KDE Discover, or COSMIC Shop. There's also the old-school Synapitic GUI, but I would recommend one of the other three first. Keep in mind that GNOME Software is for GNOME and GNOME-based desktop environments, KDE Discover is for KDE Plasma, and COSMIC Shop is for the new COSMIC desktop environment. Although many find installing from the command line easy, many would rather go with a point-and-click GUI, rather than memorize all of those commands (and their options). Also: This Linux distro I recommend to power users takes a unique approach to OS design COSMIC Store is so much faster than the previous COSMIC Shop app. Jack Wallen/ZDNET 8. PuTTY Finally, there's PuTTY, which takes care of the ssh command. The PuTTY GUI might look a bit out of date, but it's still powerful and useful. One of the best things about PuTTY is that it allows you to save hosts, so connecting to a remote machine is just a matter of selecting the host in question. PuTTY does have a slight learning curve, but for those who are new to Linux, it's still easier than using the command line. The PuTTY GUI could use some attention. Jack Wallen/ZDNET Want to follow my work? Add ZDNET as a trusted source on Google.