FOSSPicks
smenu
This is an excellent little utility that performs a simple job so comprehensively that you'll wonder how you ever used the command line without it. The easiest way to see what smenu does is to pipe some input into it, such as by running:
tail /var/log/syslog | smenu
You'll see exactly the same output you're used to – the last few lines of the system log – but one of those words in the output will be highlighted. Best of all, you can now use the up, down, left, and right cursor keys (or Vim navigation keys) to change which word is highlighted, just as you might in a word processor. When you press return, it looks like nothing further happens, but in the background the word you selected has been passed to the standard output. If you were to pipe the output from the command example, for instance, to a new file, that file would now contain the word you selected.
This saves you lots of messing around with a tool and is brilliant for things like variable assignment in Bash or grabbing IP addresses and other values for which it might be difficult to create a regular expression. But there are many more options than simple search, all of which can be triggered with switches or added to a configuration file. You can extract numbers from words, for example, or set a post-selection processing action. Words can be selected or not selected using regular expressions, and there are lots of controls for splitting the input into columns and making those columns fill your terminal's fill width. It's perfect when you're working with unpredictable data fields or you want to test out your own scripts without hard-coding the selection algorithms into the file.
Project Website
https://github.com/p-gen/smenu
Concentration spell
Focus
This is another simple tool that's brilliantly executed and perfect for people for whom the Internet has simply become a huge distraction engine – people like me. Just writing those two sentences required a news refresh, a Bitcoin value check, a brief skim over my Reddit subscriptions, and an idle through some Hacker News comments (let's not mention the 20 minutes spent watching Prince on YouTube). It's almost at the point where the writing itself is the distraction while I ascend to the astral plane of infinitely networked knowledge. Of course, there are lots of solutions to this problem. Turning the Internet off isn't a bad idea, and I've previously looked at tools that will only let you access whitelisted locations. But this tool, called Focus, is another option, and for me it's preferable to other more draconian measures.
Focus runs from the command line and allows you to set a reminder containing any text you choose. This reminder will then pop up after a certain period of time of your choice has passed. There are two particularly neat things about its implementation. The first is that it runs as a daemon, which means it takes very few resources and won't default to blocking you in the shell, and the second is that it uses native notifications to show you your reminder. This is particularly useful because you can use your desktop's notification system to manage these reminders more effectively, and they're more likely to be noticed while you're watching YouTube. Entering
focus -p 2 -d 1 -t "Get back to work!" -b "Write FOSSPicks!"
on the command line, for instance, will set a two-minute reminder that pops up for an hour reminding me to write some words. It could even be used to remind you to take a break. Enter
for the duration and Focus reminds you of your duties forever.
Project Website
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.