Sparkling gems and new releases from the world of Free and Open Source Software
Downloader GUI
yt-dlg
If you've tried browsing the Internet recently without some form of ad blocking, it can be a real shock. There are pop-ups everywhere, invasive AI chats, endorsements inserted into text, site takeovers, slide-downs, slide-ins, and every other kind of invasive, attention-grabbing mechanic you can imagine. It's truly a sorry state because many great content sites – such as our own – obviously rely on advertising to fund the work they do, but the Wild West of click-throughs has broken any possible kind of compromise. Because most people don't run any kind of ad blocker, they must think the Internet is a very different kind of place than those of us who do, which perhaps explains why they may also be unconcerned about other aspects of the Internet, such as a lack of privacy or aggressive personal profile building to trick you into spending more time viewing and scrolling.
YouTube is becoming one of the worst sites for this, with both invasive advertising you can no longer skip and addictive further recommendations that can turn 30 seconds of research into 30 minutes on cats making beats. A decent blocker can help, and there are Firefox plugins that will also hide the recommendations, but another good alternative is to only watch the videos you want outside of YouTube's temptations. This is how the wonderful youtube-dl script has become so popular: by letting you access the often incredible content you find on YouTube without so much of YouTube. But it's a command line-only solution, and that leads us to this discovery, yt-dlg, a fully maintained and updated GUI for the command-line downloader that turns YouTube viewing into a simple drag-and-drop experience. The URL for your target is simply added to a list, where you can then see how much bandwidth it's taking and when it will be downloaded, allowing you to view it directly or from your favorite application.
Project Website
https://github.com/oleksis/youtube-dl-gui

Profiler and monitor
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
-
The GNU Project Celebrates Its 40th Birthday
September 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the GNU Project, and it was celebrated with a hacker meeting in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
-
Linux Kernel Reducing Long-Term Support
LTS support for the Linux kernel is about to undergo some serious changes that will have a considerable impact on the future.
-
Fedora 39 Beta Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.