List_of_Useful_Console_Applications

I used to run Superkaramba with desklets to show my weather, current processes and other information. However, I frequently noticed it taking up substantial resources, and looked for another solution.

Console applications offer some of the same information, often with much less resource dependence. They can also be easily used over SSH, to give access anywhere to vital information and services that previously were available only through a GUI.

Console App	Replaces GUI App	Description
abcde (media-sound/abcde), jack (media-sound/jack)	Grip (media-sound/grip)	CD ripper
centerim (net-im/centerim), naim (net-im/naim), pork (net-im/pork), licq (net-im/licq), micq (net-im/micq), finch (net-im/pidgin), mcabber (net-im/mcabber)	Gaim (net-im/gaim), Kopete (kde-base/kopete)	Instant Messaging clients
BitlBee (net-im/bitlbee)	No exact equivalent, used for instant messaging	Gateway to ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo! and Jabber. Acts as an IRC-server, use with your favorite IRC client
pebrot (net-im/pebrot)	No exact equivalent, used for instant messaging	A simple MSN client.
CurseTheWeather	Various weather monitoring desklets	Pulls data from Yahoo Weather. Displays temperature, wind speed, weekly forecast, conditions and more.
hnb	[Don't know of any Linux equivalent -- like OmniOutline on OSX]	Hierarchical notebook - easy way to keep categorized information
top (sys-process/procps), htop (sys-process/htop), atop (sys-process/atop)	Various system resource monitors	Live-updating process monitors. top is the "traditional one", htop is a bit prettier, atop includes network/disk monitoring too
mp3blaster (media-sound/mp3blaster), cmus (media-sound/cmus), cplay (media-sound/cplay), xmms2, moc (media-sound/moc)	Music players like Amarok (media-sound/amarok), xmms, audacious	mp3blaster: A full ncurses MP3 player program. Has realtime search like iTunes, and a great navigation structure. cmus: another itunes clone with ncurses interface. xmms2: next generation xmms, client-server model, multiple clients available (also gui)
ctorrent (net-p2p/ctorrent), bittorrent-curses (net-p2p/bittorrent), btdownloadcurses.py or btdownloadheadless.py (net-p2p/bittornado), rtorrent (net-p2p/rtorrent), aria2 (net-misc/aria2)	Bittorrent clients like Azureus (net-p2p/azureus) HINT: Azureus also supports console-based GUI, ktorrent (net-p2p/ktorrent)	BitTorrent P2P network clients.
irssi (net-irc/irssi), bitchx (net-irc/bitchx), weechat (net-irc/weechat)	Xchat (net-irc/xchat), Konversation (net-irc/konversation), KVIrc (net-irc/kvirc)	IRC clients
elinks (www-client/elinks), links (www-client/links), lynx (www-client/lynx), w3m (www-client/w3m)	Mozilla Firefox (www-client/mozilla-firefox), Konqueror (kde-base/konqueror), Opera (www-client/opera)	Web browsers
mutt(ng) (mail-client/mutt, mail-client/muttng), pine (mail-client/pine), gnus (app-emacs/gnus)	Mozilla Thunderbird (mail-client/mozilla-thunderbird), Kmail (kde-base/kmail), Evolution (mail-client/evolution)	E-mail clients (reading and sending)
slrn (net-nntp/slrn), tin (net-nntp/tin), gnus (app-emacs/gnus)	Mozilla Thunderbird (mail-client/mozilla-thunderbird), Knews (net-nntp/knews), Pan (net-nntp/pan)	Newsreader (e.g: Usenet)
raggle (net-news/raggle), newsbeuter (net-news/newsbeuter)	Akregator (kde-base/akregator)	RSS feed reader
screen (app-misc/screen), screenie (app-misc/screenie)	Konsole (kde-base/konsole)	Multi-terminal Emulator: only screen allows persistent sessions from multiple or zero logins, including remote logins via SSH or telnet.
BashBurn (app-cdr/bashburn), MyBashBurn (app-cdr/bashburn), burncenter (app-cdr/burncenter), cdrecord/wodim (app-cdr/cdrkit) burn-cd (app-cdr/burn-cd)	K3b (app-cdr/k3b), GnomeBaker (app-cdr/gnomebaker), Brasero (app-cdr/brasero), Nautilus CD Burner (gnome-extra/nautilus-cd-burner)	CD and DVD burning
lftp (net-ftp/lftp), ncftp, ftp	KFTPGrabber (net-ftp/kftpgrabber), gFtp (net-ftp/gftp)	FTP Client

Gentoo Wiki

List_of_Useful_Console_Applications

See also