View source for Category:List of Linux Programmes

This is a '''list of Linux programmes'''. I use many of these programmes on a daily basis. However, I have not mastered all of these just yet. I will provide links to individual programmes for further information, tutorials, and examples.

Some of these programs are standard utilities that will be found on any Unix or Unix-like operating system; indeed a system without such basic components as [[ls]] or sh could scarcely be described as truly Unix-like. Others are more special-purpose and may not be installed by default. Finally, some items on this list are simply separate applications which happen to have been written for Unix.

==[[System software]]==
===General user===
*[[dirname]] &ndash; Strip non&ndash;directory suffixes from a path
*[[dd (Unix)|dd]] &ndash; Convert and copy a file (Disk Dump)
*[[echo (computing)|echo]] &ndash; Print to standard output
*[[env]] &ndash; Show environment variables; run a program with altered environment variables
*[[nohup]] &ndash; Run a command with immunity to hangups outputting to non&ndash;tty
*[[File (Unix)|file]] (or stat) &ndash; Determine the type of a file 
*[[strip (Unix)|strip]] &ndash; Discard symbols from object files
*[[uptime]] &ndash; Print how long the system has been running
*[[Unix shell|sh]] &ndash; The Bourne shell, the standard Unix shell

===System Management===
*[[fuser (Unix)|fuser]] &ndash; Identify processes by files or sockets
*[[newgrp]] (or [[sg (Unix)|sg]]) &ndash; Log in to a new group
*[[pathchk]] &ndash; Check the validity/portability of filenames
*[[logger (Unix)|logger]] &ndash; Make entries in the system log

====Kernel specific====
*[[ipcs]] &ndash; Provide information on IPC facilities
*[[ipcrm]] &ndash; Remove a message queue, semaphore set or shared memory id
*[[date (Unix)|date]] &ndash; Print or set the system date and/or time
*[[uname]] &ndash; Print assorted system statistics
*[[dmesg]] &ndash; Print the kernel message buffer

====[[Process (computing)|Processes]] and tasks management====
*[[nice (Unix)|nice]] &ndash; Alter priorities for processes
*[[time (Unix)|time]] &ndash; Time a command
*[[top (Unix)|top]] &ndash; Produce a dynamic list of all resident processes
*[[wait]] &ndash; Wait for the specified process
*[[renice]] &ndash; Alter the priorities of an already running process
*[[chroot]] &ndash; Change the system root directory for all [[child process]]es
*[[timex (Unix utility)|timex]] &ndash; Time process shell execution, measure process data and system activity
*[[kill (Unix)|kill]] &ndash; Send a signal to process, or terminate a process (by PID)
*[[killall (Unix)|killall]] &ndash; Terminate all processes (in Linux, it's kill by name)
*[[crontab]] &ndash; Crontab file editor
*[[at (Unix command)|at]] &ndash; Single&ndash;time command scheduler
*[[cron]] &ndash; Periodic command scheduler
*[[daemonic]] &ndash; Interface to daemon init scripts
*[[sleep (Unix)|sleep]] &ndash; Delay for specified time
*[[pgrep]] &ndash; Find PIDs of processes by name
*[[pidof]] &ndash; Linux equivalent of [[pgrep]]
*[[pkill]] &ndash; Send a signal to process, or terminate a process (by name).  Equivalent to Linux [[killall (Unix)|killall]]
*[[ps (Unix)|ps]] &ndash; Report process status
*[[anacron]] &ndash; Periodic command scheduler

====User management and support====
*[[su (computing)|su]] &ndash; Start a new process (defaults to shell) as a different user (defaults to root)
*[[logname]] &ndash; Print user's login name
*[[passwd]] &ndash; User and group entries for daemons
*[[write (Unix)|write]] &ndash; Send a message to another user
*[[mesg]] &ndash; Control write access to your terminal
*[[Who (Unix)|who]] &ndash; Show who is logged on
*[[W (Unix)|w]] &ndash; Show logged-in users and their current tasks
*[[id (Unix)|id]] &ndash; Print real/effective UIDs/GIDs
*[[Linux manual|man]] &ndash; Manual browser
*[[locale]] &ndash; Get locale specific information
*[[localedef]] &ndash; Compile locale definitions
*[[sudo]] &ndash; Used to grant permission to carry out specific operations for specific users or groups.

====Terminal configuration====
*[[stty]]  &ndash; Change and print terminal line settings
*[[tty (Unix)|tty]] &ndash; Print filename of terminal connected to standard input
*[[tput]] &ndash; Initialize a terminal/query terminfo database

===Files and texts===
*[[Linux manual|man]] &ndash; The standard unix documentation system
*[[info (Unix)|info]] &ndash; The [[GNU/Linux]] alternative to [[Unix manual|man]]

====Filesystem Utilities====
* [[Chgrp (command)|chgrp]] &ndash; Change the group of a file or directory
* [[Chmod (command)|chmod]] &ndash; Change the permissions of a file or directory
* [[Chown (command)|chown]] &ndash; Change the owner of a file or directory
* [[Cp (command)|cp]] &ndash; Copy a file or directory to another location
* [[Df (command)|df]] &ndash; Report disk space
* [[Du (command)|du]] &ndash; Calculate used disk space
* [[Fdupes (command)|fdupes]] &ndash; Find or remove duplicate files within a directory
* [[Find (command)|find]] &ndash; Search for files through a directory hierarchy
* [[Fsck (command)|fsck]] &ndash; Filesystem check
* [[Ln (command)|ln]] &ndash; Link one file/directory to another
* [[Ls (command)|ls]] &ndash; List directory contents
* [[Mkdir (command)|mkdir]] &ndash; Make a directory
* [[Mkfifo (command)|mkfifo]] &ndash; Make a named pipe
* [[Mount (command)|mount]] &ndash; Mount a filesystem
* [[Mv (command)|mv]] &ndash; Move or rename a file or directory
* [[Pwd (command)|pwd]] &ndash; Print the current working directory
* [[Rm (command)|rm]] &ndash; Delete a file or directory tree
* [[Rmdir (command)|rmdir]] &ndash; Delete an empty directory
* [[Touch (command)|touch]] &ndash; Create a new file or update its modification time
* [[Tree (command)|tree]] &ndash; Print a depth-indented tree of a given directory
* [[Unlink (command)|unlink]] &ndash; System call to remove a file or directory
* [[Lsof (command)|lsof]] &ndash; list open files

====Archivers and compression====
*[[afio]] &ndash; Compatible superset of [[cpio]] with added functionality
*[[ar (Unix)|ar]] &ndash; Maintain, modify, and extract from archives. Now largely obsoleted by [[Tar (file format)|tar]]
*[[bzip2]] &ndash; Block&ndash;sorting file compressor
*[[compress]] &ndash; Traditional compressor using the [[LZW (algorithm)|LZW algorithm]]
*[[CPIO|cpio]] &ndash; A traditional archiving tool/format
*[[gzip]] &ndash; The gzip file compressor
*[[pax (program)|pax]] &ndash; POSIX archive tool that handles multiple formats.
*[[Tar (file format)|tar]] &ndash; Tape ARchiver, concatenates files
*[[uncompress]]  &ndash; Uncompresses files compressed with ''compress''.
*[[zcat]] &ndash; Prints files to stdout from gzip archives without unpacking them to separate file(s)

====Text Processing====
*[[awk]] &ndash; A pattern scanning and processing language
*[[banner (Unix)|banner]] &ndash; Creates [[ascii art]] version of an input string for printing large banners
*[[cat (Unix)|cat]] &ndash; Concatenate files to standard output
*[[cksum]] &ndash; Print the CRC checksum and bytecount of a file (see also [[MD5]])
*[[cmp]] &ndash; Compare two files byte for byte
*[[comm]] &ndash; Sort two files and compare them line for line
*[[csplit]] &ndash; Split a file into sections determined by context lines
*[[cut (Unix)|cut]] &ndash; Remove sections from each line of a file or standard input
*[[diff]] &ndash; Compare two files line by line
*[[expand (Unix)|expand]] &ndash; Convert tabs to spaces
*[[fc (Unix)|fc]] &ndash; Processes the command history list
*[[fold (Unix)|fold]] &ndash; Wrap each input line to fit within the given width
*[[grep]] &ndash; Print lines matching a pattern (now largely superseded by [[egrep]])
*[[head (Unix)|head]] &ndash; Output the first parts of a file
*[[iconv]] &ndash; Convert the encoding of the specified files
*[[join (Unix utility)|join]] &ndash; Join lines of two files on a common field
*[[less (Unix)|less]] &ndash; Improved [[more (Unix)|more]]&ndash;like text pager
*[[merge (Unix)|merge]] &ndash; Three way merge of files (see also [[paste (Unix)|paste]])
*[[more (Unix)|more]] &ndash; Pager
*[[NKF Japanese Encoder|nkf]] &ndash; Convert Japanese characters
*[[nl (Unix)|nl]] &ndash; Number the lines of a file
*[[od (Unix)|od]] &ndash; Dump files in various formats, e.g. octal
*[[paste (Unix)|paste]] &ndash; Merge lines of files
*[[patch (Unix)|patch]] &ndash; Change files based on a patch file
*[[rev (Unix)|rev]] &ndash; reverse lines of a file
*[[sed]] &ndash; Stream EDitor
*[[sort (Unix)|sort]] &ndash; Sort lines of text files
*[[split (Unix utility)|split]] &ndash; Split a file into pieces
*[[tac]] &ndash; '''[[cat (Unix)|cat]]''' in reverse &mdash; displays files to standard output in reverse order starting at the end of the file
*[[tail (Unix)|tail]] &ndash; Output the tail end of files
*[[tee (Unix)|tee]] &ndash; Read from standard input, write to standard output and files
*[[tr (program)|tr]]  &ndash; Translate characters
*[[tsort (Unix)|tsort]] &ndash; Perform a [[topological sorting|topological sort]]
*[[unexpand]] &ndash; Convert spaces to tabs 
*[[uniq]] &ndash; Remove duplicate lines from a sorted file
*[[uudecode]] &ndash; Decodes a binary file that was used for transmission using electronic mail
*[[uuencode]] &ndash; Encodes a binary file for transmission using electronic mail
*[[wc (Unix utility)|wc]] &ndash; Word/line/byte count

====Editors====
*[[ed (Unix)|ed]] &ndash; Traditional line-based Unix text editor
*[[emacs]] &ndash; Powerful [[Lisp programming language|Lisp]]&ndash;based text editor and general computing environment
*[[ex (editor)|ex]] &ndash; Text editor, often a [[symbolic link]] to vi (or vim) which causes it to run in ex emulation mode
*[[NEdit]] &ndash; The multi-purpose [[X11]] editor
*[[nano (text editor)|nano]] &ndash; Clone of pico
*[[pico (text editor)|pico]] &ndash; PIne's message COmposition editor
*[[sam (program)|sam]] &ndash; Bitmapped text editor with client-server design, by [[Rob Pike]]
*[[vi]] &ndash; Visual text editor
*[[vim (text editor)|vim]] &ndash; Vi IMproved, vi clone with [[syntax highlighting]] and many other enhancements
*[[XEmacs]] &ndash; Popular version of emacs that is derived from [[emacs|GNU emacs]]

===Communication, networking and remote access===
*[[apache server|Apache webserver]]
*[[Network File System|NFS]] &ndash; Network filesystem
*[[OpenVPN]]
*[[rsh]], [[SSH]], [[telnet]] &ndash; Remote consoles
*[[Samba software|Samba]] &ndash; SMB and CIFS client and server for UNIX
*[[Talk (Unix)|talk]] &ndash; Talk to another logged-in user
*[[uux]] &ndash; Remote command execution over [[UUCP]]
*[[uustat]] &ndash; a Basic Networking Utilities (BNU) command that displays status information about several types of BNU operations

====Email programs====
*[[Elm (e-mail client)|elm]] &ndash; Unix mail utility program
*[[mail (Unix)|mail]] &ndash; Original Email utility
*[[mailx]] &ndash; Improved Email utility
*[[Mutt (e-mail client)|Mutt]] &ndash; Curses based mail reader

====Network system services====
*[[xinetd]] &ndash; replacement for [[inetd]]
*[[fingerd]] &ndash; a daemon for finger &ndash; a program used return a human-readable status report on either the system at the moment or a particular person in depth
*[[inetd]] &ndash; a [[Daemon (computer software)|daemon]] on many Unix systems that manages Internet services

====Network Utilities====
*[[Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol|dhcpd]] &ndash; the DHCP daemon
*[[ifconfig]] &ndash; a tool used to configure a network interface for TCP/IP
*[[ping]] &ndash; a network tool that tests of whether a particular host is up and reachable on the network
*[[pppd]] &ndash; [[Point-to-Point]] protocol daemon
*[[TCP Wrapper|tcpd]] &ndash; Secures programs launched from [[inetd]]

====Network monitoring and security====
*[[Ethereal]] &ndash; a protocol analyzer, or "packet sniffer", similar to [[tcpdump]], that adds a GUI frontend, and more sorting and filtering options
*[[Tethereal]] &ndash; text based version of "Ethereal"
*[[Ettercap (computing)|ettercap]] &ndash; a tool for network protocol analysis
*[[John the Ripper]] &ndash; password cracking software
*[[Nmap]] &ndash; free port scanning software
*[[Nessus (software)|Nessus]] &ndash; a comprehensive open-source network vulnerability scanning program
*[[Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks|SATAN]] &ndash; the Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks &ndash; a testing and reporting tool that collects information about networked hosts
*[[Snort (software)|Snort]] &ndash; an open source network intrusion detection system
*[[tcpdump]] &ndash; a computer network debugging tool that intercepts and displays TCP/IP packets being transmitted or received

===Programming tools===
====Script Interpreters====
*[[awk]] &ndash; Standard Unix scripting and text manipulation tool.
*[[perl]] &ndash; [[Perl]] [[scripting language]].
*[[python programming language|Python]] &ndash; [[Python programming language|Python]] scripting language.
*[[bash]] &ndash; Bourne Again SHell, standard shell and a script interpreter on [[Linux]] systems.

==== [[Compilers]] and [[Programming tools]] ====
The classic UNIX environment includes a basic set of broadly available programming tools, but in the 21st century this classic environment is increasingly rare, as Unix-like operating system distributions diversify. Some include vastly more, and more modern and sophisticated, programming tools and environments, whereas others, focussing on serving a less technical audience, may disinclude even the most rudimentary programming utilities.  Commands most familiar to a prior generation of UNIX users include:

*[[admin (Unix)|admin]] &ndash; Administer [[Source Code Control System|SCCS]] files.
*[[c99]] &ndash; C programming language.
*cc &ndash; [[C compiler]].
*[[ld (Unix)|ld]] &ndash; Program linker.
*[[ctags]] &ndash; Generate tags file summarising location of objects in source files.
*[[distcc]] &ndash; Tool for distributing compiles across multiple machines.
*[[f77]] &ndash; [[Fortran]] 77 compiler.
*[[GNU Compiler Collection|gcc]] &ndash; GNU Compiler Collection C frontend (also known as GNU C Compiler)
*[[dbx]] &ndash; (System V and BSD) Symbolic debugger.
*[[GNU Debugger|gdb]] &ndash; GNU symbolic debugger.
*[[Lex programming tool|lex]] &ndash; Lexical scanner generator.
*[[yacc]] &ndash; LALR parser generator.
*[[m4 (language)|m4]] &ndash; Macro language.
*[[make]] &ndash; Automate builds.
*[[nm (Unix)|nm]] &ndash; List symbols from object files.
*[[rmdel]] &ndash; remove a delta from an SCCS file.
*[[Strip (Unix)|strip]] &ndash; Remove debugging symbols from object files.
*[[strace]] &ndash; (Linux) or [[truss (Unix)|truss]] (Solaris) Trace system calls with their arguments and signals. Useful debugging tool, but does not trace calls outside the kernel, in the address space of the process(es) being watched.
*[[ltrace]] &ndash; (Linux) Trace dynamic library calls in the address space of the watched process.
*[[ktrace]] &ndash; (BSD) Analogous to strace.

====[[Scripting language|Scripting]] utilities====
*expr &ndash; Evaluate expressions
*exit &ndash; Exit shell, optionally with return code
*return &ndash; Return from shell function
*false &ndash; Return a value that evaluates as False
*true &ndash; Return a value that evaluates as True
*[[xargs]] &ndash; Build and execute command lines from standard input
*[[basename]] &ndash; Returns the final component of a path
*[[batch (Unix)|batch]] &ndash; Runs jobs when the system load level permits
*[[unset]] &ndash; Unsets a shell variable
*break &ndash; terminate a loop before maturity
*[[continue]] &ndash; Skip the current iteration of a loop
*[[strings (Unix)|strings]] &ndash; Print strings of printable characters found in a file
*[[times (Unix)|times]]  
*[[test (Unix)|test]] &ndash; Test an expression
*[[hash (Unix)|hash]] &ndash; Command that remembers or reports command path names
*shift

===User interfaces===
*[[X Window System|X11]] &ndash; Graphical user interface (GUI)

====Desktops/Graphical User Interfaces====
*[[Blackbox]] and its variants (including [[Fluxbox]] and [[Waimea (X Window System)|Waimea]])
*[[Common Desktop Environment|CDE]] &ndash; Common Desktop Environment, most commonly found on proprietary UNIX systems
*[[Enlightenment (window manager)|Enlightenment]] &ndash; an open source window manager for the X Window System
*[[Fvwm]] and its variant Fvwm95, which has been modified to behave like Windows 95
*[[GNOME]] &ndash; GNU Network Object Model Environment
*[[IceWM]] &ndash; ICE Window Manager
*[[JWM]] &ndash; Joe's Window Manager
*[[KDE]] &ndash; K Desktop Environment
*[[Quartz Compositor]] &ndash; [[Apple Computer|Apple]]'s GUI interface for the Darwin BSD based operating system [[Mac OS X]]
*[[Window Maker]]
*[[WMI (X window manager)|WMI]] &ndash; Window Manager Improved
*[[XFce]] &ndash; a desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms

====Shells====
*[[bash]] &ndash; Bourne Again SHell, standard shell on [[Linux]] systems.
*[[C shell|csh]] &ndash; C shell.
*[[Korn shell|ksh]] &ndash; Korn shell, standard shell on most proprietary Unix systems.
*[[rc shell|rc]] &ndash; originally written for [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]].
*[[Bourne shell|sh]] &ndash; Bourne shell, only shell present on all UNIX and [[Unix-like]] systems.
*[[tcsh]] &ndash; [[TENEX]] C shell, standard shell on [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]] systems.
*[[Z shell|zsh]] &ndash; Z shell.

===[[Computer security]]===
====[[Antivirus software]]====
*[[ClamAV]] &ndash; E-mail virus scanner.

====[[Cryptography]]====
*[[Enigmail]] &ndash; Graphical interface to [[gpg]] for [[Mozilla Application Suite]] and [[Mozilla Thunderbird]].
*[[GNU Privacy Guard|gpg]] &ndash; GNU Privacy Guard, a complete and free replacement for [[PGP]] (to do file and email encryption and signature)
*[[openssl]] &ndash; Secure Sockets Layer and general crypto library.
*[[pinepgp]] &ndash; Filters which enable pine to use signed/encrypted email.
*[[mcrypt]] -- Replacement for the legacy crypt program, can also make OpenPGP-compatible files.

===Linux specific programs===
*[[Advanced Packaging Tool|apt]] &ndash; Front&ndash;end for dpkg or rpm
*[[Debconf (software package)|debconf]] &ndash; [[Debian]] package configuration management system
*[[drakconf]] &ndash; Front&ndash;end configuration utility for [[Mandriva Linux]]
*[[dpkg]] &ndash; The Debian package manager
*[[emerge]] &ndash; A [[frontend]] to portage
*[[RPM Package Manager|rpm]] &ndash; Originally the package manager for [[Red Hat Linux]], now used by several distributions including [[Mandriva Linux]]
*[[Portage (software)|portage]] &ndash; The [[Gentoo Linux]] package manager
*[[urpmi]] &ndash; Front&ndash;end to rpm, used by [[Mandriva Linux]]
*[[Pacman (Arch Linux)|pacman]] &ndash; A package manager used primarily by [[Arch Linux]]
*[[YaST]] - System management utility mainly used by [[SuSE]]

==[[Application software]]==
===[[Office suite|Office]]===
*[[Gnumeric]]
*[[OpenOffice.org]]
*[[KOffice]]

===[[Multimedia]]===
*[[amaroK]] &ndash; Audio jukebox
*[[Ardour]] &ndash; Digital audio workstation for multitrack HD recording and editing
*[[Audacity]] &ndash; Sound recording and editing program
*[[Baudline]] &ndash; Audio recorder, analyzer, and player
*[[GIMP]] &ndash; Powerful image manipulation package
*[[GStreamer]] &ndash; Plugin-based multimedia framework
*[[ImageMagick]] &ndash; Image conversion library
*[[Inkscape]] &ndash; Vector graphics editor
*[[mpg123]] &ndash; MP3 player
*[[MPlayer]] &ndash; Video player
*[[Rhythmbox]] &ndash; Audio jukebox similar to [[Apple Computer|Apple's]] [[iTunes]]
*[[Rosegarden]] &ndash; Powerful [[digital audio workstation]]
*[[SoX]] &ndash; Sound conversion tool
*[[Totem (media player)|Totem]] &ndash; Media player
*[[transcode]] &ndash; Flexible command-line media encoding tool
*[[VLC media player]] &ndash; Video player
*[[xine]] &ndash; Video Player
*[[XMMS]] &ndash; [[Winamp]]-like multimedia player

===[[Web browser]]s===
*[[Dillo]] &ndash; Extremely light&ndash;weight web browser
*[[Galeon]] &ndash; Light&ndash;weight old GNOME web browser
*[[Epiphany (web browser)|Epiphany]] &ndash; Light&ndash;weight GNOME web browser
*[[Konqueror]] &ndash; KDE web browser
*[[Links (web browser)|Links]] &ndash; Console based web browser
*[[ELinks]] &ndash; Enhanced links
*[[Lynx (web browser)|lynx]] &ndash; Console based web browser
*[[Mozilla Application Suite]] &ndash; Graphical cross platform web browser & email client
*[[Mozilla Firefox]] &ndash; Extensible Web browser from [[Mozilla]]
*[[Mozilla Thunderbird]] &ndash; Extensible [[Email client]] from [[Mozilla]]

===Desktop Publishing===
*[[Groff]] &ndash; Traditional typesetting system
*[[LaTeX]] &ndash; Popular [[TeX]] macro package for higher&ndash;level typesetting
*[[lp (Unix)|lp]] &ndash; Print a file (on a line printer)
*[[Passepartout (publishing)|Passepartout]] &ndash; Desktop publishing program
*[[pr (Unix)|pr]] &ndash; Convert text files for printing
*[[printf]] &ndash; Format and print data
*[[Scribus]] &ndash; Desktop publishing program
*[[TeX]] &ndash; High&ndash;quality macro&ndash;based typesetting system
*[[troff]] &ndash; The original and standard Unix typesetting system

===[[Database management system|Databases]]===
*[[MySQL]]
*[[SQLite]]

===Mathematical and scientific software===
*[[maxima]] &ndash; Symbol manipulation program.
*[[Units (computer program)|units]] &ndash; Unit conversion program.
*[[GNU Octave|octave]] &ndash; Numerical computing language (mostly compatible with [[Matlab]]) and environment.
*[[R (computer program)|R]] &ndash; Statistical programming language.

===Desktop utilities===
*[[dc (Unix)|dc]] &ndash; Reverse-Polish desk calculator which supports unlimited precision arithmetic
*[[fortune (program)|fortune]] &ndash; Fortune cookie program that prints a random quote
*[[bc programming language|bc]] &ndash; An arbitrary precision calculator language with syntax similar to the C programming language.
*[[cal (program)|cal]] &ndash; Displays a calendar

==See also==
*[[List of Unix daemons]]
*[[List of GNU packages]]
*[[List of open source software packages]]
*[[List of KDE applications]]
*[[List of GNOME applications]]

== External links ==
* [http://directory.fsf.org/ FSF/UNESCO Free Software Directory] &ndash; A catalog of useful free software
* [http://freshmeat.net/browse/ Freshmeat software catalog] &ndash; The Web's largest index of Unix and cross-platform software
* [http://sourceforge.net/ SourceForge] &ndash; The world's largest development and download repository of Open Source code and applications 
* [http://www.linuxlinks.com/Software/ Linux Links: Software] &ndash; Linux software catalog
* [http://www.linux.org/apps/ Linux Online - Applications] &ndash; Linux software catalog

[[Category:Technical and Specialized Skills]]