Alternatives to Some Linux Commands

Some linux commands and their alternatives that I use. For most of them, it’s easier to create aliases.

1. dust instead of du

See how to install it, here.

It’s very informative!

2. tldr instead of man

The purpose of TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read!) is to show examples of using various commands. On Ubuntu it will be installed with sudo apt install tldr

3. bat or batcat instead of cat

See here to find how to install it.

4. exa instead of ls

Check out its website. exa is especially useful when you want to see the directory tree.

5. duf instead of df

Check here to find more about duf.

6. colordiff instead of diff
7. htop instead of top
8. ack instead of grep
9. cloc instead of wc
10. Using xclip instead of copy and paste.

# installation on Ubuntu
sudo apt install xclip

# Optional aliases in the profile/bashrc
alias "c=xclip" # copy to X clipboard
alias "cs=xclip -selection clipboard" # copy to system wide clipboard
alias "v=xclip -o" # output copied content (paste)
alias "vs=xclip -o -selection clipboard" # paste from system wide clipboard

# Some usages (notice the backticks)
# Terminal 1
echo pwd | c
# Terminal 2
cd `v`