Graphical Abstinence, Living the Terminal Life

Alan Pope

on 24 July 2018

Tags: sc:snap:dwarf-fortress , sc:snap:irssi , sc:snap:links , sc:snap:lxd , sc:snap:mapscii , sc:snap:mutt , sc:snap:newsboat , sc:snap:slack-term , sc:snap:vitetris , sc:snap:wormhole

This article was last updated 6 years ago.

In today’s modern world of multi-gigabyte browser based applications we can get overwhelmed by busy, interrupting graphical environments. Sometimes it’s nice to downsize and focus, VT100-style. So let’s leverage the power of the terminal to get stuff done with a selection of apps, utilities and a couple of games for your Linux console.

You can stay up to date with our editorial picks by following Snapcraft on Facebook where we share three new and interesting snaps a week. We’d also love to hear what your favourite snaps are, perhaps you’ve found something we’ve missed. Let us know!

1. Slack Term

Snapcrafters


Memory consumption of the desktop Slack app getting you down? Try slack-term instead, for keeping in touch with your team from the comfort of your terminal. Get slack-term from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install slack-term

2. LXD

Canonical


LXD is a container manager for system containers. It’s a super fast way to spin up containers in which you can develop, build and run the next generation of Linux applications. Get lxd from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install lxd

3. Mutt

Snapcrafters


As the tagline says, “All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less.” Mutt, a small but very powerful text-based mail client, is available as a Snap for.  Get mutt from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install mutt

4. Newsboat

Alexander Batischev


If you’re a fan of consuming news via RSS feeds then Newsboat is for you. Efficiently catch up with news and download podcasts right in the terminal. Get newsboat from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install newsboat

5. Wormhole

Snapcrafters


Need to securely send files or directories from one machine to another? Enter the magic wormhole! 🧙 Fast, point-to-point transfer of files is easy with the wormhole command line tool. Get wormhole from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install wormhole

6. Irssi

PUBLISHERNAME


IRSSI is the IRC client of the future! Highly customisable with plugin support, Irssi is the best way to keep in touch on IRC. Get irssi from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install irssi

7. Dwarf Fortress

Michael Terr


In development for over 20 year Dwarf Fortress is a part rogue-like open world simulator that has influenced a generation of game designers. Get dwarf-fortress from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install dwarf-fortress

8. Links

Snapcrafters


Living life in the terminal doesn’t mean the web is inaccessible. Use Links to browse the modern web from the comfort of your terminal. Get links from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install links

9. Mapscii

Nathan Haines


View the world in your terminal with Mapscii, a map rendered with characters in the console. Get mapscii from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install mapscii

10. vitetris

Jeff Lane


Take a break from work with a terminal-based clone of the all-time classic Tetris. Vitetris features two player and networked play along with configurable keys and a high score table.  Get vitetris from the Snap store or install it on the command-line with:
snap install vitetris

VT-100 header image used under CC-BY by Eigenes Werk from https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Colossal_Cave_Adventure_on_VT100_terminal.jpg

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