tool
gron: the honest review
Verdict: Use it — as jq's search partner, not its replacement
The anti-jq: make JSON greppable with plain grep. Free. Verdict: keep it next to jq, mind the array holes.
Tools
Honest reviews of software we actually ran. We name what we uninstalled and the free thing that beat it.
Table of Contents
Tools
What we actually use, what we uninstalled in a rage, and what turned out to be a to-do list with a subscription. Every review leads with a verdict and names the dealbreaker. No affiliate fog.
tool
duf: the honest review
Verdict: Use it interactively for the 'is any mount full?' glance — but keep df (or duf --json) in scripts, and know it splits your mounts across two tables
The df replacement that boxes your disks into pretty tables. Free. Verdict: great for a quick 'what's full?' look, once you learn where it hid your tmpfs and...
tool
pip-audit: the honest review
Verdict: Use it — in CI, on a pinned lockfile, expecting noise you can't act on and a --fix that lies about being free
The dependency scanner that catches genuinely known-vulnerable versions fast, then floods you with transitive advisories nobody can fix. Free. Verdict: keep ...
tool
hexedit: the honest review
Verdict: Use it for eyeball-and-nudge byte edits on a real terminal — but it overwrites in place, can't insert a byte, and won't script
The hex editor hexyl can't be. It actually writes bytes. Free. Verdict: keep it for hand-editing a binary at a real terminal, but reach for xxd -r the moment...
tool
procs: the honest review
Verdict: Install it as a friendlier ps + pgrep for humans at the terminal — but keep ps and /proc in your scripts, and don't trust its --json numbers
The ps replacement that searches by keyword and draws a readable table. Free. Verdict: keep it for interactive use, but leave ps in your scripts and treat it...
tool
dust: the honest review
Verdict: Use it interactively to find disk hogs — but keep du in your scripts, and don't panic when the numbers disagree
The du replacement that draws a tree. Free. Verdict: keep it for hunting disk hogs, but learn why its numbers and du's never quite match.
tool
hexyl: the honest review
Verdict: Use it to read a binary — but it's a viewer with no revert, and its output is built for your eyes, not a pipe
The xxd/hexdump replacement that paints bytes by category. Free. Verdict: keep it for reading binaries, but reach back for xxd the moment you need to patch o...
tool
hyperfine: the honest review
Verdict: Use it for comparing two commands — but on a shared or CI box the wall-clock numbers lie, and hyperfine will keep telling you so
The command-line benchmarking tool that measures repeatably and warns loudly. Free. Verdict: keep it for A/B comparisons, respect the -N flag and the outlier...
tool
sd: the honest review
Verdict: Use it for find-and-replace — but it edits files in place with no backup, and your pattern is a regex whether you meant it or not
The friendlier sed for search-and-replace. Free. Verdict: keep it, but respect the in-place default and remember your pattern is a regex.
tool
delta: the honest review
Verdict: Use it — but it's config, not a command: don't `apt install delta`, and set two gitconfig keys, not one
The syntax-highlighting pager that makes git diffs readable. Free. Verdict: keep it, but the install line and the setup both have a trap.
tool
zoxide: the honest review
Verdict: Install it and add the init hook — but it's a multi-week investment that does nothing until its database learns your dirs, and you keep plain cd for scripts
The cd replacement that jumps by 'frecency'. Free. Verdict: a real upgrade that only pays off after it watches you for a week — learn the hook and the leaf-m...
tool
eza: the honest review
Verdict: Install it and alias your interactive ls/ll/lt to it — but search for 'eza' not 'exa', and keep plain ls in your scripts
The ls replacement with colors, a git column, and a tree mode. Free. Verdict: a daily upgrade — learn the dead-fork name and one vanishing column first.
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bat: the honest review
Verdict: Use it as your interactive pager — learn batcat and -pp first, but keep plain cat in your scripts
The cat replacement with syntax highlighting. Free. Verdict: great for reading, learn its two surprises, leave cat in your scripts.
tool
fd: the honest review
Verdict: Use it — but learn its two defaults first, or it'll hide files you swear are there
The find replacement with sane defaults. Free. Verdict: keep it, but learn what it hides on purpose.
tool
jq: the honest review
Verdict: Use it — but learn five filters, not fifty, and stop pretending you read the manual
The JSON tool you paste and pray. Free. Verdict: keep it, learn five filters, and quote it right.
tool
fzf: the honest review
Verdict: Install it — the Ctrl-R history search alone earns its keep
A fuzzy finder that quietly rewires Ctrl-R, Ctrl-T, and Alt-C. Free. Verdict: wire up the shell bindings today.
tool
ripgrep: the honest review
Verdict: Use it — but know it skips .gitignored files by default
Faster search, sane defaults, one surprising default. Free. Verdict: install it today.
tool
Note-taking apps: a to-do list with a subscription, reviewed
Verdict: For most people: a plain-text folder + one search tool beats the subscription
Three apps, one verdict, and the markdown folder that quietly outscored all of them.
tool
The VS Code extensions I actually keep installed (and the one-liners to install them)
Verdict: It depends — keep five or six, install them from a tracked file, ignore the curated mega-lists
Not 23 extensions. The handful that survive a clean reinstall, plus the CLI one-liner to put them back.
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VS Code as a Python research IDE: conda envs, Jupyter cells, and a debugger that actually stops
Verdict: Use it — but pin the interpreter per project or it will silently run the wrong Python
A free editor that runs cells, stops on breakpoints, and finds the wrong Python by default. Verdict: use it, after you pin the interpreter.