Weighing in with Ncdu
Ncdu
Ncdu adds some GUI-like features to the classic du command.
The du (for "disk usage") utility is a useful tool for estimating file size and cleaning up a hard drive. du summarizes the disk usage for each file in the directory and even looks down into subdirectories.
du worked well in the old days of printed output, but in today's interactive environments, it has some limitations. Like many old-school command-line tools, du prints the output on the screen by default, and the terminal screen is nowhere near large enough to see all the files in a large directory system. Of course, you could print to a file and examine the file with a text editor, or you could filter and refine the du results using standard command-line piping and sorting techniques. But sometimes what you really want to do is move around in the output as if perusing a printed page, progressing interactively through subdirectories as you would with a GUI-based file manager.
The Ncdu utility [1] is a souped-up version of du that has some GUI-like features. Ncdu uses the ncurses API [2], which is a common tool for building GUI features into command-line programs. (See the box entitled "Why Work in the Terminal?")
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.