Необычные и ПОЛЕЗНЫЕ утилиты LINUX, о которых вы, скорее всего, не знали

Summary — key utilities, features and guides from the video

Main theme

A tour of lesser-known but useful Linux (and cross‑platform) utilities that improve system control, privacy, UI/UX and productivity. Demos focus on real use cases such as blocking app updates/data exfiltration, drag‑and‑drop automation, speed reading, customizable UI bars, CSV/JSON terminal GUIs, wallpaper color extraction, browser start pages, and more.

Utilities and what they do (as shown / demoed)

1. Portmaster (referred to as Portmas)

   • Per‑application network policy / firewall GUI (Linux & Windows).
   • Shows active apps and outgoing connections (including Electron apps).
   • Allows blocking full app Internet access or individual domains/pings.
   • Can set per‑PC DNS overrides.
   • Recommended to block network access for apps that don’t need the Internet (password managers, office apps, etc.).

2. Obsidian / Electron app example

   • Demonstrates why per‑app blocking matters: blocking Obsidian prevents plugin installs/updates and possible data exfiltration via Electron apps.

3. Blobdrop (blobд / drag‑and‑drop helper)

   • Small tool to drop files into scripts or upload flows via a drag‑and‑drop‑like CLI action.
   • Integrate into file manager actions or shell scripts.
   • Typical flow: select file → call blobdrop → pipe file data into workflows (metadata cleaning, image processing, uploads).

4. LM Studio + Portmaster example

   • Demo of downloading local LLM models; shows how Portmaster can block model downloads or remote usage if desired.

5. Start Page for browsers (custom homepage)

   • Replace the browser home with a customizable start page: links, search, widgets, GPT integration, icons/colors, weather/time.
   • Cross‑platform (Firefox/Chrome) and useful for quick navigation and custom workflows.

6. Simple Python download tool / small projects

   • A tiny multi‑file Python utility that helps visually with downloads (packaged for PyPI/AUR/Gentoo).
   • Suggested as a simple candidate to port to Rust for performance/size gains.

7. Wallpaper color tools: pywal and Hwall (Hellwall / Hwall)

   • pywal: Python tool to extract dominant colors and apply them to terminal/theme (older/less maintained).
   • Hwall / Hellwall: newer C implementation (faster), similar functionality; works on macOS/Linux.

8. Panel / widget system (Albara and alternatives)

   • Configurable dynamic panels with vertical/horizontal bars, popups and widgets (brightness, Wi‑Fi, battery, calendar, music, disk usage, notifications).
   • Supports adding scripts/components in Python or Bash and using prebuilt configs for quick setup.
   • Comparable to polybar; useful for building a compact, powerful system UI.

9. polybar and prebuilt bar configs

   • Several ready configs and themes demonstrated (vertical bars, light themes, “Northema”, etc.).
   • Emphasis on reusing someone else’s config for instant UI improvements.

10. Speed reading tool (Speedreat / speedread) - Boosts words‑per‑minute by reducing eye movement and subvocalization. - Best for light/non‑technical reading (self‑help, notes); not recommended for deep technical material.

11. CLI GUI for tabular / structured files (CSV/JSON/Excel) - Interactive terminal interface to view CSV, JSON, Excel files as columns/tables. - Supports templates, fuzzy search (fzf), VIM integration, JSON templates. - Available from distro repos or package managers — great for quick data inspection in terminal.

12. SSH UI / server management tool - Builds an interactive server list from your SSH config: connect, view recent logins, logs, manage entries. - Cross‑platform Go binaries available; useful for admins juggling many servers.

Additional topics, tips and integrations shown

• Practical scenarios: block LibreOffice/Word from outbound requests to stop macros from exfiltrating data; block Electron apps to freeze updates/plugins.
• Combine tools into scripts and file‑manager custom actions for workflows (e.g., clear image metadata → blobdrop → upload).
• Use prebuilt configs/themes to avoid lengthy manual customization.
• Encouragement to try replacing Python projects with Rust for performance and packaging them for AUR/PyPI/Gentoo.

Guides, reviews, courses and other resources mentioned

• This video is the second in a series (the first part contains ~14 other useful tools).
• Demo/or how‑to highlights:
  • Portmaster: short how‑to for blocking app network access.
  • Blobdrop: integration into file manager actions and scripting examples.
  • Start Page: repo demo and online live preview.
  • Small Python download tool: repo with three files shown as a quick project example.
• Multiple additional “how to” and setup videos are promised in the description (full Linux setup, home server setup, OS selection, panel/UI videos).
• Private channel & paid OP course (limited spots):
  • Course topics: advanced OOP (metaclasses, abstractions, decorators), design principles, patterns/anti‑patterns, refactoring, modular architecture.
  • Includes homework with personal review, ongoing private videos/support, and lifetime access to future course updates for members.
  • Private channel members receive exclusive tutorials (home servers, Linux tools, templates, Python topics).

Practical recommendations from the video

• Use Portmaster (or similar) to lockdown apps that don’t need Internet to prevent updates/exfiltration.
• Integrate blobdrop with file manager custom actions for faster file processing/upload tasks.
• Try Hwall if you want a faster pywal replacement.
• Use a customizable Start Page for faster navigation and integrated widgets.
• Use interactive CSV/JSON terminal GUIs for quick data inspection.
• Explore prebuilt panel configs to get a powerful desktop bar without starting from scratch.
• Choose speed‑reading tools for quick review of simple texts, not for deep technical material.

Links / where to find things

The presenter states that all links to repositories, downloads, tools, configs and additional videos are available in the video description.

Main speaker / sources

The demos and recommendations come from the video’s channel author/presenter (first‑person demos and course author). Tools and projects referenced include Portmaster, Obsidian, Electron apps, Blobdrop, LM Studio, polybar and alternative panel projects (Albara/vertical panels), pywal and Hwall, customizable Start Page extensions, and the terminal CSV/JSON viewer tool. Specific repositories and install instructions are provided in the video description.