8 Useful X-window (Gui Based) Linux Commands - Part I

We, the Tecmint Team is consistent in producing high quality articles of all kinds in Linux and Open-source domain. We have been working hard from the first day of our establishment, in order to bring knowledgeable and relevant content to our beloved readers. We have produced a lot of shell based programs ranging from funny commands to the serious commands. A few of which are:

1. 20 Funny Linux Commands
2. 51 Lesser Known Useful Linux Commands
3. 60 Linux Commands – A Guide from Newbies to Administrator

8 X Based Linux Commands

Here in this article we will be providing a few of X-based commands, which is generally available in most of the standard distributions of today, and if in case you find the below X-based commands, not installed in your box, you can always apt or yum the required packages. Here all the below listed commands are tested on Debian.

1. xeyes Command

A Graphical eyes, which follows the mouse movement. It seems much of a funny command, than of any useful use. Being funny is as much useful, is another aspect. Run the ‘xeyes‘ in the terminal and see the moving mouse pointer motion.

[email protected]:~$ xeyes

xeyes command 2. xfd Command

The ‘xfd‘ display all the characters in an X font. xfd utility creates a window containing the name of the font being displayed.

[email protected]:~$ xfd ­fn fixed

xfd command 3. xload Command

The ‘xload‘ outputs system load average display for the X server. It is a fantastic tool to check real time average system load.

[email protected]:~$ xload -highlight blue

xload command 4. xman Command

Most of us are aware of man aka manual pages and use them frequently whenever we want the reference of a command or application, its usages, etc. But Very few people know that man page has a ‘X‘ version called xman.

[email protected]:~$ xman -helpfile cat

xman command 5. xsm Command

The ‘xsm‘ stands for ‘X Session Manager‘ it’s a session manager. A session is a group of applications each of which refers to a particular state.

[email protected]:~$ xsm

xsm command 6. xvidtune Command

The ‘xvidtune‘ is video mode tuner for xorg. xvidtune is a client interface to the X server video mode extension.

[email protected]:~$ xvidtune

Note: The Incorrect use of this program can do permanent damage to your monitor and/or Video card. If you don’t know what you are doing, don’t change anything and exit immediately.

xvidtune command 7. xfontsel Command

The ‘xfontsel‘ application provides a simple way to display the fonts known to your X server.

[email protected]:~$ xfontsel

xfontsel command 8. xev Command

The ‘xev‘ stands for X events. Xev prints content of x events.

[email protected]:~$ xev

xev command

That’s all for now. We have planned to post at-least one more article in the above series and we are working for that. Till then stay tuned and connected to Tecmint. Don’t forget to provide us with your valuable feedback in our comment section.

Read Also : 6 Useful X-based Linux Commands – Part II