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submitted 2 months ago by digdilem@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

The sort of program that once set up, just ticks along without fuss or bother forever.

For me, as I'm replacing the vms today which I set up five years ago and haven't needed to touch since;

  • HAProxy
  • KeepaliveD

Not easy to learn, but once they're running, they both go on forever.

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[-] dangrousperson@feddit.org 78 points 2 months ago

Debian and basically everything in its repos. Might be somewhat old, but it is really fucking stable

[-] nfms@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 months ago

My small selfhosted system appreciates this very much. Having Debian as my base OS makes everything easier.

[-] digdilem@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago

Total agreement. So many unsung heroes involved in Debian. Work has agreed with me - today's job involved migrating those load balancers to Debian underneath.

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[-] Quibblekrust@thelemmy.club 38 points 2 months ago

KCalc. Man, it just computes! It can add, subtract, and even multiply. It's never given a wrong answer.

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[-] Kazel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 2 months ago
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[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 28 points 2 months ago
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[-] tirateimas@lemmy.pt 25 points 2 months ago

So many. So many little utilities that just work. To mention a couple I think no one will mention because they are not sexy: Okular and Ark

[-] GatoMoto@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago

Big fan of the KDE suite of software. I've tried alternatives, but always come back to plasma and associated software

[-] passepartout@feddit.org 7 points 2 months ago

Okular works so well at this point that I use it to annotate all my PDFs if I don't explicitly need free-hand drawing (and xournalpp otherwise).

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[-] LunarLoony@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 2 months ago

Syncthing. Absolutely ace bit of software. I remember it being a little questionable in 2013, but today it performs exactly the same task, just more reliably. Love it.

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[-] jksalcedo@lemmy.ml 14 points 2 months ago
[-] jwt@programming.dev 14 points 2 months ago
[-] JustVik@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Just it always makes you wait for ~3 min and shows: ... wait for something to be Configured (25s / no limit). :-)

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[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 months ago
[-] apftwb@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

The Linux Kernel.

[-] Mio@feddit.nu 11 points 2 months ago
[-] crazyminner@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago
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[-] nfms@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 months ago

Many have already mentioned tools that I also use and appreciate immensely.
My pick is Steam. I've picked up on gaming in the past 2 years and it's very stable right now. Every game that I have interest in just works, I can install games, including early access or demos without looking at the compatibility or the release date. The download speeds of games are high (imho at least where I'm located, and compared with a PS5). My partner is a heavy gamer and has to yet find a game that doesn't work on her machine.

[-] Peasley@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Firefox + uBlock Origin + sponsorblock. Set it and forget it.

I haven't seen an advertisement or a sponsored segment on my desktop in over a decade, and same with my phone for several years. I'm astonished how willing most people are to put up with a constant barrage of ads coming from devices they own

[-] mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 months ago

bash. Konsole. vim (-neo or otherwise up to the point it became AI infested). ssh. steam. git i could go on for quite a while

[-] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 10 points 2 months ago

xterm, xv, mc, tmux, gimp, seamonkey

[-] eugenia@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 months ago

Anything from Debian. I even run Debian-Testing, and it's rock solid. Also, Linux mint, on my other partition.

[-] SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 months ago
[-] dfgxx@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago

The program sl, works every time

[-] jwt@programming.dev 5 points 2 months ago

Nah man, piece of shit software; Sometimes it just lists some random directory contents.

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[-] PushButton@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

I tried neovim for a while and I went back to vim for that reason: setup once, then forget about it.

I have plugins that haven't been touch for 5 years+ and they are working as intended.

Rock solid.

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[-] Limonene@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

The OS itself, Debian. If I have to pick a component, Mate Panel. Compared to the Windows 11 start menu, it's useful, customizableand has no ads. My IT department at work can't even figure out how to remove the Windows 11 start menu ads from my computer.

[-] GMac@feddit.org 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Supernotes.app

Linux Mint

Rockbox

Sayonara music player

Syncthing

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[-] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago
[-] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 months ago
[-] Veraxis@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

I'll give a shoutout to the rEFInd boot manager. If anyone has ever had trouble with Grub, rEFInd continues to work for years across multiple machines. I have never had a problem with it.

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[-] anotherspinelessdem@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago

tree, locate, nvim, flatpak, htop, bmon, etc.

[-] mesamunefire@piefed.social 6 points 2 months ago

Nginx.

It runs everything at home and at work.

[-] fatur0000new@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
  • Linux Mint.
  • Cinnamon.
  • Xfce.
  • PPSSPP.
  • GNOME Boxes.
[-] nettie@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago
[-] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

As phil Collins would say... Su su su sudo

[-] mactan@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago
[-] marcie@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago
[-] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
[-] Tiger_Man_@szmer.info 5 points 2 months ago

mpv, openbox

[-] kittenroar@beehaw.org 5 points 2 months ago

All of it. Even Firefox.

[-] Kazel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 months ago
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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
146 points (98.7% liked)

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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