Useful free applications

Useful applications for everyday life. Last updated: 2016–11–06

3 min readJan 16, 2017

Visualise your hard drive’s contents

Linux: GdMap (Graphical Disk Map), Baobab, K4DirStat

GdMap visualizes how different files use disk space in your hard drive. By pointing big blocks you see what files use the most of it and you can delete them straight from the application. Disk Inventory X and WinDirStat work in the same manner as well.

Easystroke

Easystroke is a gesture control application for a whole Linux operating system. Here, take a look on how it works:

Installing it into a Ubuntu-based distro in Terminal:

# Install Easystroke:sudo apt install easystroke

Launch it by pressing Alt+F2 and typing easystroke

Here are some settings (old image) I used for the easystroke in the video. Depending on your distro, you may need to use alternative for the Compiz Grid. In Xubuntu this kind of window-tiling is installed by default:

From easystroke’s preferences, it’s good check ‘Show tray icon’ and ‘Autostart easystroke’. I also set Blender to be exception because I use Alt+RMB a lot in it and easystroke shouldn’t mess with that:

I like to store my easystroke settings to Dropbox, and make a symbolic link from there to the home folder (press Ctrl+H to see the .easystroke settings folder)

Making a symbolic link from the easystroke settings folder. Click the image to see it larger

FSearch file finding tool

Crazy fast search tool. Just put root ( / ) as the database and find any file on your computer in under half a second.

In Xubuntu, right-clicking empty space on a folder and selecting ‘Find in this folder’ is a nice and fast search, as well.

Download FSearch .deb

XKill

If some application is being difficult and hangs up, kill it in a blink of an eye with XKill. Simply open application launcher with Alt+F2, type xkill, the mouse cursor turns into a crosshair and just shoot the application you want to kill. Cancel XKill with right-click or scrollwheel.

Sometimes you might want to XKill just for efficiency’s sake. I like to shoot GIMP down when I don’t need it (I have a Z-shaped gesture for XKill in Easystroke, instructions for that can be found above) since it is great it doesn’t ask any questions and just dies and also because it takes a little time for it to quit anyway (waiting GIMP to close might save some important settings or similar, though — so I don’t recommend this).
I also have gesture for opening GIMP: upwards-stroke-and-then-MMB-click, like so: