Here are 3 more Linux apps worth trying
This week I'm writing to USB in the terminal, sending my keyboard and mouse to another PC, and managing Flatpaks with ease.
Search any Linux distribution's repository of software and you'll find the Tux operating system has a lot to offer. So what apps are actually worth trying? Here's a few to consider.
Caligula: Terminal-based USB image writing
If you write a lot of images to USB like I do, and if you prefer working in your Linux terminal, you should check out Caligula. It's built for writing image files to external drives, and it gives you a TUI when the image is being written to let you monitor speeds and estimated remaining time.
Let's say you've downloaded an image of Ubuntu 26.04 and want to write it to a flash drive that you've connected to your Linux PC. All you have to do is type caligula burn ubuntu-26.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso (or whatever the image file name is) and follow the prompts that appear. It can decompress files if needed, verify the checksum, and check the written disk for errors.
Why I like it
I've tried a lot of image writing tools, and Caligula I think of as the best for power users who don't mind a terminal tool. It also saves you from needing to remember dd commands.
How to get it
You can install Caligula on any Arch system with sudo pacman -S caligula. On other Linux distributions, you can download the binaries from the Caligula GitHub release page. You can also find it in Nixpkgs, Cargo, and Homebrew package managers.
Deskflow: Share your mouse and keyboard between PCs
Switching from one desktop to the other with Deskflow.
Sometimes you have to work with more than one PC at a time. Sometimes they're even running different operating systems. You could buy a KVM switch to alternate between operating one or the other with your keyboard and mouse. Or, you could just install Deskflow on both.
Deskflow is a free and open source tool that connects your PC screens over the local network to let you control one device with the keyboard and mouse on the other. Once you've installed Deskflow on both devices and made a successful connection between the server and the client device, you just move the mouse over toward the other PC, and your mouse and keyboard input will be passed to it until you move the mouse back. You can also set keyboard shortcuts to switch devices.
Why I like it
I use one operating system on my desktop and another on my laptop. It's nice to have my laptop "docked" to my desktop by setting on my desk and controlling it with the same keyboard and mouse I use on my desktop PC.
One caveat though is that I have a lot of trouble with the clipboard sync feature. It seems to be an issue with Wayland that I hope will be resolved in the next release.
How to get it
Deskflow is available widely across Linux distributions, so you can probably find it just by searching your software manager. You can also use one of these commands, if you fancy the terminal, or get it straight from Flathub.
sudo apt install deskflow #Debian and Ubuntu
sudo dnf install deskflow #Fedora
sudo pacman -S deskflow #Arch
sudo zypper install deskflow #openSUSE
Flatseal: Manage your Flatpaks with ease
Flatpaks are increasingly common on Linux distributions, and some of the latest (graphical) apps are distributed exclusively as Flatpaks. Since their defining feature is that they're "sandboxed" it's sometimes necessary to adjust a given app's permissions. Often, if an app you installed as a Flatpak is not working correctly, you can resolve it by tweaking its permissions. The trouble is knowing the commands for such tweaks.
Not so with Flatseal. If you install Flatseal on your system, it gives you a menu of all your Flatpak apps along with toggles and fields to adjust each app's access to the operating system. You can also add environment variables, set global permissions, and examine information like the app version number.
Jordan Gloor
Why I like it
I've solved some issues by checking the Flatseal menu for specific apps. It's just invaluable to be able to manage all of that in one place.
How to get it
While it's available from many Linux repositories, the recommended way to install Flatseal is as a Flatpak, from Flathub.
Those are all the app recommendations I have this week. You can check out the Linux app archive to learn more.
