Summary of "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)

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.).
Obsidian / Electron app example
- Demonstrates why per‑app blocking matters: blocking Obsidian prevents plugin installs/updates and possible data exfiltration via Electron apps.
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).
LM Studio + Portmaster example
- Demo of downloading local LLM models; shows how Portmaster can block model downloads or remote usage if desired.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.