Boost Your Linux Productivity with 4 Powerful Command-Line Tricks

Directory navigation

bd command

The bd script jumps directly to a parent directory that matches a given name, avoiding long cd ../../.. sequences. After installing the script you can type: bd python to move from /home/radia/work/python/tkinter/one/two to the python directory, or use a prefix such as bd p to match the nearest directory starting with the given letters.

Installation (Ubuntu example):

sudo wget --no-check-certificate -O /usr/bin/bd https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vigneshwaranr/bd/master/bd
sudo chmod +rx /usr/bin/bd
echo 'alias bd=". bd -si"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Replace -si with -s in the alias for case‑sensitive matching.

https://github.com/vigneshwaranr/bd

cd shortcuts

cd

or cd ~ – return to the home directory. cd - – go back to the previous directory.

Custom alias for frequent directories

Create a shortcut, e.g. cl, to jump to a commonly used path:

echo 'alias cl="cd /home/radia/work/linux/linux-3.16.6/"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Multi‑terminal operations with Terminator

Install Terminator to split the terminal window into multiple panes: sudo apt-get install terminator Typical pane layout:

Bottom‑left pane – real‑time serial logs.

Top‑left pane – compilation output.

Right pane – file editing.

Key bindings (default):

Resize panes – Ctrl+Shift+←/→/↑/↓ Open new tab – Ctrl+Shift+T Switch panes within a tab – Alt+←/→/↑/↓ Switch tabs – Ctrl+PageUp/PageDown These shortcuts can be remapped to personal preferences.

File editing

Typora (Markdown editor)

Install Typora on Ubuntu:

wget -qO - https://typora.io/linux/public-key.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://typora.io/linux ./'
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install typora

Vim

Install Vim: sudo apt-get install vim A pre‑packed Vim configuration (including plugins) is available as a tar archive. Download, extract, and place it in the home directory: tar -xvf vim-config.tar -C ~ The configuration enables mouse support, file and tag navigation, and split‑window management. To disable mouse support, comment out set mouse=a in ~/.vimrc.

Generate a tags file for fast navigation with ctags: ctags -R * After the tags file is created, jump to a definition with Ctrl+] and return with Ctrl+T.

Custom shell commands

Implementing the cl alias

Add the alias to ~/.bashrc (replace the path with your own):

echo 'alias cl="cd /home/radia/work/linux/linux-3.16.6/"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

env_switch script

Save the following script as env_switch.sh in any directory, make it executable, and source it from ~/.bashrc to switch between predefined work environments:

#!/bin/bash
function env_switch() {
    if [ $1 = "A" ]; then
        echo "A1,A2,A3"
        if [ $2 = "start" ]; then
            echo "will be opened"
        elif [ $2 = "stop" ]; then
            echo "will be closed"
        fi
    elif [ $1 = "B" ]; then
        echo "B1,B2,B3"
        if [ $2 = "start" ]; then
            echo "will be opened"
        elif [ $2 = "stop" ]; then
            echo "will be closed"
        fi
    fi
}

Make it executable: chmod +x env_switch.sh Source it automatically for every new terminal:

echo 'source /home/radia/cmd/env_switch.sh' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Conclusion

Using the bd utility, cd shortcuts, custom aliases, Terminator pane management, a lightweight Markdown editor, a ready‑made Vim configuration, and small shell scripts such as cl and env_switch can significantly streamline a Linux development workflow.