November 5, 2025
Command-line chic, comment-line chaos
Rust's TUI Revolution
Cool tools, clunky installs, and a headline fight — devs go wild over terminal apps
TLDR: A big roundup of Rust-made terminal apps has users excited about smart tools—from disk cleanup to AI chat—but also arguing about a misleading title and grumbling over painful installs. The crowd wants trend context, better packaging, and a Postman-like terminal client that’s easy and secure.
Rust’s “TUI revolution” dropped as a mega-list of terminal apps, but the comments quickly turned into a vibe check. One top voice said the title was misleading, wanting a think piece about the trend, not just a showcase. Another asked the big question: why are there so many terminal apps lately? Cue links to lists like Awesome TUIs and a chorus of “it’s having a moment.”
Meanwhile, the tools themselves are pure candy for command-line lovers: smart history with Atuin, speedy disk cleanup with dua, Git dashboards, Docker control, network sleuthing, even crossword puzzles and Minesweeper inside the black box. There’s Oatmeal, a chat app talking to AI like ChatGPT or local models, and a terminal Postman stand-in sparked a mini-quest for a secure, searchable HTTP client.
But the drama? Installation pain. One commenter roasted projects with “the worst installation stories,” begging devs to embrace normal package managers instead of “build it yourself” vibes. Practical users chimed in with love for dua (because “256 GB Mac life”) and asked for recommendations that actually work. The thread lands somewhere between hype (this stuff is cool), homework (please fix installs), and headline beef (call it what it is). Terminal is the new playground—and everyone’s got opinions.
Key Points
- •The article lists a range of Rust-built TUI/CLI applications covering system, network, data, crypto, and developer workflows.
- •Atuin enhances shell history by storing commands and context in a SQLite database.
- •Utilities include csvlens for CSV viewing, dua for fast disk usage analysis, and multiple Rust-based file managers.
- •Developer-oriented tools include gpg-tui for GnuPG, a Git TUI, Oatmeal for LLM chat (ChatGPT/Ollama), oha for load testing, and a Docker control TUI.
- •Yōzefu provides a Kafka exploration TUI with a SQL-inspired query language, positioned as an alternative to AKHQ, Redpanda Console, and JetBrains IDE plugins.