Last Updated on August 13, 2022
Linux offers a vast collection of open source small utilities that perform functions ranging from the obvious to the bizarre. It’s the quality and selection of these tools that help Linux stand out as a productive environment. A good utility cooperates with other applications, integrating seamlessly.
It has often been said that information confers power, and that the most important currency in our culture today is information. Keeping track of bits and pieces of information is a minefield.
In part, this is because of passable short term memory, coupled with what can only be described as ‘brain fog’. To combat this, we arm myself with open source software that helps us efficiently capture a lot of information. We generally prefer to keep our information local and cloud-free, primarily for security reasons. And we primarily advance software which doesn’t tie itself to any specific company or service, whether it’s Evernote, Google, or Microsoft.
espanso is a text expander, software that detects when you type a specific keyword and replaces it with something else. espanso is free and open source written in Rust.
Installation
As we’re testing espanso on Ubuntu, we can install the software using snap. Issue the command:
$ sudo snap install espanso --classic
If you don’t like using snap, there’s a Debian package available. Download and install with these two commands:
$ wget https://github.com/federico-terzi/espanso/releases/latest/download/espanso-debian-amd64.deb
$ sudo apt install ./espanso-debian-amd64.deb
We tested the software with the Debian package, rather than using snap.
This is cross-platform software. Besides Linux, espanso also runs under macOS and Windows.
Next page: Page 2 – In Operation
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction / Installation
Page 2 – In Operation
Page 3 – Summary