List Available Programs

Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Tips & Tricks
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#1

Ever wondered how to list every single program one can use on a Linux machine?

I sure have, a few times.

I’m not 100% sure, but I think I’ve found a way now, at least to list all programs that are available to all users.
(By that I mean, something a user compile in his own $HOME folder for instance would not be in the list)

Check it out:

apropos “” | grep “(1)”

Now, the output is quite lengthy. If your terminal does not have a big buffer, output the list to a file:

apropos “” | grep “(1)” > ~/Desktop/programs.txt

Edit: See also " Commands to view all installed packages "

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Commands to view all installed packages
#2

Nice find. The apropos command is explained further in the manual pages for those that wish to know more.

man apropos

Thanks

#3

When I run this, my list starts at P? Why is that? I want a list from A-Z.

#4

Hi
That’s probably because your terminal display buffer isn’t large enough.
You can either pipe the output to less:

apropos “” | grep “(1)” | less

or as I was suggesting, redirect the output to a file for later browsing

Cheers