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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Which one do you prefer? htop, btop or top? (programming.dev)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

86 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Why do you find yourself opting for btop or htop instead of top? What advantages do these tools offer that make them superior to top in your opinion?

top has served me well, so I'm unsure why I would want to burden my system with the addition of htop or btop. With top, if you wish to terminate a process, simply press 'k' and send the signal; it's that simple. If you'd like to identify the origin of a process, just include the command column.

I often find myself intrigued when encountering comments on posts expressing love for htop/btop. To me, it appears unnecessary or BLOATED!! Please do share your perspectives and help broaden my Linux knowledgebase.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I tend to go with htop purely out of habit. btop is better but I simply don't think to use it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Why do you think that? After this post, I will try out both of them but maybe eventually I will still just use top out of, same as you bro, habit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I find htop to be far more legible, the white blocks of top aren't for me. btop just seems a bit too much for my use, so I never caught on to it. I do believe btop to be better however, since the point of these programs is to see detailed statistics about your system and running programs. btop shoves a lot more information into your face. I really only open htop to find the PID of an app or to find what I need to debloat when I'm in a 1337 h4ck3rm4n mood and trying to make the most minimal system possible.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I always just grep ps output to find PIDs

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

the white blocks of top

Did you mean the upper right corner of top? I also fine btop is overwhelming, too pretty to look at.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yeah, the unicode blocks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Have you considered putting alias htop=btop (or equivalent) in your shell profile?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I could, but like I said in my other reply btop is just a bit overkill for my use-case. Also "fixes" like that just seem a bit hacky, and as if I'm trying too hard to use a program. I shouldn't have to disguise one program as another to be able to use it. That just spells it out plain and clear to me, "I don't need this program".