Shashank Sharma knows it can be tricky to find files and folders, especially when you can’t remember where to look. But now he has a solution…

Shashank Sharma

OUR EXPERT

Shashank Sharma is a trial lawyer Delhi. He’s been participating in virtual hearings during the Corona virus pandemic.

Back in the 90s and most of the 2000s, Linux users frequently switched distributions, or otherwise had to perform a fresh installation to keep the system updated. One advantage of this approach was that you got to clean your drives of unnecessary muck every so often. This is in sharp contrast to most modern Linux installations, where users are either running a LTS variant, or even a rolling release distribution, neither of which necessitate frequent reinstallation of the system.

The downside to this system strategy, however, is that your number of directories and files keep growing with time. This makes for a messy navigation even if you’re a master organiser.

This is where Broot shines. But before we dive into it, do us a favour and run the tree command real quick. If you’ve never used it before, you might be a little surprised with the vast amount of output the command generates. Put simply, the tree command provides a recursive view of the directory structure on your system. But that’s all it can do. You can’t use it to change directories, or search for files by matching the content within them. With its support for fuzzy search, Broot can do all that, and can also be used to edit and delete files.