I love when command-line programs use colors in their output.

Colored output is more readable, makes important details pop, and simply looks nicer.

I spend a lot of time in the terminal and appreciate such modern UX improvements.

I wish more tools would color their --help output.

Let’s share some examples.

Examples

biome

bun

cargo

dog

freeze

just

ruff

uv

urlencode

taplo

typos

statix

How were screenshots generated?

I used freeze command.

I maintain a few software projects related to OpenStreetMap:

• openaedmap-frontend:
  • frontend of OpenAEDMap project
  • it’s a worldwide map of automated external defibrillators
  • data comes from OpenStreetMap
  • users can add new AEDs directly on our website
• osm-wtp
  • hosted at https://starsep.com/osm-wtp/
  • compares public transport data from Warsaw Transport Authority with OpenStreetMap
  • it’s a tool for finding errors and missing data in public transport data
  • more details in this blog post (only in Polish)
• NextbikeOSM, RooveeOSM, and MevoOSM
  • tools for comparing bike-sharing data with OpenStreetMap: Nextbike, Roovee, and Mevo respectively
  • forked from javnik36/NextbikeOSM
  • hosted at https://starsep.com/NextbikeOSM/, https://starsep.com/RooveeOSM/, and https://starsep.com/MevoOSM/
  • planned to be merged into one tool - they share a lot of code
• StreetCompleteStats
  • tool for generating statistics for quest for StreetComplete - mobile editor for OpenStreetMap
  • currently used only for cities in Poland
  • hosted at https://starsep.com/StreetCompleteStats/
• mapaUMWarszawa2GeoJSON
  • hosted at https://starsep.com/mapaUMWarszawa2GeoJSON/
  • converts data from mapa.um.warszawa.pl to GeoJSON
  • can compare data with OpenStreetMap and remove possible duplicates by distance
• Warszawskie dane rowerowe
  • data provided by the city of Warsaw about cycling infrastructure
  • script for comparing data with OpenStreetMap
• gtfs-tczew
  • tool for generating public transportation data in Tczew to GTFS format
  • compares data with OpenStreetMap

All these projects are open-source. Most of them are static websites regularly re-generated with scripts.

I was a member of PKP team with my friends: Mateusz, Tomasz, and Magda. We managed to solve all the puzzles in 03:40:15 which gave us 35th place. See full results at https://erchamp.com/level/intro/16

It was first time we participated, and we are happy with the result. Our goal was to be in top 100 which we achieved.

ripgrep

rg (ripgrep): great grep replacement.

Recursive search and respects .gitignore by default.

Possible to configure per repository with .rgignore

Useful options:

• -i: case insentive
• -v: invert matching
• -A n(after), -B n(before), -C n(context). n is number of lines
• -u, -uu, -uuu: unrestricted searching with gitignored, hidden, and binary files
• -l: list files matching
• -e: pattern (regex) to search for. Useful when using multiple patterns
• -o: show only matching fragment

sd

sd: sed alternative

I have managed to use it via Utilsplugin2.

1. Edit => Preferences (F12) => Utilsplugin2 settings
2. Add new row with name Bing StreetSide and url https://www.bing.com/maps?cp={#lat}%7E{#lon}&lvl=19.0&style=x.
   In the case of issues one can edit customurl.txt. For Linux/Flatpak it’s located at ~/.var/app/org.openstreetmap.josm/data/JOSM/plugins/utilsplugin2/customurl.txt.
3. Choose Bing StreetSide in Data => Select custom URL
4. Now you can see Bing StreetSide via Data => Open custom URL (Shift+H)

If StreetSide is available at given location it will be displayed. Otherwise map is shown with streets colored blue where it’s available.