Description

This program brings up a simple window with large buttons that execute commands specified in an ultra simple config file. It can be seen as a general purpose launcher for oft-used commands or programs.

Most typically, the config file is the program itself, e.g.

#!/usr/bin/env bigbuts
demo: python $HOME/project/bin/run-project
debug: python $HOME/project/bin/run-project --debug --profile
chklog: tail -n 20 /var/log/project.log

Or as defined as a shell function/macro:

function bbapache {
   bigbuts <<EOF
restart: sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
stop: sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop
start: sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 start
EOF
}

You can also run it from a command-line, if you happen to need to repeat a single command a lot of times:

echo 'do it: sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart' | bigbuts

Features:

• Program output is intermingled with bigbuts output.
• It remembers its location between runs automatically. The geometry is saved in a file in the home directory of the user. (It automatically supports the geometry for multiple instances.)
• If you need to send an interrupt signal (SIGINT) to the child processes, type Ctrl-C in the bigbuts window. Typing it twice in a row will send a SIGKILL signal to the children.
• You can rotate the buttons by pressing TAB multiple times.
• Rolling the mouse wheel on the buttons generates whitespace in the output. I use this as a marker when I'm debugging code, spacing out sections of log output.
• If you kill bigbuts, the children live on.
• If you want to keep the output logs of the children process, you can specify an output directory as an option and all the log files will be saved there, per-process, under the PID name. This is useful if you're debugging and need access to the logs later on.

Note: This is an extremely helpful program, one which I have been using for years and which has evolved to become one of the most important casual tools in my toolbox. I run many instances of these on my desktop at all times. Also, I can't help laughing really hard whenever I say its name around the office: 'Everyone needs bigbuts! We should have bigbuts on everyone's screen!'. I love it. Many co-workers have adopted it over the years. This is a simple, relatively mature program. Enjoy! Send me an email if you, like us, are enjoying bigbuts.

Usage

Command runner/laucher with big buttons.

Please Donate!

Download

Download program here.