DEV Community: albilu

Linux Device Manager — every bus, driver, and kernel event in one GTK4 tree

albilu — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 10:36:49 +0000

Windows has Device Manager. Linux has lspci, lsusb, lshw, three sysfs walks, and a dmesg grep you run from memory. I wanted one window that shows all of it — with safe enable/disable — so I built Linux Device Manager (LDM): a native GTK4 app that combines sysfs, udev, and the proven CLI tools into one clean category tree.

Repo: https://github.com/getldm/linux-device-manager (GPL-3.0-or-later, v0.2.0 out now)

What it does

Category tree — Multimedia, Network, Storage, USB, PCI and more, with functional categories taking priority over raw bus groupings
Detail tabs — General, Advanced, Driver, and Kernel logs/events, loaded lazily and cached until refresh
Safe Enable / Disable — USB authorization plus driver bind/unbind through a polkit-protected privileged helper, with state verification after every action
Accurate identity — canonical sysfs paths deduplicate aliases, so controllers stay separate from their disks/NICs; USB composites are classified by all their functions
Kernel logs that actually match — current-boot snapshots matched to device/interface IDs, not shared driver names
Fast search — type in the tree, Ctrl+F, Esc returns focus, full keyboard + context-menu support

How it's built

Java 25 + java-gi for GTK4 bindings, UI defined in Cambalache (main.ui) loaded via GtkBuilder — no programmatic widgets
Data layer reads sysfs/udev directly and shells out to lspci, lsusb, modinfo, journalctl, dmesg, udevadm (all optional enrichments)
Ships a trimmed jlink runtime; only GTK4 and the hardware tools come from the host
XDG-compliant, no hardcoded home paths — works sandboxed

Install

Packages for Debian/Ubuntu (.deb), Fedora/RHEL (.rpm), Arch (pkg.tar.zst), plus portable AppImage and Flatpak, all assembled from one stage tree:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install ./linux-device-manager_*.deb

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo rpm -i linux-device-manager-*.rpm

# Arch
sudo pacman -U linux-device-manager-*.pkg.tar.zst

# AppImage (needs host GTK4)
./LinuxDeviceManager-*-x86_64.AppImage

# Flatpak
flatpak install --user ./org.ldm.LinuxDeviceManager.flatpak

Build from source in one reproducible Docker image (eclipse-temurin:25-jdk + GTK4 + Xvfb):

make build && make test && make package

Status and roadmap

v0.2.0 is released with all five formats; AppStream metainfo validates clean
In flight: Flathub submission (offline source-build manifest with vendored Maven deps — Flathub builders have no network), AppImageHub catalog entry, and an awesome-sysadmin listing
Known limitation: inside the Flatpak sandbox, enumeration is read-only best-effort and the privileged helper is degraded — future work is reaching host tools via flatpak-spawn --host

How you can help

Test on your hardware — exotic USB composites, multi-function PCI cards, and weird drivers are where bugs hide; issues with lsusb -v / sysfs paths attached are gold
Packagers — a Debian sponsor, Fedora COPR, or AUR maintainer would get LDM into Repology/pkgs.org automatically
Design eyes — the UI is Cambalache-defined, so layout tweaks are XML diffs, not code refactors

If you've ever wished lspci had a GUI with an off switch, give it a spin. ⭐s and hardware-bug reports equally welcome.

Open Download Manager: One Native GTK Queue for Files, Torrents, Video, and Website Mirrors on Linux

albilu — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:59:44 +0000

Browser download queues top out fast. Real life is ISOs, torrents, playlists, full-site mirrors, flaky Wi-Fi, and rate limits — scattered across five CLI tools.

Open Download Manager (ODM) puts them in one native Linux queue: HTTP/FTP, BitTorrent/magnet/Metalink, video, and website mirrors, with pause/resume that survives restarts, proxy/Tor routing, scheduling, and batch automation.

One queue, four engines, live details.

Full user guide with screenshots: docs/wiki/Home.md.

Why another download manager?

One queue, proven engines. aria2 (HTTP/FTP/BitTorrent/Metalink) + yt-dlp (media) + HTTrack (mirrors) + curl fallback — instead of one narrow protocol.
Crash-safe. XDG settings, persistent history, aria2 session files, ordered events, auto-resume.
Private. Tor lifecycle + health, proxychains, proxy rotation on 403/429/5xx.
Automated. Clipboard polling, .torrent/.metalink folder watch, batch imports, weekly scheduler, checksum/AV/move/notify/shutdown actions.
Native. GTK4/Libadwaita via java-gi, tray/background mode, search/filter/detail tabs. .deb / .rpm / .pkg.tar.zst with bundled Java 25 runtime.

Everyday downloads

Hit +, paste a link or pick a .torrent, set folder and filename, Start. Pause/resume/reorder anytime; close the app mid-download and it resumes later.

Queue controls, live search, status/category filters, and Files/Trackers/Peers/Sources tabs keep big lists manageable.

Video without browser gymnastics

Paste a page URL, Fetch info, pick format, subtitles (en,fr), playlists (1-3), cookies for logins, SponsorBlock — Download.

Torrents + built-in search

Magnets, .torrent/.metalink, per-torrent file selection — plus Jackett-powered search that sends results straight to the queue.

Search ubuntu 24.04, tick two results, Download. No browser detour.

Offline websites

Mirror docs for travel or archiving: depth, scope, include/exclude (*.html *.css, skip */admin/*), cookies, then Start Scrape.

Privacy routing

Global or per-download: SOCKS5/HTTP proxy, proxychains, or Tor (127.0.0.1:9050) with verification, exit IP, and New Identity. Rotation kicks in on rate limits.

Automation that pays off

Clipboard monitoring (silent mode queues links without asking).
Folder watch for dropped descriptors.
Batch import lists/sequences, scheduler presets (night/weekend/business), completion pipeline.

Settings cover General/Network/Aria2/yt-dlp/HTTrack/Advanced plus tray and troubleshooting:

Under the hood

Java 25, Maven multi-module (core engine + odm-gtk4 UI), Jackson, Java-WebSocket, java.util.logging.
Core stays toolkit-independent; all UI updates marshal through one UiThread (GLib.idleAddOnce).
GtkBuilder .ui layouts with fail-fast widget lookup — ID mismatches break the build, not at runtime.
Docker-first dev: make build/compile/test/run/package (Xvfb, aria2, yt-dlp, httrack, tor, proxychains in-image). Surefire forks per class; tests hit real tools.
Installs: sudo apt install ./open-download-manager_*.deb / sudo rpm -i … / sudo pacman -U … — no system Java needed.

Try it

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install ./open-download-manager_*.deb

Then open the app, set your download folder, and queue your first link. If something breaks, restart — it resumes.

Repo: odm-linux/open-download-manager · Guide: docs/wiki · Stack: aria2, yt-dlp, HTTrack, curl, Jackett, proxychains-ng, Tor, java-gi.

What would make you switch download managers — seeding controls, browser handoff, or something else? Tell me in the comments.

Open-Finance: Local-first, privacy-focused personal finance application.

albilu — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:06:50 +0000

Building (and Using) a Local-First Personal Finance App with Java 21, Spring Boot, and React

Most personal finance tools force you to choose between "modern but SaaS" (your data on their servers) and "private but dated" (GnuCash-style UIs). This article walks through Open-Finance, an open-source alternative that gives you both: a polished web interface and complete data sovereignty.

Why Local-First Matters

Financial data is uniquely sensitive. Every cloud finance app is a potential target — and even "anonymous" usage data reveals your net worth, spending habits, and investment strategy. Open-Finance stores everything in a local SQLite database (WAL mode, encrypted), runs entirely on your machine, and never phones home.

Architecture Overview

React 19 UI → REST API → Spring Boot Services → JPA → SQLite (encryption at rest)
                              ↓
                    External Integrations
                    (Yahoo Finance, ECB, Ollama)

Backend: Java 21, Spring Boot 3.2, Hibernate/JPA, Flyway migrations, SQLite via Xerial JDBC
Frontend: React 19 + TypeScript 5, Vite, Tailwind 4, shadcn/ui, Radix UI
State: TanStack Query (server), Zustand (client), react-hook-form + zod
AI: Local Ollama integration — no API keys, no data leakage
Market Data: Yahoo Finance wrapper with caching and rate limiting
Exchange Rates: Daily ECB rate fetch

Key Features

1. Import Pipeline

Support for QIF, OFX, QFX, CSV, JSON, and even Skrooge exports. The import engine includes duplicate detection, per-file account mapping, and an interactive preview so you can see what lands before committing.

2. Multi-Currency

Transactions support any currency with automatic ECB rate conversion. The dashboard shows consolidated net worth in your base currency with historical trends.

3. Local AI Assistant

Connected to Ollama, the AI analyzes your actual portfolio and spending patterns — no context window limitations from cloud APIs, and zero data exposure. It can simulate scenarios ("what if I increase my monthly investment by 20%?") against real data.

4. Rich Financial Instruments

Track stocks, crypto, real estate, vehicles, and liabilities with amortization schedules. Market prices auto-update for tradable assets.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/openfinance-app/open-finance.git
cd open-finance
cp .env.example .env
# Edit JWT_SECRET in .env (or generate with openssl rand -base64 48)
docker compose up -d
# Open http://localhost:8080 — demo/demo123

Development Setup

The repo includes a DevContainer with Java 21, Maven, Node.js, and SQLite pre-configured. Open it in VS Code with the Dev Containers extension and you're ready to contribute.

mvn spring-boot:run   # Backend on :8080
npm run dev            # Frontend on :5173

Comparison to Alternatives

Feature	Open-Finance	GnuCash	Finary	Wealthfolio
Modern UI	✅	⚠️	✅	✅
Local-first	✅	✅	❌	✅
AI Assistant	✅	❌	❌	✅
QIF/OFX Import	✅	✅	❌	⚠️
Encrypted	✅	⚠️	❌	✅
Multi-currency	✅	✅	✅	✅
FOSS	✅	✅	❌	✅

Try It

The project is on GitHub at github.com/openfinance-app/open-finance under Elastic License v2 — free to self-host and modify.

If you're interested in the architecture, I've written about specific components:

Wiki

Have questions? Drop them in the comments or open a GitHub issue.