Btop: A better modern alternative of htop with a gamified interface
43 comments
·November 8, 2025risho
i dont think they could have possible chosen a word to make me want to use it less than gamified.
forgotpwd16
The project simply has "game inspired menu system". OP, probably unaware for what gamify truly means, used this term. That said a gamified system monitor will've been quite funny project to see. "Achievement unlocked: Run out of memory!"
null
tom_
It's not obviously the project's choice itself. See thread here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45857774
sorokod
Would a mention of loot boxes move you?
mouse_
agree
petepete
I like btop but as someone who keeps their config files under source control it's a bit annoying that anything you do in the application results in config file changes.
billfor
You get this for free if you upgrade to Debian 12. It's in the repos.
nchmy
What about btop is gamified?
gorgoiler
I don't know if this is the official answer but if you've ever played DOOM and pressed Esc then you'll feel right at home using btop!
DOOM
====
:) NEW GAME
OPTIONS
LOAD GAME
SAVE GAME
QUIT
BTOP++
==== v1.3.2
-> OPTIONS
HELP
QUIT
pwdisswordfishy
You get 50 points for every process you kill.
leetrout
Poor editorialized title.
reaperducer
Poor editorialized title.
"Editorialized" implied deceit was intended. It looks to me like the submitter was trying to be descriptive.
The very first item in the feature list is
> Easy to use, with a game inspired menu system.
skopje
right? that is not gamification. there's no reward system to make one want progression, or addiction.
that said a enjoy looking at code for projects that are multi os so cheers for op.
benatkin
That isn't what gamified means, and one should not be using such a term without knowing what it means. When in doubt, stick to simpler descriptions. Hence calling it poorly editorialized.
notnmeyer
taking inspiration from a game doesn’t mean “gamified”.
synergy20
btop is my default 'top' these days, has everything htop/top provides plus it shows the usage of GPUs.
bwblabs
I recently found out https://github.com/ClementTsang/bottom#readme (cargo install bottom; executable btm), it's a pretty great improvement over htop I was using before.
EgregiousCube
I really like the new wave of TUI aesthetic that's been worming its way into Linux user interfaces lately. Check out Omarchy's desktop distro if you want more of that aesthetic throughout your OS, it does a good job if that's the look and feel you want.
forgotpwd16
Lately? Tiling window managers with open terminals running TUI programs have been the focal point in r/unixporn since ever. All looking like poor imitations of Oberon system which actually combined text/graphical interfaces.
skydhash
And I really dislike them. The nice thing about CLI is that you can compose them quite easily. You can compose your own report giving you what you want and none of what you don’t want.
And most of those TUI are badly designed in terms of configurability. Especially the ise of colors and “effects”.
WD-42
TUI and CLI are not the same thing. TUI is a GUI, and GUIs have never been composable.
foofoo12
Me too. It make it a lot easier to filter out the kids.
shevy-java
I am all in favour of better TUIs. Omarchy unfortunately does not interest me ever since DHH decided to take more control of the ruby-ecosystem via shopify.
aidenn0
Btop really captures that '90s warez group feel.
shevy-java
Does anyone know the difference? I have been using htop since about 20 years.
Is btop basically just extending where it can run?
doublerabbit
Enhanced stats reporting really. Shows you processes, network throughput et cetera.
nasretdinov
I've been searching for something that would be able to show me all the stats I care about (cpu, memory, disk and network usage) on a single screen, and btop so far has been quite good at this role. It has a bit weird controls to my taste, but reading the manual works I guess :)
alganet
Windows Task Manager is already gamified. You find the process you want to kill, then it starts jumping around and you can't click it. You try to find it by typing, but there are 20 other processes with that name that are selected first. So fun.
criemen
> modern alternative
Anyone remember top? I was so happy to switch to htop that had colors!
petepete
Just press z in top for glorious colour.
criemen
Oh wow, I never knew! Guess I never read the manpage either.
andrewshadura
And htop is still good enough.
oofbey
I like the idea of having IO integrated. I have trouble remembering the iotop flags and often run it in a parallel window.
skopje
users: more dots
btop: done
I’m a btop user how is it gamified? If by “gamified” thy mean “looks like something you would see in a video game (or movie)” then yeah tha tracks but that’s not what “gamified” typically means…