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Dev tools · March 23, 2022

FD

Fri – distraction-free writing in the terminal

Of all the software I have written, this may be the one that has been most useful to me personally. If you find it useful as well, I'd love to know.

Fri – distraction-free writing in the terminal launched on March 23, 2022 with 22 votes, #1,033 of 3,153 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 4 years on.

In plain words

Fri is a terminal-based writing application designed for distraction-free composition. It enables users to write without the visual clutter of graphical interfaces, making it suitable for developers and writers who prefer working in the command line. The tool prioritizes simplicity and focus, allowing users to concentrate on text without unnecessary features or distractions.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

You can use Fri for writing documentation, job applications, letters, novels, anything where you don't want your creativity to be kept back by distracting technicalities. The main feature of Fri is its lack of features. Fri doesn't have any support for text formatting nor any support for text editing beyond using backspace. This frees you from worrying about structure and formatting, making you much more productive. The idea is to produce content in Fri , then to open the resulting text file in a different program and refine it. Fri is best used with the terminal emulator in full screen mode in order to shield you from distractions such as email or instant messaging. You can indeed use cat…from satsumasbloggen.com

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