If you have trouble finding files in your Linux distribution, there’s a built-in command line tool that makes your job much easier.
I’ve been using Linux for decades and, although the command line is second nature to me, I still opt to use GUI tools because they tend to be far more efficient than their terminal-based counterparts. There is, however, one task for which I always turn to the command line — and that’s finding files.
Yes, there are plenty of GUI tools available for this purpose and many desktop environments integrate the feature into their application menus. However, I find some of those options aren’t great for locating files and their indexing can sometimes lead to system slowdowns. For these reasons I prefer to open a terminal window and locate the file in question.
The one drawback to this method is that, unlike when using a GUI, once a file is found, you have to manually open it. The GUI tool will find the file and then allow you to simply click (or double-click) to open it. With the command line option, you’ll be presented with the location of the file. Then you’ll need to open the associated application and open the file via the application’s File > Open menu. However, this manual process is a trade-off I’m willing to accept for the speed and accuracy of the command line tool.
