oddutils

oddutils is a Rust implementation of the most useful ideas from moreutils, the collection of Unix tools that fill gaps left by the classic toolbox.

The project is Unix-only for now. It aims to be a modern clone: command names and primary workflows should feel familiar to moreutils users, while the Rust implementation may document intentional differences instead of preserving every implementation quirk.

Architecture

oddutils is a single Cargo workspace:

• crates/oddutils-core: shared Unix, IO, and command support.
• crates/sponge: the first utility, implemented as a standalone binary.

Each utility will be a separate binary crate so commands can be installed and packaged like normal Unix tools while still sharing common code.

License

Given that moreutils is used as a reference, oddutils is also licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2 only. See COPYING.

Utility Status

Utility	Notes
sponge	Reads all input before writing the output file; supports -a.
ts	Timestamp standard input; -r supports common ISO, syslog, and mail-style timestamps.
chronic	Run a command quietly unless it fails.
ifne	Run a command if standard input is not empty.
pee	Tee standard input to pipes.
mispipe	Pipe two commands, returning the first status.
isutf8	Check input for valid UTF-8.
errno	Look up errno names and descriptions.
vidir	Edit directory entries in $EDITOR.
vipe	Insert an editor into a pipe.
combine	Combine line sets with boolean operations.
zrun	Run commands over compressed arguments.
ifdata	Read core network interface information.
lckdo	Run a command with a lock held.
parallel	Run commands in parallel.

Development

Local

Enter the dev shell:

nix develop

Then run:

cargo test
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features
cargo fmt --check

Generate manpages:

just man

Installation

For a user-local install, binaries go to ~/.local/bin and manpages go to ~/.local/share/man/man1 by default:

just install-user

Install to a custom user prefix:

USER_PREFIX="$HOME/opt/oddutils" just install-user

Install system-wide under /usr/local:

just install-system

Set COMMAND_PREFIX to install command and manpage names alongside moreutils without colliding with the original tools. For example, sponge installs as osponge:

COMMAND_PREFIX=o just install-system
COMMAND_PREFIX=o just install-user
USER_PREFIX="$HOME/opt/oddutils" COMMAND_PREFIX=o just install-user

Override the install prefix or package into a staging root:

PREFIX="$HOME/.local" just install
DESTDIR=/tmp/pkgroot PREFIX=/usr/local just install

Make sure both locations are discoverable by your shell:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
export MANPATH="$HOME/.local/share/man:$(manpath)"

Container

Build and test in a Linux container:

just container-test
just container-image
docker run --rm oddutils ts --help

The final image installs binaries and manpages under /usr/local. Set CONTAINER_RUNTIME=podman to use Podman instead of Docker.

Lima

Build and test in a local Lima Debian trixie VM:

just lima-create
just lima-start
just lima-test

The Lima instance mounts the current checkout at /workspace/oddutils. Set LIMA_INSTANCE=name to use a different instance name. just lima-shell uses TERM=xterm-256color inside the VM so terminal editors work from terminals whose terminfo entries are not installed in the guest. Use just lima-recreate to delete and recreate that VM after template changes.

Build and test in a local Lima FreeBSD VM:

just lima-freebsd-create
just lima-freebsd-start
just lima-freebsd-test

The FreeBSD instance also mounts the current checkout at /workspace/oddutils. Set LIMA_FREEBSD_INSTANCE=name to use a different instance name. Use just lima-freebsd-recreate to delete and recreate that VM after template changes.

Build and test in an experimental local Lima OpenBSD VM:

just lima-openbsd-create
just lima-openbsd-start
just lima-openbsd-test

This uses an unofficial OpenBSD 7.9 cloud-init image because Lima does not ship an OpenBSD template and OpenBSD does not publish official cloud images. The image is x86_64-only, so it runs under QEMU emulation on Apple Silicon. The OpenBSD VM runs without Lima guest integration, so just lima-openbsd-start completes Lima's boot marker over SSH, and just lima-openbsd-test copies the checkout into /tmp/oddutils before running tests. Set LIMA_OPENBSD_INSTANCE=name to use a different instance name, or LIMA_OPENBSD_WORKDIR=/path to change the guest workdir.

Build and test in an experimental local DragonFlyBSD QEMU VM:

just dragonfly-qemu-test

DragonFlyBSD does not publish official cloud images, and Lima does not currently generate DragonFly-compatible cloud-init network metadata. This harness uses the bsd-cloud-image.org DragonFlyBSD 6.4 HAMMER2 image directly with QEMU and writes NoCloud metadata for DragonFly's vtnet0 network interface. It keeps the base image under ~/.cache/oddutils/dragonfly-qemu and VM state under ~/.local/state/oddutils/dragonfly-qemu.

Useful commands:

just dragonfly-qemu-start
just dragonfly-qemu-shell
just dragonfly-qemu-logs
just dragonfly-qemu-stop
just dragonfly-qemu-delete

Set DRAGONFLY_SSH_PORT, DRAGONFLY_STATE_DIR, or DRAGONFLY_CACHE_DIR to customize the local VM. The harness uses Lima's SSH key from ~/.lima/_config/user by default; set DRAGONFLY_SSH_KEY and DRAGONFLY_SSH_PUB_KEY to use another key.