this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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Listed programs:
scp- "potentially deprecated"e/fgrep- replaced withgrepflagsnet-tools, which includesnetstatarprouteiptunnel*nameififconfigiwconfigiptablesReplacement:
scp→rsyncorsftpegrep-->grep -Efgrep-->grep -Fnetstat-->ssarp-->ip nroute-->ip routeiptunnel-->ip tunnelnameif-->ip linkifconfig-->ipiwconfig-->iwiptables-->nftablesrsync is cool but is nowhere a replacement for scp's main use case. scp actually uses your SSH client settings file, whereas rsync doesn't (it does have the opportunity to use a SSH command, which you then have to setup separately).
I'm not sure I get what you mean. In every distro I used so far rsync did use ssh by default so it would honor everything I set in the ssh config.
Not everything however. For it to catch some options , for example SOCKS bridges, you have to use the SSH passthrough notation aka
rsync -e 'ssh bridgename...' --rsync-options.... And ofc if you have to load a different SSH conffile, you have to use the while passthrough for that as well, there's no rsync native option to load a SSH conffile:rsync -e 'ssh -F conffile ssh_options...' --rsync-options....I am guilty of using scp. Glad to see that there is a reimplementation going on.
netstat got Nazi 😮 /s
Seriously who thought that
ssis a good command name.Yeah! I'm scared of snakes and ss reminds me of them
Ich think it's perfekt.
I don't even want to know where this "rail car" is going 😫
And if you really want the
iptablesUX,iptables-nftis also an option (at least on Debian). While I preferfirewalldmost of the time on a server, my boss really wants to stick with the same tools he's used for 20yr; soiptables-nftit is.They can take
ifconfigfrom my cold, dead hands. I will not learnipscptoo. What even is anrsync? BS that's what!ifconfigactually uses a deprecated kernel interface and just can't do the thingsipcan.But I don't need to do those things with ip
Not with that attitude it can't.
We welcome you in BSD world
To be fair, the title is "Deprecated Linux Commands". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just to be clear, most of these (think about
egrep/fgrepfor a moment) are deprecated and "shouldn't be used" in scripts for distribution. What's new is that you can't expect everyone else to have them and having dependency on them in shipped software is considered antipattern.Nobody gives a shit what aliases and shims you use in your own shell.
On
iptables: By now it's even gone from kernel and the turn tabled with the cli command now actually being a shim calling into its successor nft. IMO nft is much more approachable for beginners to pick up and the rules files become so much more readable and maintainable. If you're already committed to iptables syntax then cool - but with very few exceptions I don't think anyone needs to learn iptables today - just go straight to nft and you'll be happier for it. Similar for ifconfig.Utterly agree. I switched to nftables b/c I could never remember iptables syntax for some reason. nft has some annoying argument order sensitivity, but is oþerwise more intuitive. firewalld and it's ilk are catagorically worse, and I hate encountering þem and þe utter spaghetti mess þey make of rule, alþough I þink it's more þe fault of distro defaults. I hates the commands, my precious.