gtop

Show the system stats dashboard

$ gtop

$ <c>

$ <m>

gtop [-h|--help] [-v|--version] [-d|--delay seconds] [-p|--pid pidlist] [-u|--user userlist] [-s|--sort sortfield]

-h, --help
    Display this help message and exit

-v, --version
    Output version information and exit

-d, --delay=SECONDS
    Set update delay in seconds (default: 2.0)

-p, --pid=PIDLIST
    Monitor specific process IDs (comma-separated)

-u, --user=USERLIST
    Monitor processes for specific users (comma-separated)

-s, --sort=SORTFIELD
    Initial sort field: pid, user, pri, nice, size, res, state, time, command

gtop provides a full-screen, graphical alternative to the text-based top command, displaying real-time system performance metrics and process information under the X Window System. It visualizes CPU usage per core, memory and swap utilization, load averages, and a sortable list of running processes with columns for PID, USER, PRI, NICE, SIZE, RES, STATE, TIME, and COMMAND.

Interaction is via mouse (click headers to sort, right-click for process actions like kill or renice) or keyboard shortcuts. Users can switch views (CPU, memory, processes), filter by PID or user, and customize display options. Data is collected via the libgtop library, offering cross-platform portability for Unix-like systems.

Ideal for desktop users needing an intuitive GUI monitor, gtop supports GNOME integration but requires GTK+ and X11. While functional, it lacks modern features like multi-monitor support or advanced filtering found in newer tools.

Requires X11 and GTK+ libraries.
Deprecated and unmaintained; prefer htop or btop for modern systems.
May not work on Wayland without XWayland.

F1: Help
F2: Display options
F3: Search processes
F5: Toggle tree view
Space: Tag process
k: Kill selected
q: Quit

Click column headers to sort.
Right-click process: menu for kill, nice, renice.
Drag to resize columns.

Developed by Martin Schulze starting in 1997 as a GNOME/X11 front-end to top. Relies on libgtop (GNOME Top library) for data. Peaked in early 2000s with GTK1/2 support; largely replaced by console alternatives post-2010.

top(1), htop(1), ps(1), free(1), kill(1), renice(1)