How to keep Linux optimized (and save time) with Stacer

In most cases, I’m not a big fan of “optimizers.” This is especially true with mobile operating systems and Windows. But with Linux, most optimizers are apps you can count on to do exactly what they claim.

According to the Stacer website, “Stacer is an open source system optimizer and application monitor that helps users to manage entire system with different aspects, it’s an all in one system utility.”

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And that, my friends, is exactly what Stacer is. This handy little app allows you to:

• Manage startup apps
• Clean caches, logs, and trash
• Manage services and processes
• Uninstall apps
• Check system resources
• Manage apt repositories

Stacer is available for Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch-based distributions and is free to install and use. I will give you one word of warning about this app: As with any system cleaner, your mileage may vary. I’ve not found any problems when using Stacer, but if you delete your Application Caches and Logs, the app launch could slow down. After using those apps, the speed should pick up again. Even with that caveat, I tend to like having the ability to clean a system.

How to install Stacer

What you’ll need: The only things you’ll need for this are a running instance of Linux and a user with sudo privileges.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oguzhaninan/stacer -y

Next, update apt with:

sudo apt-get update

Finally, install Stacer with:

sudo apt-get install stacer -y

sudo rpm –install stacer*.rpm –nodeps –force

yay -Syyu stacer

sudo apt-get install stacer -y

Now that Stacer is installed let’s take a look at how it’s used.

Cleaning your system with Stacer

Let’s take a look at how to clean a Linux system of various caches and logs. Open Stacer from your desktop menu. When the app opens, you’ll see the Dashboard, which gives you an at-a-glance of CPU/Memory/Disk performance as well as System Info and download/upload information.

Click the broom icon in the left sidebar to view the cleaning tool. From here, you can select everything you want to clean. When you then click the magnifying glass icon, you’ll be presented with expandable entries where you can deselect certain items. You might have a particular app for which you want to retain the cache. If so, uncheck that item before you hit the Clean button.

How to manage startup applications, services, and processes

Managing various areas of your system is pretty straightforward with Stacer. For example, click the rocket icon in the left sidebar. From the resulting list, you can enable or disable any of the apps to run at startup. If you want an app to run when you log in, click the On/Off slider until it is in the On position (green). If there is an app you don’t want to start at login, make sure it is in the Off position (red).

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The same holds true with the Services tab. Click the gear icon in the sidebar, and you’ll see a list of all services on your system. You can scroll through the list (it will be quite long) and enable a service to start at boot or stop/start any service you need.

If you click on what looks like a zooming credit card on the left sidebar, you get access to all currently running processes. If you find a process that has gone awry or one that looks suspicious (use caution with that), select the process and click End Process.

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You should find the rest of Stacer to be as intuitive as what I’ve shown you above. I’ve found this app to be a solid time saver, especially when I need to quickly clean a cache or find a runaway process. Give Stacer a try and see if it doesn’t make your Linux life a bit easier.