vbl is a terminal-based hexadecimal viewer for Linux that lets you inspect binary data from files and devices in a dynamic hex and ASCII interface.
It also works as a file differ, dumper, and editor, supports very large files and devices, and offers both interactive and command-line driven workflows for examining binary content. The program is designed to keep normal operation read-only, only switching to write access when edits are explicitly confirmed.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Supports ASCII and binary search with forward and backward navigation, case-insensitive matching, search history, and highlighted results.
- Offers flexible address navigation with decimal, hexadecimal, percentage, sector, and relative offset jumps.
- Includes comparison tools for moving to the next or previous difference, stepping through changed bytes, and synchronising two panes.
- Provides an edit mode with byte insertion, deletion, and copying, with explicit confirmation required before changes are written.
- Can dump file contents in ASCII or binary form directly from the command line.
- Builds dynamic, stripped, static, and static stripped executables with Meson.
Website: github.com/linuxCowboy/vbl
Support:
Developer: linuxCowboy
License: GNU General Public License v2.0

vbl is written in C++. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |

