Zathura For Linux

Most Linux distros come with their own, usually decent document viewer app that allows you to read and view PDFs and other documents. Nowadays, most modern browsers are also quite decent when it comes to reading PDFs.

However, what if you want a super-fast PDF/document viewer that allows you to perform everything via the keyboard? The answer might come in the form of Zathura.

Before anything, here's what you need to know about Zathura. It's a high customizable PDF reader/document viewer for Linux. It's based on the girara UI, and its main window is pretty bare-bones, no bloat, no distracting elements, and not even a proper toolbar.

What makes Zathura really special is its speed. From loading massive PDFs, to viewing them, Zathura does everything faster than most other typical PDF viewers, with a lot less system resources.

Another great little feature is Zathura's automatic reload feature. This means that if you make changes to your documents, Zathura will reflect said changes in real-time as it reloads the documents instantly.

You can highlight all the links in the document by pressing the F key, rotate the document by pressing R, and toggle between single and double page view modes via the D key. The H,J,K, and L keys are used for moving with the VIM type keys,the up and down arrows are used for scrolling up or down through the document, "/" is used to search for text, and Q to close the app.

One of the drawbacks of Zathura is that it doesn't offer much in terms of documentation. In short, it will require a bit of trial and error until you figure out all the app's features and hidden quirks. A somewhat confusing documentation section can be found on the app's website.

Zathura also has a command-line promp that can be activated using the ":" key. To close it, simply press ESC.

To get Zathura on Debian-based distros you can use the "sudo apt install zathura" command, on Fedora, use "sudo dnf install zathura," and "sudo pacman  - Sy  zathura" for Arch Linux. Alternatively, you can build it from the source by following the instructions from its GitLab repository.

Is Zathura worth your attention? That really depends on how much you love mouse-free tools, and how you prefer your document viewers to be.

If you're looking for a minimalist, super-fast experience, then Zathura is wonderful (nothing we've come across beats it in terms of speed). If, however, you find that your OS' default document viewer is enough, then Zathura will seem a bit "high maintenance," as it does require you to learn various aspects of the app's functionality.