Porting QuirkSys Monitor to Python for Linux

QuirkSys Monitor is Now Available for Linux!

I’m excited to announce that QuirkSys Monitor is now officially available for Debian-based Linux distributions as a .deb package! 🎉

This marks a major milestone for the project — not just in terms of platform support, but also a major internal rewrite. The entire application has been rebuilt from the ground up in Python, allowing for better cross-platform compatibility, cleaner code, and improved performance on Linux systems.

🔧 Why the Rewrite?

Originally, QuirkSys Monitor was a lightweight system monitor built for Windows, but the idea was always to take it further. I wanted to make sure the app could run natively on Linux, too. But rather than just port the old code, I chose to rewrite the entire app in Python to:

Take advantage of Python’s excellent cross-platform support

Use modern libraries like psutil and tkinter for real-time monitoring and GUI

Keep the codebase simple, readable, and easy to maintain

The result? A snappy, clean experience that works great on Linux and lays the foundation for future features and expansions.

📦 Packaging for Debian (The .deb Struggle)

One of the most satisfying parts of this release was compiling a .deb package that installs just like any native app on Debian-based systems (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, etc.).

It wasn’t without its headaches — trying to build and test a .deb package without polluting system directories was frustrating at times (to say the least). There were plenty of permission issues, path conflicts, and trial-and-error involved.

But the end result is something I’m proud of:

A .deb installer that puts quirksys-monitor right in /usr/local/bin

A launcher shortcut you can run directly from your application menu (via a .desktop file)

No need to manually run the Python file or mess with PATH variables

📥 Download Now

If you’re running a Debian-based distro, you can download the .deb package right now.

👉 I’ve updated the original blog post where QuirkSys Monitor was first announced — the Linux download link is now live there, too.

⚠️ A Quick Note

At the moment, this build is only tested and available for Debian-based systems. Support for other distros (like Arch or Fedora) may come in the future.

🧪 Try It Out!

Let me know how it runs on your system. This is version 1.0, so bug reports and suggestions are welcome. And if you're a Linux enthusiast who loves building things the clean way, I hope the .deb packaging inspires you to do the same with your own projects.

More updates soon. Enjoy!

Source Code

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import tkinter as tk

import psutil

import threading

import time

class QuirkSysMonitor:

    def __init__(self, root):

        self.root = root

        self.root.title("QuirkSys Monitor for Linux")

        self.pinned = tk.BooleanVar(value=False)

        # Labels

        self.cpu_label = tk.Label(root, text="CPU Usage: ", font=("Segoe UI", 12))

        self.cpu_label.pack(pady=5)

        self.ram_label = tk.Label(root, text="RAM Usage: ", font=("Segoe UI", 12))

        self.ram_label.pack(pady=5)

        self.swap_label = tk.Label(root, text="Swap Usage: ", font=("Segoe UI", 12))

        self.swap_label.pack(pady=5)

        # Pin button

        self.pin_button = tk.Checkbutton(

             root, text = "Pin on Top", variable=self.pinned,

             command=self.toggle_pin, font=("Segoe UI", 10)

        )

        self.pin_button.pack(pady=10)

        # Start background updater

        self.update_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.update_loop, daemon=True)

        self.update_thread.start()

    def toggle_pin(self):

        self.root.attributes("-topmost", self.pinned.get())

    def update_loop(self):

            while True:

                cpu = psutil.cpu_percent(interval=1)

                ram = psutil.virtual_memory()

                swap = psutil.swap_memory()

                ram_used = ram.used / (1024 ** 3)

                ram_total = ram.total / (1024 **3)

                swap_used = swap.used / (1024 **3)

                swap_total = swap.total / (1024 ** 3)

                self.cpu_label.config(text=f"CPU Usage: {cpu:.1f}%")

                self.ram_label.config(text=f"RAM Usage: {ram_used:.2f} GB / {ram_total:.2f} GB")

                self.swap_label.config(text=f"Swap Usage: {swap_used:.2f} GB / {swap_total:.2f} GB")

                time.sleep(1)

if __name__ == "__main__":

    root = tk.Tk()

    app=QuirkSysMonitor(root)

    root.mainloop()