Persepolis

A download manager and BitTorrent client. FREE | GITHUB.COM/PERSEPOLISDM

Before you ask a traditional question like “Why do I need another download manager for Linux desktops in 2017?” we should mention that Persepolis is not just an addition to the litter of similar apps of this kind, but an advanced GUI for Aria2.

To make things clear, Aria2 is an alternative to Wget, which you probably know as a console command that can retrieve any file from the internet. Aria2 was created by Tatsuhiro Tsujikawa nearly a decade ago as an advanced download manager and soon gained support for many protocols, such as HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, BitTorrent and Metalink.

Among the most distinctive features of Aria2 is the ability to download several files within one command instance, and better use of available network bandwidth. It’s not only a downloader, though; it’s also a manager and a BitTorrent client.

Ironically, Aria2 used to have an ancient GTK1-based interface long ago, and after it was eventually abandoned for the sake of pure command-line usage, there were no prominent graphical front-ends for Aria2.

Persepolis is here to fix it and give you a pro-looking program written with Python and Qt5. It has an appealing and neat layout, with the list of downloads at the centre of the window and quick action toolbar above.

In the simplest scenario, all you have to do is copy a link to the file you want to retrieve and press the ‘+’ button in Persepolis. As expected, the pop-up window auto-pastes your link in the appropriate field and you only need to confirm your ambitions by pressing OK.

Persepolis reveals the inner power of Aria2 and lets you enjoy multisegment downloading, task scheduling and torrent support right away. Its website provides instructions on installing Persepolis in Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch and openSUSE.