Facter vs Network Activity Indicator

Facter is a free command-line tool that gathers system information such as hardware details, network settings, and operating system type and version. Puppet uses it to collect information before requesting a catalog or compiling one with puppet apply. Its built-in core facts include legacy and structured facts, though some facts do not apply to every system. Users can add custom facts in Ruby, with multiple resolutions available for determining a value, or external facts that return static data or output from a script or program. Facts can be hashes or arrays, and Boolean, numeric, and structured values retain their types. Configuration can block fact groups or cache results with time-to-live settings. Facts are available in Puppet manifests, while the --puppet option loads Puppet-specific facts from the command line. PuppetDB's API can support exploration, search, and reporting on infrastructure facts. Facter runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and can be self-hosted. Legacy facts are omitted from default command-line output unless --show-legacy is used. Puppet's custom-fact examples require some Ruby familiarity, and facter.conf must be created manually or managed with a module.

Network Activity Indicator is a free Windows utility from IT Samples that places the classic two-monitor network icon in the system tray. It shows incoming and outgoing packet activity across every available network interface. The program is a standalone executable, so running it adds the tray icon without a separate installation workflow. Right-clicking the icon opens its settings. Version 1.9 is available as 32-bit and 64-bit ZIP packages and as self-installing executables; those downloads are dated February 28, 2026. The page lists language files and explains that a translation is installed by placing NetworkIndicator.lng beside the program. IT Samples permits qualifying home or work use without a commercial license fee, including use on specified primary-user or company computers when downloaded directly from itsamples.com. Redistribution, embedding, linking into another program, or technical support on customer computers requires a commercial license. Igor Tolmachev is identified as the developer, with support handled at [email protected].