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Bless
What it is
Bless is a binary editor for working directly with files as sequences of bytes. It is designed for efficient editing of large data files and includes raw disk editing. The editor provides multilevel undo and redo, customizable data views, multiple tabs, and fast find-and-replace tools. Search and save operations use multiple threads. Bless can export content to text and HTML, while plugins can provide additional export formats and extend the editor. The software is written in C# with Gtk# bindings for GTK+. GNU/Linux is its main target, and Linux and Windows are the listed supported platforms; the README also names *BSD, Solaris, and Win32 as platforms it should run on. Bless is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. Building the current version requires GTK+, Mono or .NET, a C# compiler, Gtk# bindings, pkg-config, and Meson. The project provides source-build instructions, and NEWS lists version 0.6.3 dated 2020-10-11.
For and against
For
- Efficient editing for large data files
- Raw disk editing support
- Multilevel undo and redo
- Multiple tabs and customizable data views
- Plugin-based export extensions
Against
- Requires several build dependencies
- GitHub releases page lists no releases
- Changed-size saves need temporary disk space
- Latest listed version dates to 2020
The verdict
Bless provides a broad set of byte-editing tools, including large-file work, raw disks, threaded operations, and plugins. Expect a source-oriented setup with documented dependencies rather than a release download workflow.
Who it suits
Bless suits users who need byte-level file or raw-disk editing on Linux or Windows. It is also useful for developers who want plugin support and multiple export formats.
Plans and prices
Bless
GNU GPL-2.0-or-later · source build
Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com
On the record
- Build requirements
- Building and running the current version requires GTK+, a Mono/.NET runtime and C# compiler, Gtk# bindings, pkg-config, and Meson.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Distribution
- The GitHub releases page states that there are no releases there; the README gives source-clone and build instructions.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Editing tools
- It supports multilevel undo and redo, customizable data views, multiple tabs, and fast find and replace.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Export and plugins
- It can export to text and HTML, supports other export formats through plugins, and is extensible with plugins.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Implementation
- It is written in C# and uses Gtk# bindings for GTK+.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Known save constraint
- When saving a changed-size file under the same name, the README says temporary disk space must hold both the original and new file; same-size files are saved in place.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Large files
- The project lists efficient editing of large data files as a main feature.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Latest listed version
- The NEWS file lists Bless v0.6.3 dated 2020-10-11.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- License
- Bless is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Bless is a binary (hex) editor for editing files as a sequence of bytes.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Raw disks
- The project lists raw disk editing as a main feature.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Search and save
- Search and save operations are multi-threaded, according to the project feature list.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Target platform
- The README identifies GNU/Linux as the main target and says it should also run on major platforms including *BSD, Solaris, and Win32.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
