BlockX: Because I Cannot Be Trusted With the Internet

What Is BlockX?

BlockX is a bash script that modifies your /etc/hosts file to block distracting websites. It redirects them all to 127.0.0.1, so when you try to open Reddit your browser just stares back at you like a disappointed parent.

It blocks the usual suspects: Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, and TikTok. It flushes your DNS cache so the block hits immediately. No grace period. No negotiating.

There’s also a temporary unblock — 10 minutes of freedom before the gates close again. Like Cinderella, except instead of turning into a pumpkin, your Reddit feed turns into localhost.

Why Bash?

Because bash is awesome. No dependencies. No node_modules folder the size of a small country. No Docker container running a Kubernetes cluster orchestrating a microservice that edits one file.

Just ~60 lines of shell, a hosts file, and sudo. The whole thing is probably smaller than the favicon on most websites that try to solve this problem.

Get It

git clone https://github.com/woojae/blockx.git
cd blockx
sudo ./blockx.sh

Yes, it needs sudo. You are mass-grounding yourself from the internet. This is what it’s come to.