unbuffer disables cli tools output buffering, which occurs when program output is redirected from non-interactive programs.
A cool aspect of this is that it lets you see the actual output, including color codes, of any command:
$ ls --color=auto
folder1 folder2 file1 file2 # this output should have the colors based on your LS_COLORS and similar
$ unbuffer ls --color=auto > out
$ cat out
folder1 folder2 file1 file2 # still colored output
$ less out
^[[0m^[[01;34mfolder1^[[0m ^[[01;34mfolder2^[[0m file1 file2 # raw output, including color codes!
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