Favorite Must Have Linux Apps

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

So over the last couple days I've re-made the switch over to linux. I've used linux in various forms for a long time and go through phases where I use it more then others, but this time I'm really making a push to use it 95% of the time on my home system (really only booting into windows for gaming).

 

Anyhow going through the whole process of setting up the clean install of my latest distro of choice (Ubuntu 7.04) got me thinking, what are those little apps that everyone can't live without in linux? They don't need to be open source, they don't need to be linux only, just anything you always use in linux.

 

So right off the bat I think most of us can agree on a few basics that I'll list just to avoid having everyone list them

Firefox - The famous web browser

Gaim/Pidgin - Multi-client chat program

Open Office - Office Suite

The Gimp - Image Editor

Now, if anyone has a program they prefer over these choices feel free to voice your opinion. Next up are a few apps I virtually always make sure to grab if they don't come with a distro, although they aren't quite as necessary nor as widely accepted as the standard.

XMMS - Winamp style MP3 player

VLC - Light Weight video player application

MPlayer - another media player application

Evolution Mail/ Thunderbird - Mail applications. I kind of flip back and forth on this. I used to stick to Thunderbird but am currently trying Evolution as I've heard good things. If you have a strong argument for either let me know.

AMSN - While the older versions were horrid to say the least, the latest releases look pretty smooth, have solid plugins, and can actually work with my webcam which is why I keep it around

Emacs - I don't use it a lot, but I always install it, good to keep around for coding sometimes

I'm sure there are a few others I'm forgetting but that's a solid start. I usually avoid having the distro install a crapload of applications off the bat, I'd rather learn about them myself and load them up so I have a solid idea what the applications residing on my system actually do. That said, I don't have a huge insight into the world of linux apps so I'd love some recommendations of programs that could really make a difference in my linux experience. Apps that handle anything or everything are welcome.

[FirefoxRocks 0]

My favourite applications on Linux are:

Mozilla Firefox (Windows AND Linux)

Gaim (well I don't have Windows Live Messenger there)

OpenOffice.org (I prefer it over Microsoft Office)

The GIMP, it's good for the occasional editing

The games that come with Ubuntu

I prefer either reading my email in POP3 clients on Windows or using the Hotmail/GMail interface on the web, so no Thunderbird or Evolution Mail for me. Although, I would choose Mozilla Thunderbird though, it is more compatible with Windows and allows you to copy profile information to each other without messing up a lot.

 

Honestly I've never tried anything distribution other than Ubuntu. All the apps came with it, didn't need to download a lot. Without gEdit, I wasn't able to edit the boot.1st file, so I downloaded emacs, hoping it was the same. I didn't know how to use that though.

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Hehe yea emacs can be a bit odd the first time you use it, especially depending on the version you get and whatnot.I normally too stick to POP3 clients but I've gotten used to having my Outlook open constantly here at work, so figured I'd try out similarly at home... but without the outlook portion of that statement haha. I actually just set up Evolution Mail last ngiht to testit out so might run it for a few days then run thunderbird a few and see which feels better. I'm hoping to end up having one open all the time so I can start using the calendaring options of them and whatnot more... but now I'm getting off topic so I'll stop rambling haha.The Ubuntu default game pack is pretty cool as you mentioned. I'm not huge into those little OS games so haven't used them all but they seem like a solid selection.

[ethergeek 0]

How could you leave out vi?

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

how COULD I leave out vi :|Haha, I actually really love vi, it's my program of choice when I have to do some remote coding on the computers on campus Plus when you pull a few random shortcut quick taps out you impress anyone watching when the screen goes crazy and it actually does what you wanted haha. I don't use it a lot on my home system just due to having numerous quality graphical editors from super lightweight to heavy weight, but for quick command line editing vi is my buddy.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

MUST HAVES for me are:- Firefox- OpenOffice- Kopete- KDE- Skype- VLC- Amarok- Xinexboxrulz

[ethergeek 0]

I would say (after looking at my .bash_history, lol) that my most used apps are:vi, Firefox, Pidgin, Thunderbird, gpg, VLC, Skype, TuxRacer, GIMP, and Anjuta

[vizskywalker 0]

Ooh! Ooh! How about Synaptic? You know, the package manager that comes with Ubuntu. And Eclipse, especially the versions that Fedora ships, although they are now out of date since Eclipse 3.3.0 just came out. Oh, and ssh. Ssh is extremely useful, especially when doing research on linux machines. And top, to check process usage. Although I guess top is more of a utility than an app, maybe the same can be said for ssh.

Oh and

So right off the bat I think most of us can agree on a few basics that I'll list just to avoid having everyone list them wink.gif
* Firefox - The famous web browser
* Gaim/Pidgin - Multi-client chat program
* Open Office - Office Suite
* The Gimp - Image Editor

So stop listing them, unless you are going to add more details either about them or why they are useful, please. It's essentially spamming, and I frown on it (not that I will edit posts for it, but still, think guys).

~Viz

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

I never used Synaptics. I use YaST2 and APT4RPM instead.xboxrulz

[vizskywalker 0]

I don't use Synaptic either, but that's because I usually run Fedora, although I've finally gotten completely fed up with pirut. Never heard of YaST2, and never had much experience with APT4RPM, maybe I'll give them a try.~Viz

[dalegabs 0]

You guys should try Blender3d IMHO is the best open source 3d content creation suite out there. Although at first glance the interface looks pretty intimidating. But once you get used to it, it's really not that complicated.

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

I actually just grabbed blender yesterday. Haven't tested it out yet, but another friend recommended I try it out for fun so I grabbed it. From what I saw on a few websites it looks like it'll be fun if I ever have the time to dig into it a bit.As for synaptic it really is a great tool. I prefer to just apt-get things from the command line whenever possible, but often times the package name has a random version number or something tacked onto it so synaptic is a breeze for finding new stuff when you need it. Haven't had a problem with it yet.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

True, for graphical, I have YaST2 .xboxrulz

[FirefoxRocks 0]

I use Synaptic regularly unless they give me an exact command to enter for apt-get. As for over programs, I don't use Linux much, only for the occasional web browsing and document editing.I have a lot of trouble with Ubuntu Linux, I don't like it very much.

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Kind of off topic but for my own curiosities sake: Is it problems with ubuntu or linux in general? I just dont often hear people having big issues with ubuntu past preferring another distro over it.Back to the topic, I've been using evolution mail a bit more and I like it. I cant see any reason it'd be better or worse then thunderbird so really its a personal call, but if you were consider evo it seems solid.