Earlier I had a quick think, and there are 10 linux programs which I can’t live without. So, I thought I would post a quick blog to make sure you know about their existence.
Guake
By a long way this is the program I use the most. This is a top-down terminal, i.e. once installed, you hit F12 and a terminal drops down from the top of the screen, you do what you want in the terminal, hit F12 again and away it goes. Install on Ubuntu by:
Dropbox
If you haven’t heard about Dropbox yet then you are missing out! It is especially useful for people who have more than one computer, or who share a lot of large files with others (i.e. larger than can be attached to an email). Basically Dropbox provides you with a folder that syncs its entire contents online, and downloads these contents onto any other computer you have Dropbox installed on. You can also place contents in a public folder, and give a direct link to someone else where they can downlaod it from. This will honestly revolutionize your online life! On Ubuntu just download the .deb file and then install it (through a terminal or you can just double click it!)
wxMaxima
This is more for the maths / science types. If you have used a computer algebra system before (like Maple or Mathematica) then you will realise that they are really useful. However they are also really expensive. wxMaxima is a great free CAS which comes with incredible documentation (avaliable here).
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
Photoshop for free.
Google Chrome
Internet browsers, I could write an entire blog on them. If not more than one. As for now I will just say, you really shouldn’t use Internet Explorer, and choose between Firefox and Google Chrome. I use Google Chrome.
Follow the link to install http://www.google.co.uk/chrome
FileZilla
FileZilla is a powerful, but simple FTP client.
Open Office
Microsoft Office isn’t free, Open Office is.
The problem with giving you the terminal command to install open office is that there are lots of different parts, word processor, spreasheet application, presentaiton etc. etc. I recommend looking at the Add/Remove Software package manager and select the ones you want.
Amarok
Amarok is the free version of iTunes. You can use it for playing all your music files on your computer, transfering music to your iPod, or other mp3 player, and subscribe to your favourite podcasts. Everything you could possibly want! Not to mention it has a brilliant Lyrics and Wikipedia tab!
Devede
This is the best program I have found for making DVD’s! It is really simple to use, and will very quickly create an iso file that you can then burn with any major burning software. The thing I like most about devede is that when you add more files than should normally fit on a disk you can click ‘Adjust Disk Image’ which will lower the quality to fit all of them on. However I think you would only notice the lower quality if you watch everything in HD. I often put three films on one disk and don’t notice any degradation in quality.
VLC
Finally, the program that everyone should have on their computer. No matter what the operating system. It basically plays every audio and video file you can throw at it with no issues. It’s brilliant.