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Today, my Linux software installer reports that there are over 18,000 software packages I can install. That's a lot of possible software... and even more intimidating when you know this is a subset of all the software out there.
Fortunately, most users can get by with a relatively small selection of software, most of which are installed automatically by most Linuxes. Here's a short list of useful software.
Update: new stuff is at the bottom of this list.
Audacity - a graphical audio editor and recorder.
OpenOffice.org - an office suite clone, owned by Sun but downloadable for free. In features, it's somewhere between MS Works and MS Office, and more like the latter.
Gnumeric - a spreadsheet known for its accuracy. OpenOffice has a spreadsheet, but I like to use Gnumeric.
GnuCash - a personal accounting system. It's a different from Quicken, but lets you do the same things.
gFTP - a graphical FTP client, for uploading and downloading files.
Pidgin - a multi-protocol instant messenger and chat system. It works with AIM, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, Jabber, and IRC.
f-spot - an iPhoto-like photo catalogger that can produce a great little website of your photos.
gThumb - a photo file browser and slideshow.
Mozilla Composer - an HTML file editor. Part of the old Mozilla suite. It is also called Kompozer.
XMMS - an audio player similar to WinAmp. I like it because it's small.
GIMP - a great photo editor and graphics tool similar to Photoshop, but different. It's good enough that you can use GIMP instead of PS. There's a Windows version available.
gxine, MPlayer, and Movie Player - three alternatives with their individual charms.
Sound Juicer - CD audio extractor and encoder.
Inkscape - a vector art program. It's gotten a lot of development lately, and is getting to be very good.
Skype - I'm using this for internet phone calls all the time - it's not free software. Also, Wengo is interesting, and costs half the price for long distance calls.
VLC - VideoLanClient is a media player that also copies DVDs and converts between file formats. It'll play Flash video.
Filezilla - recently got ported to Linux. It's a great FTP program, and what I use on Windows.
Fortunately, most users can get by with a relatively small selection of software, most of which are installed automatically by most Linuxes. Here's a short list of useful software.
Update: new stuff is at the bottom of this list.
Audacity - a graphical audio editor and recorder.
OpenOffice.org - an office suite clone, owned by Sun but downloadable for free. In features, it's somewhere between MS Works and MS Office, and more like the latter.
Gnumeric - a spreadsheet known for its accuracy. OpenOffice has a spreadsheet, but I like to use Gnumeric.
GnuCash - a personal accounting system. It's a different from Quicken, but lets you do the same things.
gFTP - a graphical FTP client, for uploading and downloading files.
Pidgin - a multi-protocol instant messenger and chat system. It works with AIM, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, Jabber, and IRC.
f-spot - an iPhoto-like photo catalogger that can produce a great little website of your photos.
gThumb - a photo file browser and slideshow.
Mozilla Composer - an HTML file editor. Part of the old Mozilla suite. It is also called Kompozer.
XMMS - an audio player similar to WinAmp. I like it because it's small.
GIMP - a great photo editor and graphics tool similar to Photoshop, but different. It's good enough that you can use GIMP instead of PS. There's a Windows version available.
gxine, MPlayer, and Movie Player - three alternatives with their individual charms.
Sound Juicer - CD audio extractor and encoder.
Inkscape - a vector art program. It's gotten a lot of development lately, and is getting to be very good.
Skype - I'm using this for internet phone calls all the time - it's not free software. Also, Wengo is interesting, and costs half the price for long distance calls.
VLC - VideoLanClient is a media player that also copies DVDs and converts between file formats. It'll play Flash video.
Filezilla - recently got ported to Linux. It's a great FTP program, and what I use on Windows.
Guide created: 06/26/06 (updated 08/19/08)
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