Must Have Linux Apps

Now that you know how to load a new Linux operating system on your PC, and the procedures for finding and installing new software, it is time to look at some of the more useful applications that will make your life easier. We will start with an email client that can be configured to access Open Office documents, much like Outlook does with Microsoft Office.

Evolution is installed on most Linux systems by default, as is Open Office. In the event you should encounter a distribution that does not include these two important applications, use the Synaptic Package Manager, described in "Installing Linux Apps," to get them. Evolution is fairly powerful out of the box, but two downloads that may be of interest are "Open Office Evolution," which allows Open Office to access Evolution's address books, and "Evolution Exchange," a program that allows Evolution to access Microsoft 2000 and 2003 Exchange Servers.

Open Office has a number of add-ons to complement the core office suite that is provided upon install. Of particular interest to most business people should be two "Presentation" add-ons; "Presentation-minimum," which does what the name implies, minimizes report file sizes, and "Presentation-console," which aids a user who is presenting a slide show. Another business centric app you may find useful is "Open-office-report-builder," which allows the user to configure database fields into stylish, presentable reports.

Linux has a number of music/media managers freely available. The two most popular managers are Rythm Box, and Amarok. As we mentioned in our "Getting to know your new Linux install" article, most distributions use the Gnome desktop manager by default. Rythm Box is the default media manager within Gnome, and can store your music library, sort it by artist, album, or title, allow you easy access to podcasts, online radio, music downloads and much more. KDE's default manager is Amarok, which is similar in scope to Rythm Box, but with a much spiffier interface. The nice thing is, you can use Amarok in Gnome, or Rhythm Box in KDE. Try both of them out, and see which one works better for you.

Video-Lan-Coder(VLC), is arguably the most powerful cross-platform media player available, and it is a must-have for any Linux user. Forget the default Movie Player that shipped with your distribution; immediately download VLC. It handles most video and audio formats flawlessly, has a number of useful playback options, and is easy to use. Another powerful media player that bears serious consideration is MPlayer, and its GUI companion SMPlayer. Again, try both to see which one works best for you. They're free!

Disc burning is easy with Linux. Brasero is a fairly simple and easy-to-use tool for burning iso images, music files, and the like. Brasero is the default burner for Gnome. In KDE, you will find K3B, a more powerful solution. Like the music players we mentioned above, you can install and run K3B even if you are using Gnome as your desktop manager.

There are a number of IRC(Internet Relay Chat) programs available in Linux. This is not surprising since Linux has long been at the forefront of IRC. Pidgen is installed by default on most systems, but there are others such as Empathy also give you access to your social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Gwibber is the default social app on most Linux systems, though many people are moving to Yoono, which is available for Linux, but must be downloaded from Yoono's website. It is not yet available through Synaptic.

The default graphic's program in most, if not all Linux distributions is The Gimp. The Gimp might be free, but it stacks up well against competing programs that cost hundreds of dollars. Xara Extreme, another powerful graphic program is also available through Synaptic. Blender, a popular 3D rendering program is also a click away using Synaptic. Browse through the "Graphic" section of Synaptic. I'm sure you will find a program that will tackle any job you need done.

Avidemux easily handles the chore of editing videos, and is available through Synaptic, or by using the terminal command line. (See installing Linux Apps for Command Line Instructions). Dolphin is useful for moving files between your Linux and Windows computers. Tomboy Notes keeps a list of reminders tacked to any portion of your screen panels. There are also a large number of games available for when you just want to relax.

These are just a tiny fraction of the applications that are freely available. The best way to learn what is available is by browsing through the Synaptics' "Sections" tab. Here, all the programs are broken down into their respective categories. This is just a primer to get you started, but you need to get busy now. It could take you months, or years before you finish sifting through all of Linux's choices.