Linux Killer Apps

[TheOriginalH]

This probably belongs somewhere in the tools section, but I am not just after web-deb apps.

I am getting to grips with Red Hat 7.1.

Have set it up as a server but I like the desktop environment too, and want to add some killer tools to it.

Obviously Web Dev tools would be nice (graphics, code editors, etc), but I'd also like to explore other areas (office apps, mp3 players, etc etc).

Anyone know of the funkiest?

(pref with easy install, def free!)

H

[diacono]

well i would rekon the best of all is vi (or vim).
it's a very powerfull text editor with the most minimalistic approach... extreamly tricky to get used to at the begining.

just remember to set syntax highlighting (":set syntax=on" ) and tune your brain into programming mode!

i suppose its all down to what things your doing on linux, since i do a lot of networking then nc (netcat) is the next killer app for me.

[BC]

Firstly, like Diego said, learn vi. I tend to use it the old-fashioned way (no colours) but colour syntax highlighting is quite useful should you use it.

Killer apps include -

* The GIMP (http://www.gimp.org) - should already be installed on your desktop; otherwise it's what PhotoShop is to PC. Nearly as powerful and free.

* For a pure web coding environments, use Quanta Plus 2. It should be on SourceForge somewhere.

* If you miss Windows or need Win applications, run Wine (http://www.winehq.com), VMWare (http://www.vmware.com) or Win4Lin (recommended). Compatibility isn't perfect, but the important thing is that you can run CounterStrike/HalfLife under Wine, and all other applications like Office 2000, Macromedia, Adobe etc. under Win4Lin. That's what I'm about to do, having done it at work and it's wonderful - you get the best of both worlds. Note: Wine is free; VMWare and Win4Lin costs money and needs some intensive hardware but are worth the cost.

For Linux-native applications, run KDE and get the latest version of Koffice (http://www.koffice.org) - compatible with Microsoft Office now.

* Since you're running RH, simply activate Apache with all the modules and test all your web coding on your own server before FTPing up. You can also test out MySQL and PostgreSQL on your own server too.

* In terms of MP3/audio stuff, Xmms is always good.

* If you need to run ICQ, get Licq (http://www.licq.org), backup your old ICQ DB and convert it using the script available on the site.

* In terms of native Linux games, CannonSmash (a table-tennis simulator), TuxRacer, Gnome Tulpas (pool) and FreeCiv (compatible with Civilisation 2) are all great, as is running Descent 3 and Quake 3 on Linux.

Hope this gives you some ideas - I use all of the above and it's fabbo!

[Technosailor]

ummmm...Gnome???

Sketch

[diacono]

yes, gimp is amazing.
gimp is the killer app. full stop.

[TheOriginalH]

wow - great list - thanks guys!

[dominique]

Sketch, to answer your question about Gnome, it is basically a type of desktop that you can run in Linux. Gnome and KDE are the two major desktop environments for Linux (although Gnome is considerably more popular). From the horse's mouth:

The GNOME project was born as an effort to create an entirely free desktop environment for free systems. From the start, the main objective of GNOME has been to provide a user friendly suite of applications and an easy-to-use desktop.
>>http://www.gnome.org

BC, those are some good resources that you listed. I too am a newbie to linux and although I haven't given it as much time as I wanted, I have come to like these programs:

gicq - Short for GnomeICQ, I prefer this ICQ client to licq (I could never get the darn thing working). Although it hasn't been updated since April 2000, and probably never will, I like the fact that it resides in the Gnome Panel (task bar).

EveryBuddy - Although I never use it, if you want to manage your ICQ, AIM, Yahoo! and MSN user lists al in one place this is a neat program to get. (BTW, AIM has a good Linux version, almost the same as the Windows one.)

Star Office - From Sun, this is also a Microsoft Office compatible business application suite.

Forte - Also from Sun, if you are a Java, Fortan, C or C++ programmer, the Forte line of development apps are great!

Mozilla - Of course there is no Internet Explorer for Linux, and since you should stay as far away as possible from Netscape, Mozilla is THE browser to get! (You probably already have it installed, but nonetheless you should upgrade).

All the above are free. As for games, I hear UT works great in Linux and the upcoming Castle Wolfenstein is also supposed to support Linux (The current preview demo even does).

One of the main things I am missing is a WYSIWYG HTML editor, to simplify all the mindless drone work. Any suggestions?

Although not an app, SourceForge is the home of Open Source development. You can find all sorts of apps you never even thought would exist or that you could ever live without them! Browse through the categories, you're bound to pick up a handful of killer apps.

BC, are you willing to explain us how to get Apache, PHP and MySQL up and running?

[Seer]

I'm pretty fond of this app, kind of like the Dreamweaver of the Linux world. Well, maybe not quite but it's enough that I haven't needed anything else as of yet.

http://quanta.sourceforge.net/

[dominique]

Looks really cool, but it's for KDE. I'm running Gnome.

It's not a WYSIWYG editor either, but I could use a good syntax highlighting editor. GEdit is not cutting it anymore.

Too bad...

[Seer]

Originally posted by dominique
Looks really cool, but it's for KDE. I'm running Gnome.

It's not a WYSIWYG editor either, but I could use a good syntax highlighting editor. GEdit is not cutting it anymore.

Too bad...

Hmm.. I'm running it on Mandrake 8.1 using Gnome 1.4. Not sure why you wouldn't be able to use it.

[dominique]

Quanta Plus is a web development tool for the K Desktop Environment.
http://quanta.sourceforge.net/

So it works in Gnome?!? Excellent, I'll give it a try!

[Seer]

Yeah, but I also have KDE installed on here as well, not sure if that'd make the difference. I just prefer to use Gnome and it's been working fine with it.

[dominique]

I also have KDE installed, so hopefully I'll be as lucky as you! (Hopefully it has nothing to do with luck. )

[cupid]

less and screen are a must I'm not sure if less comes with the standard redhat binaries.

I'd get Pine just for pico. Yes, vi is a much more powerful editor, but it can be confusing if you don't know how to use it.

[Seer]

I've spent most of my day browsing through sourceforge (doesn't want to let me in now, so I guess I need a break). If you're looking for killer apps, do some serious browsing in there and you're bound to find something.

I'm messing around with this home automation program. Haven't been able to get the speech to work yet, but I tried it out on Windows and it seems like fun. http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net

[Hartmann]

Let me first say one thing.... Even if you do not have KDE installed or Gnome installed or vice versa you can still use some of the software created for them. You just need to download the libraries that are used. Since I only use KDE I have never downloaded the library for Gnome so I don't know what it is. KDE's library is Qt from http://www.trolltech.com.

If you have installed one of the major Linux distro's they usually come with the major libraries.

My killer app is NEdit. You can get it at www.nedit.org