When you're just getting started with Linux, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of software available. I asked our members to choose some of their favorite Linux programs.
Choose a category:
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FTP Clients:
AxyFTP
“The most stable graphical FTP client that I have used in Linux. It is also very much like WsFTP in Windows. AxYFTP is the the first program I add to a fresh Linux install. It hasn't been included with any distros I've used, but the source and pre-compiled binaries are available.” -Clint
lftp
“I used vanilla ftp until I needed batch features for a project.” -Jared
Shells:
bash
“I can never remember to use the extra features in bash-derivatives. I write scripts under bash because I dislike Perl and I need something that'll run on default Unix installs.” -Jared
Games:
Quake III
“This is Quake the way God intended it. Fast and realistic. I get a knot in my stomach when I jump off a high platform. The install is quick and painless, and as long as you have a supported 3D accelerator card (GForce and the like) gameplay is a joy. Unfortunately, the company that ported Quake III to Linux, Loki, has gone out of business. The point release necessary for installing the game is still available.” -Clint
GUIs:
GNOME
“Back when I originally installed Debian, KDE was considered by the Free Software community to be un-free” -Jared
KDE
“I've tried GNOME and other window managers but KDE wins in terms of usability as well as having a more mature appearance.” -Jason
sawfish
“I prefer sawfish as the window manager for GNOME instead of enlightenment which is bloated and confusing.” -Jared
Email:
KMail
“Minimalist but with GPG, HTML-email, and thread support. I just wish it used GTK so it wouldn't take so long to load!” -Jared
“Easy-to-use with support for filtering, PGP, multiple accounts and inline attachments. You can also toggle HTML support and block webbugs.” -Jason
Evolution
“Evolution is my Email client of choice. It's also is my calendar, tasklist and address book. And it syncs with my PalmOS device.” -Dan
Fetchmail
“I love fetchmail - It makes collecting email from my numerous and varied email accounts across the 'net so VERY easy. One command, 5 addresses become one.” -Dan
Encryption:
GnuPG
“GnuPG is used for encrypting emails or files and is fully OpenPGP-compliant. It has only a CLI (Command Line Interface) but once you've set it up, you can link it with kmail to handle the details. There are also graphical front ends.” -Jason
Chat:
Gaim
“I have more IM accounts than I have email addresses. Gaim covers ALL of them, across a half-dozen different protocols.” -Dan
GnomeICU
“I periodically change between Licq and GnomeICU when one gets support for a new version of the ICQ protocol first or when a bug becomes too annoying.” -Jared
Everybuddy
“Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, AOL and Jabber support though MSN connection is often buggy. Nothing fancy, but it's the one I keep coming back to.” -Jason
XChat
“My IRC client of choice. Hey, they even have a Windows version!” -Dan
Web Browsers:
Galeon
“Had tabbed browsing, popup-blocking, and smart bookmarks before the default Mozilla install. It has a really polished (for usability, not beauty) interface.” -Jared
“It's Mozilla, only in a faster, cooler, Gnomified flavour. As an additional bonus, if you already have mozilla, it's less than 1mb.” -Dan
Office:
abiword
“Works more often than KWord for viewing Microsoft Word files.” -Jared
“Not quite as feature-rich as KWord, but usually more stable and has enough features for average word-processing. Even more importantly, it's pretty to look at and easy to use.” -Jason
lyx
“Equations look great for school projects, plus hierarchical layout reflects my writing/thinking style.” -Jared
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