Your favorite Software

[ichase]

With virtually tons of Open Source software available in the repos as well as in other areas, what are some of the programs you use that maybe some of us have not heard of. Or, have you just come across a program that WOW'ed you? This could be a really cool game, application, tool, add-on etc.This is nothing more than an info post, not to mention I as well as others may get some insight on a program we had not known about that just might WOW us. :)Thanks everyone in advance for your replies.Peace,Ian

[zlim]

Maybe not awesome but I need a game or two on each computer.Gweled fills the bill. Even though I am running a strange desktop on my Xandros/Debian etch hybrid on my eeepc, I managed to install this through the repos and can play so I'm happy.

[abarbarian]

Writr is the coolest software I have found for GNU/Linux it really lives up to the KISS principle.These guys tell you all about it far better than I can,http://antrix.net/pages/writr-markdown/"Writr's Goals * Be simple and obvious to use * Suck less than Notepad * Teach me PyGTK"http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax"Markdown’s syntax is intended for one purpose: to be used as a format for writing for the web.Markdown is not a replacement for HTML, or even close to it. Its syntax is very small, corresponding only to a very small subset of HTML tags. The idea is not to create a syntax that makes it easier to insert HTML tags. In my opinion, HTML tags are already easy to insert. The idea for Markdown is to make it easy to read, write, and edit prose. HTML is a publishing format; Markdown is a writing format. Thus, Markdown’s formatting syntax only addresses issues that can be conveyed in plain text."http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/dingusUse the above link to try out Markdown for your self.http://i.imgur.com/ocnZV.jpgAbove is an image of the try out tool, left click on the image to get full screen view.

[ichase]

"Markdown’s syntax is intended for one purpose: to be used as a format for writing for the web.

Pretty cool!! As I have been writing HTML via Notepad for sometime, I started using Dreamweaver. I have read that Linux has a substitue for Dream Weaver called Kompozer that is a WYSIWYG HTML editor, similar to Macromedia Dreamweaver, but not as feature-rich (yet). Looking forward to trying this one out. Hey Liz I just looked up Gweled on Google to find out what it was. As someone who really likes Bejeweled, that looks to be a lot of fun.

[cybormoron]

ah, my pokemons, let me show you them. here's a few from my menu that i think are somewhat obscure. these should be found in your repo.Kflickr: i've used this a lot to upload all my virtualbox demos to flickr. i like the way it uploads *backwards* so that the pics appear in proper sequence on flickr.http://kflickr.sourceforge.net/wikka.php?wakka=Kflickrhttp://www.flickr.com/services/apps/4833/http://www.flickr.com/groups/kflickrcalibre: i had to use this to view a specific ebook format (epub i think). the ebook was lame but the calibre software seemed to work ok. been meaning to check this out a little better.http://calibre-ebook.com/http://calibre-ebook.com/user_manual/faq.htmlPokerTH: deal 'em, baby. you got to know when to hold 'em, know when fold 'em and know what software plays Texas Hold'em the best. i'm going "all-in" that you'll like this one. http://www.pokerth.net/Neverputt: it comes with Neverball. it's my favorite golf game.http://linux.softpedia.com/get/GAMES-ENTER...putt-3846.shtmlhttp://neverball.org/index.phpspeaking of bejeweled how aboutMonsterz: this is fun but i've seen some crude, foul, adult language. they should clean this up.http://sam.zoy.org/monsterz/http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20090819...5/Monsterz.html

[sunrat]

Two of my fave games I rarely see mentioned: gl-117 - awesome action flight sim, jets, bombing, dogfights etc. OpenGL.KoboDeluxe - intense remake of an old Japanese game. OpenGL, SDL, High-res graphics. (hint - go into options and set for mouse control and full screen for both games)And for graphics:Inkscape - very capable vector graphics creation and editing.All available in Debian repos, and probably in a repo near you.

Edited November 22, 2010 by sunrat

[Eggdog]

gLabels

Hmmm. You might guess that, with a name like gLabels, it's a Gnome application that lets you design and print labels. And you would be soooooo right on! :DOld-school type of guy that I am, with some defiantly retro avocations, I send and receive a lot of letters. With GLabels, I can make a whole sheet of one type of label (e.g. my return address), and it's a lot easier than in OOo Writer. Or I can design a blank form (label size, font, &c.) and do a mail merge, just like in WordPerfect, except that my data file is a comma-delimited text file in Emacs¹, and GLabels is my front end. It's just a really cool application that works great.____¹ Emacs is worth a nice big fat forum post, too, but I've been writing for 3 hours and my brains are shot.

[ichase]

dream weaver is an incredible piece of software.kompozer is simply a wysiwyg editor.dreamweaver is at least an order of magnitude ahead of kompozer.

Thanks for letting me know this Temmu, do you know of any Open Source programs that are comparable to Dream Weaver. I really like Dream Weaver. From writing HTML/CSS in Notepad and going to Dream Weaver was like. WOW!!!! Of course I still have Windows XP and I can still use it, I would like to find something that is at least comparable in Linux. Edited November 23, 2010 by ichase

[Urmas]

Dunno about "comparable"... but check out Bluefish (and Quanta Plus).

Edited November 23, 2010 by Urmas
I can't type.

[ichase]

but check out Bluefiah

Urmas, is that supposed to be Bluefish?Thanks for giving me some options.

[securitybreach]

Here are a couple of applications I use on a daily basis:Gnu-screen is my favorite application:

GNU Screen is a wrapper that allows separation between the text program and the shell from which it was launched. This allows the user to, for example, start a text program in a terminal in X, kill X, and continue to interact with the program.

Screen is basically allows you to run multiple consoles inside a console and you can also detach/resume the session without interrupting what is running in each one of them. .For instance, here I am connected to 4 ssh sessions and also have 5 other terminals running, all in one terminal window. I like it because I can disconnect from the session and everything stays running. Very useful utility!! Weechat irc clientDevede for converting AVIs to ISO format to be read on dvd playerXMonad window managerConky system monitorUrxvt terminalPcManFM file manager Their screenshots do not do this app justice, so here is a shot of mine: Note: I never use the applications menu but did not want to display my files/folders \All of these applications should be in your distro's repositories (package manager).This is just a short list of what I use on a daily basis. If I can think of any other ones, I will add them.

[abarbarian]

Two of my fave games I rarely see mentioned: gl-117 - awesome action flight sim, jets, bombing, dogfights etc. OpenGL.KoboDeluxe - intense remake of an old Japanese game. OpenGL, SDL, High-res graphics. (hint - go into options and set for mouse control and full screen for both games)And for graphics:Inkscape - very capable vector graphics creation and editing.All available in Debian repos, and probably in a repo near you.

Darn you for posting,I'm now stuck on level 6 in Kobo

[Urmas]

Urmas, is that supposed to be Bluefish?

These days, everyone's a critic...

[ChipDoc]

I'm the sort of guy who looks out into the night sky and wonders what the heck THAT thing is. Most astronomy packages are geared toward taking cool visual trips through space, but url=http://edu.kde.org/kstars/]KStars[/url] is more like a planetarium. It will even guide a telescope. Sure wish I had a telescope...At any rate, KStars is nicely configurable and quickly shows me what I want to see without a bunch of extraneous material - unless you ask for it. Hidden inside is all the extraneous material you could ever possibly want - it's just hidden away until you go looking for it so you can learn the program in a simple way before graduating to a point where you need your astrophysics degree.

[Urmas]

Chip,Just in case you haven't found these yet (both are in Ubuntu repos):http://www.stellarium.org/http://www.shatters.net/celestia/Gazillions of extra bits and bobs for Celestia:http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/

[sunrat]

Darn you for posting,I'm now stuck on level 6 in Kobo

Wait till you get to level 45! I've cleared all up to this. You can start a new game from the level you finished in the last, I haven't played straight through to 45. My best is level 25 in one game, score about 100,000. Took over an hour and my mouse hand started hurting! :"> @ichase - Bluefish and Quanta+ are probably the best HTML editors in Linux. Not WYSIWYG but you can Preview your current page in Quanta+, or in browser with Bluefish. Nothing quite compares to Dreamweaver.I did get Dreamweaver 8 working well in WINE. Later versions are reported to work to varying degrees - see WineHQ App Database.@ChipDoc - KStars is great. If often use it to check what planet or constellation is which.

[abarbarian]

Chip,Just in case you haven't found these yet (both are in Ubuntu repos):http://www.stellarium.org/http://www.shatters.net/celestia/Gazillions of extra bits and bobs for Celestia:http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/

Stellarium looks cool I have been using an old copy of Starry Night for windows which came free with a magazine cd.

[ChipDoc]

Chip,Just in case you haven't found these yet (both are in Ubuntu repos):http://www.stellarium.org/http://www.shatters.net/celestia/Gazillions of extra bits and bobs for Celestia:http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/

I tried Celestia and it was pretty cool, but I wanted to see the sky rather than to be IN the sky. Downloading Stellarium now. Thanks, Urmas!

[securitybreach]

The constellation software is neat but I like to do it "old school" and use a telescope .

[ichase]

The constellation software is neat but I like to do it "old school" and use a telescope .

Can you get one of those "Telescopes" in the Repos????

[abarbarian]

My eyesight is still ok so I just look up when I am outside must be awful having to carry a telescope around with you all the time

[Urmas]

Everybody needs a comics reader app, right? Right. My "old" favourite is Comix. However, I've gotta admit that QComicBook is pretty darn good:

[ChipDoc]

Just a quick note to say THANKS for mentioning Stellarium, Urmas - it's great!

[jmjlinux586]

Hello,I rarely see it mentioned, but mc (midnight commander)is my favorite file manager.I have used it since I have been using linux,have tried others, but still come back to mc.

Edited November 26, 2010 by jmjlinux586

[Eggdog]

have tried others, but still come back to mc.

Midnight Commander reminds me of XTree, which I first encountered at work...wow, 22 years ago. This is a compliment. XTree was great. In a way, XTree helped people avoid DOS commands, but in my case I think it helped me learn more about DOS because I could concentrate on what was going on without worrying so much about mistyping a path name or something. In its own inimitable way, mc is doing much the same thing.(Anything that makes me feel 22 years younger just thinking about it is pretty great too.)

[Frank Golden]

Just a quick note to say THANKS for mentioning Stellarium, Urmas - it's great!

Stellarium comes with an impressive number of stars but if you go to configuration>tools there are millions more availableunder "star catalog updates".There is about 1.2 GB worth of updates available.It takes awhile to install from within Stellarium.These same files can also be had at the Stellarium website.If you D\L them from the website you can install them by unhiding files in /home/<username>and opening .stellarium/stars/default and dropping them there.Note this works for most Ubuntus except for Jaunty and Karmic, both Jaunty and Karmic have a bug that won't allowthese updates to install, even if you try to install from within Stellarium.The bug has something to do with /usr/share/stellarium/stars/default being read only.PCLinuxOS will install the catalog updates as will Mint 10 and Ultimate Edition 2.6 and 2.8.The latest version is Stellarium 0.10.5.Version 0.10.6 is scheduled for release in early December.Looking forward to the new version.This is the last of the 0.10.x releases the next version release will be (finally) Version 1.0.0 sometimes in the next 2 years.BTW, I would have mentioned Stellarium if Urmas hadn't, I've been using it for several years, both in Windows and Linux. Edited November 27, 2010 by Frank Golden

[securitybreach]

Hello,I rarely see it mentioned, but mc (midnight commander)is my favorite file manager.I have used it since I have been using linux,have tried others, but still come back to mc.

I have a good friend who swears by Midnight Commander and is always telling me I should start using it. I have installed it a couple of times but never really stayed with it. I am currently using Ranger which is basically a CLI file manager that uses vim shortcuts to perform actions. I think I may reinstall MC and try to learn the syntax since I have heard how powerful it is.

[ChipDoc]

I rarely see it mentioned, but mc (midnight commander)is my favorite file manager.

Oddly enough, I use Midnight Commander at work. You're right; it's pretty cool!

[ChipDoc]

Stellarium comes with an impressive number of stars but if you go to configuration>tools there are millions more availableunder "star catalog updates".

Woah! Thanks for the heads-up on that one, Frank! I thought it was pretty amazing even before I downloaded all of those extra stars. It sure does take a while to download them though; even over the lickety-split connection here at work!

[SueD]

Hello,I rarely see it mentioned, but mc (midnight commander)is my favorite file manager.I have used it since I have been using linux,have tried others, but still come back to mc.

Me too! It's the first thing I install.