My favorite Linux(Ubuntu) apps

After getting asked by some of my friends new to Linux(Ubuntu) what some of my favorite software were, I have decided to compile (no pun intended) a list  of my favorite software on Linux. I am sure some of you out there have better alternatives to some of the software I am going to list. Please feel free to leave a comment telling me,I would be glad to find new and better alternatives. Also feel free to leave comments telling me about some other software that you guys use and love a lot that aren’t listed here. I will try and incorporate all suggestions into this list. Please remember that the software are not listed in terms of how much I prefer them to the other software in the list. So here we go:

1. XChat:  My favorite IRC client for Linux. It is heavily extensible and is user friendly.
2. Rhythmbox: One of my favorite music players. Most people prefer xmms but I have this weird problem of xmms policing my soundcard and preventing other programs from using the soundcard when xmms is in use.
3. gFTP: My favorite FTP client. I supports regular FTP and all other secure FTP protocols and even SSH2.
4. Flock: Favorite web browser.Based on firebox and uses firefox code, Flock is a social browser. It has soo much inbuilt features.
5. Liferea: The offline feed reader. Liferea distinguishes itself from other feed readers by allowing you  to read your feeds even when you are offline.
6. Gaim: The all inclusive IM/IRC client for Linux. It allows you to communicate with friends on almost all the other IM protocols.
7. Thunderbird: The email client. It is a kickass email client from the good folks at Mozilla.
8. Skype: Skype caters all my VOIP needs. It even allows me to call any number in the USA for free.
9. Tomboy: A desktop note taking app for gnome.
10. Automatix: Install some basic software easily. (A good tool for newbies)
11. Gedit: A simple text editor
12. Streamtuner: Listen to a variety of internet radio stations
13. Dvdrip: Rip and backup your dvds
14. Mplayer: Watch any type of movie
15. Open Office: Make spreadsheets, write documents and make presentations easily
16. Audacity: A voice recording suite
17. Avidemux: Video authoring
18. Gimp: Image authoring and manipulation tool
19. Amule: P2P client
20. Bittorrent: Bittorrent client (I would have preferred if there were a Linux version of utorrent)
21. Screem: Web authoring tool

I probably left out a lot of other important tools so don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

technorati tags:gnome, Linux, Liferea, Tomboy

Blogged with Flock

Peekko:Chat the web

As most of my readers have noted, I am a sucker for an app related to “social web” . I was among the first people to blog about and try out Chatsum. So,I found out about Peekko from a friend and decided to try it out. First of all,Peekko is also a firefox/flock extension  that allows you to chat with other Peekko users about a common website/page. Peekko runs over an irc chat server. Here is a screenshot of Peekko runnig in firefox:

As you can see Peekko is craddled at the bottom of the browser window so as to conserve screen real estate. You can customize the chat window. Also,you are allowed to register your nickname but not a channel. The Peekko toolbar shows you the number of people chatting on a channel and you can toggle both the toolbar and chat window on and off. For those privacy nuts,you can browse without getting any info sent to the Peekko server by just checking the browse invisibly button. Also, you can embed a chat window in your website so that visitors can see what is being said in a channel. Almost all irc commands work here. Though,I have been using chatsum for some time,I very much prefer peekko becuase it has more users onlnie and i am assured to find someone in the main peekko window anytime of the day. Another feature that clinches the deal for Peekko is its translation bot,rbot. You just need to register yourself  for the language you speak and rbot will translate all the chat transcripts into that language. Right now, transaltion is supported for about 8 languages including frech,spanish,portuguese,italian and russian.

Technorati Tags: peekko.firefox, extensions, flock

NEW FEATURES IN CHATSUM

Chatsum,the awesome firefox extension that I wrote about here and here has implemented some new features that it previously lacked.The Chatsum community has been crying for these features and more in chatsum since chatsum was released. So the Chatsum developers have introduced :

1. Scrolling in chat window
2. User preferences(eg. For openong likns in same window or new tab)
3. Live “Users in this room” list
4. Dynamic transcript timestamps

The absence of scrolling in the chat window was a major pain in the rear ends of most chatsum users and its implementation is a huge relief.
As George,one of the devs say,let the stalking begin!!!

Technorati Tags: chat, firefox, firefox extensions, chatsum

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Sorry folks,I know I haven’t been blogging up to expectations for the passt month.I have been extremely busy and have also been trying some new beta services out.Tommorow,I am going to blog Ma.gnolia which is another social bookmarking site with a twist. Also I will talk more about the new features in Chatsum and also talk about the new Gtalkr. There are lots of other sites that I will review.So please hold on to your pants till tommorow.Thanks a lot.

*END OF PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT*

Technorati Tags: ma.gnlia, chatsum, gtalkr, social bookmarking

Chatsum

Finally,the long awaited(from last Sunday)release of Chatsum 0.3.If you do not know what Chatsum is,check my earlier post. So I just downloaded the Chatsum extension and started using it.Wow.It looks and feels awesome.Chatsum has a really nice color scheme that would complement every firefox theme.Chatsum is extremely fast.Typed entries appear almost immediately.This may be due to the fact that only a small number of testers are testing it right now.You can also check and see the most active sites(sites with the most chatsummers) and the most commented on sites.There is an option that allows to stick to the chat on one website but continue browsing.If not,chatsum tracks the url in the address bar(the site that you are biewing) and allows you to chat on the website that you are viewing.There is a site tab for chatting about the site and a page tab for page specific chatting.Also,chatsum has an easy way to report bugs. There is a button just under its logo that sends you to where to submit its bugs.Also,Chatsum has been made compatible with Flock.Therefor,flock users can also experience Chatsum in their sidebars. Since chatsum was released not long ago,it doesnt have a lot of features apart from basic chat and bug reporting. The developers of Chatsum, Lee and George, have posted a list of features that are going to be released really soon.The list includes:

• Scrolling in chat window
• Member log-in and “change details” page
• Member profile pages and links to them from the chat transcript
• Live “Users in the room” list
• User blocking
• Skins
• More complex spam reporting/moderating/blocking

The full list can be found here.And to all you privacy advocates,chatsum only sends the chat transcripts and the url that you are chatting on to the Chatsum server.
Lee,one of the developers says Chatsum will remain in closed beta testing for sometime before it is publicly available. Right,only 1000 beta invites have been sent out but Lee says ,later,some more invites will be sent. Go sign up for the next round of beta testing here.
Technorati Tags: chatsum, chat, free, beta, firefox, firefoxextensions

UPDATED ON JAN 24,06 at 5.43 am.

CHATSUM

I discovered this firefox extension just before christmas and because it was in its development/alpha stage,there were no screenshots or testimonials of it that I found so I decided not to blog about it.It is called Chatsum.It is a free extension for firefox that allows you to chat with other chatsum users that are looking at the same website as you. Emails were sent to those who had signed up to beta test it saying that Chatsum is going to be released on Wednesday. I am counting the number of hours till Wednesday. Though,I have not tested it,testimonials from people who accidentally got to try it out are glowing. Screenshots and the overall concept shows that this addon will be very welcome.

Here is what the authors said the fuction of Chatsum will be:

Chatsum lets you:

• Chat live with other people who are looking at the same website as you!
• Find out what other people think about the websites you’re looking at!
• Leave messages on any website you visit!
• Read messages left on websites by other Chatsum users!
• Browse the Chatsum community’s favourite websites!
• Hunt for treasure in our unique online treasure hunts!
• Find people that like the same sites as you and then CHAT TO THEM!

Here is a screenshot of Chatsum:

I will blog more about it when I try it out on Wednesday.Oh, and i just found out that,there will also be a Dashboard Widget which will work with MAC OS X Tiger.Also,there will be a version of Chatsum for Internet Explorer(lost half of my readers right now )
Technorati Tags: chatsum, firefox, firefoxextensions, widget, beta