January 31, 2012, 5:20 PM — Here are five of the most useful desktop Linux applications.
I've provided links to the site of each application. However, you can usually find these in your Linux distro's software library application. So you might want to check there before actually downloading any of these applications from their sites. Installing and managing software is usually quickest and easiest if you use your distro's bundled software management tool.
5. Shotwell
Shotwell is an open source photo manager for GNOME. It's similar to the iPhoto application found on Apple Macs. It makes it easy to manage and organize your photos.
You can quickly import photos from folders or digital cameras. Shotwell groups your photos and lets you tag and rate them. You can adjust the exposure, saturation, and tint of your photos as well as rotate, crop or reduce red-eye. Shotwell also makes it easy to publish your photos to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and YouTube.
Shotwell is also the default photo manager in the popular Fedora and Ubuntu distros.
4. The GIMP
GIMP is short for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GIMP lets you enhance photos and digitally retouch images. The interface is customizable and it supports a wide variety of file formats such as PSD, PNG, GIF, TIFF and JPEG.
GIMP isn't quite as powerful as Photoshop, but it's pretty darned close and it should meet the image editing needs of almost any Linux user.
3. Chromium
Chrome is Google's browser and Chromium is its open source cousin. You'll find Chromium available in many different Linux distributions. Chromium is very fast and quite stable, it's my browser of choice on Linux. Check it out if you get a chance.
I know that some people will be shocked that I didn't pick Firefox for this list. I still like Firefox, it's a fine browser. But I like Chromium just a bit better so I opted to include it instead of Firefox.
2. VLC
VLC makes it easy to play video and music on your Linux system. VLC plays just about any kind of video file you can imagine. You can play DVDs, CDs, VCDs and Blu-ray discs. It also supports MPEG-4, WMV, H.264 and other codecs.
VLC is a must-have for any Linux user. Add it to your system, you'll be glad you did.
1. LibreOffice
LibreOffice provides a complete office suite for Linux users that includes the following:
Writer
Calc
Impress
Draw
Base
Math
You get pretty much everything you need to perform the most common tasks of an office suite. LibreOffice is totally free and should meet the office needs of almost any desktop Linux user.
What's your take on this list? Got a better application? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
