Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw & gufw) is a firewall that is designed to be easy to use. It uses a command line interface consisting of a small number of simple commands, and uses iptables. iptables is already a very powerful tool by itself, but it’s syntax can get awkward at times and hard to figure out, so Ubuntu developers decided to make ufw (“The reason ufw was developed is that we wanted to create a server-level firewall utility that was a little bit more for `human beings`.”), which was to be simpler. Now, on the graphical side of things, Firestarter already existed. But why not make an even easier to use GUI for desktop `human beings`, powered by ufw?
This is where Gufw comes in.
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install gufw gufw
If you would like to simply use UFW from the command line, you can try any of these commands to make changes to your firewall.
To check your current settings:
sudo ufw status verbose
To add firewall rules:
sudo ufw deny 5353/udp sudo ufw deny 5900/tcp sudo ufw deny 22 sudo ufw deny 25/tcp sudo ufw deny 135,139,445/tcp sudo ufw deny 137,138/udp sudo ufw deny 110 sudo ufw deny 2049 sudo ufw deny 143 sudo ufw deny 21/tcp
Re-check your changes:
sudo ufw status verbose
Re-check enable:
sudo ufw enable
It will automatically load these settings from now on. If you need to access one of those ports temporarily, then you can open up sudo gufw and disable your firewall momentarily. Just don’t forget to re-enable it when you are done.
Here is a configuration script if you are running a server:
#!/bin/sh # obtain server's IP address SERVERIP=`hostname --all-ip-addresses | cut --fields 1 --delimiter " "` # disable firewall ufw disable # reset all firewall rules ufw reset # set default rules: deny all incoming traffic, allow all outgoing traffic ufw default deny incoming ufw default allow outgoing # open port for SSH ufw allow OpenSSH # open port for Webmin ufw allow webmin # open ports for Samba file sharing ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to $SERVERIP app Samba ufw allow to 10.0.0.0/8 from $SERVERIP app Samba # open ports for Transmission-Daemon ufw allow 9091 ufw allow 20500:20599/tcp ufw allow 20500:20599/udp # open port for MySQL ufw allow proto tcp from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 3306 # open ports for Lighttpd ufw allow “Lighttpd Full” # open port for network time protocol (ntpd) ufw allow ntp # enable firewall ufw enable # list all firewall rules ufw status verbose
For more information:
Anti-Virus
Windows equivalent : AVG AntiVirus, NAV, TrendMicro, F-Prot, Kaspersky, …
Ubuntu equivalent : ClamAV, Avast, BitDefender
ClamAV
Clam Anti-virus (ClamAV) is a free, cross-platform anti-virus software tool-kit able to detect many types of malicious software, including viruses. One of its main uses is on mail servers as a server-side email virus scanner. The application was developed for Unix and has third party versions available for AIX, BSD, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS X, OpenVMS, OSF (Tru64) and Solaris. As of version 0.96 ClamAV builds and runs on Microsoft Windows. Both ClamAV and its updates are made available free of charge.
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-clamav/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install clamav clamtk
Desktop >> Applications >> Accessories >> Virus Scanner >> Advanced >> Scheduler >> “and enable the scanner and updater for daily checks..”
BitDefender
BitDefender is an anti-virus software suite developed by Romania-based software company Softwin. It was launched in November 2001, and is currently in its thirteenth version. The 2011 version was launched in August 2010, and it includes several protection and performance enhancements as Search Advisor and Performance Optimizer. The thing I love about BitDefender is it will run in the task-bar after start-up and has a resident shield that is always monitoring your system for any potential threats, not that viruses normally target Linux operating systems however.
First you need to get a free scanner key here via email.
sudo synaptic
Select “Settings” and then select “Repositories”, and then click
the “Other Software” Tab, and click ‘Add’ and cut and paste this repository:
deb http://download.bitdefender.com/repos/deb/ bitdefender non-free
Click on ‘Close’ and press ‘Reload’ when prompted. Ignore the ‘No repository key’ error (if displayed). To add the repository key open a Terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and copy+paste the following lines::
wget http://download.bitdefender.com/repos/deb/bd.key.asc sudo apt-key add bd.key.asc
Now update the sources list:
sudo apt-get update
To install the graphical interface and command line program copy+paste the following line:
sudo apt-get install bitdefender-scanner-gui
Once complete you now need to log out and log back in again. A menu shortcut will be generated (Applications -> System Tools -> BitDefender Scanner).
Before running the scanner it’s probably best to install the latest virus/malware signatures by clicking on the ‘Update’ button.
Essential tools for compiling from sources.
There are times when you need to compile software from sources, maybe because you need to compile the package with some specific option that is not enabled in the default package, or maybe the software application you wish to install isn’t available in any of your repositories. (Here is a guide on how to compile software from source) and here are the required packages you need in order to compile sources in Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall cdbs devscripts dh-make fakeroot libxml-parser-perl check avahi-daemon
Java Runtime Environment (JRE) – (Requirement)
The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) provides the libraries, the Java Virtual Machine, and other components to run applets and applications written in the Java programming language. In addition, two key deployment technologies are part of the JRE: Java Plug-in, which enables applets to run in popular browsers; and Java Web Start, which deploys standalone applications over a network. This is the official Java Download from Sun Microsystems.
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre
Multimedia (Prerequisite and Required)
Windows equivalent : windows media player, real player, vlc, mplayer, media codecs
Ubuntu equivalent : vlc, mplayer, media codecs
Unfortunately, many audio and video formats won’t work “out of the box” with Ubuntu, or most Linux distros.
MPlayer is a movie player that plays most MPEG, VOB, AVI, OGG/OGM, VIVO, ASF/WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, FLI, RM, NuppelVideo, yuv4mpeg, FILM, RoQ, and PVA files. You can also use it to watch VCDs, SVCDs, DVDs, 3ivx, RealMedia, and DivX movies. It supports a wide range of output drivers including X11, XVideo, DGA, OpenGL, SVGAlib, fbdev, AAlib, DirectFB etc. There are also nice antialiased shaded subtitles and OSD. VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream in uni-cast or multi-cast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks.
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install vlc mplayer smplayer
FFMpeg is a complete and free Internet live audio and video broadcasting solution for Linux/Unix. It also includes a digital VCR. It can encode in real time in many formats including MPEG1 audio and video, MPEG4, h263, ac3, asf, avi, real, mjpeg, and flash.
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install libxine1-ffmpeg gxine mencoder mpeg2dec vorbis-tools id3v2 mpg321 mpg123 libflac++6 ffmpeg totem-mozilla icedax tagtool easytag id3tool lame nautilus-script-audio-convert libmad0 libjpeg-progs flac faac faad sox ffmpeg2theora libmpeg2-4 uudeview flac libmpeg3-1 mpeg3-utils mpegdemux liba52-0.7.4-dev libquicktime2
Gstreammer 0.10
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 gstreamer0.10-gnonlin gstreamer0.10-sdl gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-schroedinger gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly totem-plugins-extra
More programs
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install gstreamer-dbus-media-service gstreamer-tools ubuntu-restricted-extras
Additional True Type Fonts
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer
Enable dvd support
Open your Terminal, cut and paste:
sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdnav4 vlc sudo apt-get install libdvdread4 sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/./install-css.sh
Check and see if you can now view DVD movie discs on your computer. If not you may need to set the region key and you are usually allowed to do this only 5 times (only use if needed, and very optional):
sudo apt-get install regionset sudo regionset
Adobe Flash Player PPA
Adobe Flash Player is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems. Flash Player 10.3 delivers beautiful HD video, faster graphics rendering, and high performance on mobile devices and personal computers and is designed to take advantage of native device capabilities — enabling richer, more immersive user experiences.
If you are running 32-bit Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer
Or if you are running 64-bit Ubuntu:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sevenmachines/flash sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install flashplugin64-installer
Adobe Flash 11 (Beta Version) Download:
Go ahead and test your flash at this point. If it doesn’t look right, or you are unhappy with the performance please install the following script generator.
Flash Aid Plugin For Firefox:
“Remove conflicting flash plugins from Ubuntu/Debian Linux systems, install the appropriate version according to system architecture and apply some tweaks to improve performance and fix common issues.”
Gnome Do
Gnome Do is a small application that allows you to search and do things faster and more efficiently in your Ubuntu machine. It is similar to QuickSilver in Mac and Launchy in Windows.
For those who have not tried Gnome Do before, it might take some time for you to get used to it. But once you’re hooked to it, there will be no turning back for you. Gnome Do also comes with a dock interface that you can use it like any other docks.
sudo apt-get install gnome-do
Now you can launch it from Application → Accessories → Gnome Do
Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser PPA (to keep your Firefox Browser up-to-date):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade
Here are some great recommended add-ons for Firefox:
Adblock Plus (ABP) is a content-filtering extension for Mozilla Firefox (including Firefox for mobile) and Google Chrome web browsers. ABP, a forked version of Adblock, allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. Very popular, and almost what I would consider to be a necessity, if you use surf the Internet on a daily basis. Works great with sites like youtube.com and other similar web sites that bombard you with constant commercials. It will also allow you to import preconfigured blocklists to stop tracker web sites from monitoring your browser presence.
This extension allows you to export your saved passwords and disabled login hosts using XML or CSV files that can be imported later. Very helpful when needing to re-install Ubuntu onto a new system or migrating your data and personal information.
NetVideoHunter is a Firefox add-on (extension), and you can easily download videos and audio from almost all audio and video streaming web pages with two clicks. Tested and considered to be probably the best plugin out of all the other similar plugins available for this kind of task.
HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox extension produced as a collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It encrypts your communications with a number of major websites. Instead of using http to connect to pages you normally visit, it forces your browser to ‘try’ to create https connections instead, to keep your transmissions encrypted. It works with some, but not all web sites.
Wine – How to install Windows Software and Games on Ubuntu
Wine is a compatibility layer which allows Windows applications to run on Linux by translating Windows system calls into native Linux calls. Wine runs successfully a variety of Windows applications and games on Linux, albeit sometimes considerably slower than on a native Windows operating system. Using Virtualbox is another option.
PlayOnLinux is a graphical front-end for the Wine software compatibility layer which aims to simplify the installation of Windows-based applications and especially games on Linux. The system provides wrapper shell scripts with a .pol file extension that specify the configuration of Wine needed in order to install and run a particular application. It uses an online database of scripts to apply to different applications that need special configuration; if the game is not in the database, a manual installation can be performed.
Run Windows Applications such as 7zip, Google Sketchup, AutoCAD, Dreamwaver, Flash MX, Fireworks MX, IE6, IE7, Safari, Itunes, Windows Media Player, Age Of Empires, Call Of Duty, Diablo, Fear, Fallout, Far Cry, Grand Theft Auto, Half Life, Halo, Hitman, Max Payne, Need For Speed, Prince Of Persia, Sim City Star Wars, The Simsworld of warcraft, Tomb Raider, Warcraft, World Of Warcraft, Counterstrike and many other can be played.
Install Wine:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install wine1.3 wget -q "http://deb.playonlinux.com/public.gpg" -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo wget http://deb.playonlinux.com/playonlinux_natty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install playonlinux sudo apt-get install mesa-utils
(the above PlayOnLinux repository is the Natty repository, make sure to update your repository to Oneric when it is available from the PlayOnLinux web site:
After you install playonlinux it is located:
Click Applications >> Games >> PlayOnLinux
Archiver/ Packing software
Windows equivalent : winrar, zip, 7zip
Ubuntu equivalent : tar, unrar, p7zip, arj, unace
An archive format is the file format of an archive file. The archive format is determined by the file archiver. Some archive formats are well-defined by their authors and have become conventions supported by multiple vendors and/or open-source communities.
File Archiving:
sudo apt-get install unace rar unrar zip unzip sharutils uudeview mpack lha arj cabextract file-roller
Alternative Graphical Web Browsers
Windows equivalent : Internet explorer, opera, google chrome
Ubuntu equivalent : opera, chromium, google chrome
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds.
Opera is offered free of charge for personal computers and mobile phones.
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ stable non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera.list' sudo sh -c 'wget -O - http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | apt-key add -' sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install opera
Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. The project’s hourly Chromium snapshots appear essentially similar to the latest builds of Google Chrome aside from the omission of certain Google additions, most noticeable among them: Google’s branding, auto-update mechanism, click-through licensing terms, usage-tracking, a built-in PDF viewer and bundling of the Adobe Flash Player. Chromium uses the WebKit layout engine.
sudo apt-get install chromium-browser chromium-browser-l10n
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or “chrome”, of web browsers. As of June 2011, Chrome was the third most widely used browser with 20.65% worldwide usage share of web browsers, according to StatCounter.
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add - sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list' sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable
or if you want the latest developmental version:
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-beta
Download Manager
Windows equivalent : Free download manager
Ubuntu equivalent : Multiget
MultiGet is an easy-to-use and open source file download manager for Windows. It supports HTTP/FTP protocols which covers the requirements of most users. The download accelerator supports multi-task with multi-thread on multi-server. It supports resuming downloads if the Web server supports it, and if you like, you can reconfigure the thread number without stopping the current task. It’s also support SOCKS 4, 4a, 5 proxy, ftp proxy, http proxy. MultiGet also supports switching language dynamically; you can choose English, Chinese, and German. Plus this it will automatically choose a proper language for you.
sudo apt-get install multiget
Access it through Applications → Internet → MultiGet .
Graphical Email client
Windows equivalent : Outlook
Ubuntu equivalent : Evolution, Thunderbird
Thunderbird
Despite perceptions to the contrary, the desktop-based e-mail client is not dead. Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 is a serious reaction to the prevalence of Web mail, so whether you’re looking for a strong desktop client, an Outlook replacement, or a powerful tool for managing archives and Web mail offline, Thunderbird can scale to your needs.
Outlook users will notice the speed and responsiveness of the program, which loads quickly, even when weighed down by multiple folders and RSS feeds, and the basic feature set remains intact: good junk mail filters, HTML support, multiple identities, and robust Web mail, POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange server support. Security features include S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, and a built-in phishing detector. Add-ons, based on the same code as Firefox’s add-on network, can enhance your security even further
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install thunderbird
Access it through Applications → Internet → Mozilla Thunderbird Mail/News .
To import Outlook PST files in Thunderbird:
sudo apt-get install readpst readpst -r nameofyourPSTfilehere
This changes the output format to Recursive. This will create folders as named in the PST file, and will put all emails in a file called “mbox” inside each folder. These files are then compatible with all mbox-compatible email clients. Then just import the mbox file into Thunderbird and you should be all good.
Evolution or Novell Evolution (formerly Ximian Evolution, prior to Novell’s 2003 acquisition of Ximian) is the official personal information manager and workgroup information management tool for GNOME. It combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list management functions. It has been an official part of GNOME since version 2.8 in September 2004. Evolution development is sponsored primarily by Novell.
sudo apt-get install evolution evolution-mapi
Access it through Applications → Internet → Evolution Mail .
Instant Messanging protocal clients
Windows equivalent : MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger, QQ, AIM, Gtalk, ICQ,IRC
Ubuntu equivalent : Empathy, Pidgin, emesene
Empathy is an instant messaging client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM protocols. Empathy is installed by default on Ubuntu, however you may want to make sure you have the latest updated version.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:telepathy/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install empathy
Additional plugins for Empathy remote desktop (RDC) feature:
sudo apt-get install vino vinagre
Then install Empathy plugins in terminal:
sudo apt-get install empathy telepathy-mission-control-5 telepathy-gabble telepathy-butterfly telepathy-haze telepathy-idle telepathy-salut telepathy-sofiasip libtelepathy-farsight0 python-tpfarsight galago-eds-feed python-galago python-galago-gtk msn-pecan
Access it through Applications → Internet → Empathy IM Client .
Pidgin
Pidgin is an easy to use and a free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once. Supported chat networks: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo!, Zephyr
Add the launchpad repository :
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pidgin-developers/ppa && sudo apt-get update
Then install it :
sudo apt-get install pidgin pidgin-data pidgin-lastfm pidgin-guifications msn-pecan pidgin-musictracker pidgin-plugin-pack pidgin-themes
Access it through Applications → Internet → Pidgin Internet Messenger .
Emesene only for MSN Messenger.
Add the launchpad repository :
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bjfs/ppa && sudo apt-get update
Then install it :
sudo apt-get install emesene
Access it through Applications → Internet → Emesene .
Gmail Notification
Checkgmail
If you would like to get notified when you have a new mail in your google mail account, checkgmail is for you.
To install Checkgmail type the following command in the Terminal Window.
sudo apt-get install checkgmail
Now you can launch it from Application → Internet → CheckGmail
VOIP
Windows equivalent : skype
Ubuntu equivalent : skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chats over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.
Skype has 663 million registered users as of 2010. The network is operated by Skype Limited, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg. Most of the development team and 44% of the overall employees of Skype are situated in the offices of Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia. It was purchased by Microsoft in the Summer of 2011.
sudo apt-get install skype
Access it through Applications → Internet → Skype.
And make sure to check with Skype’s Download page in case there is a new Beta release available at:
Viewing PDF files
Windows equivalent : Adobe Reader
Ubuntu equivalent : Adobe Reader
Adobe Reader enables users to view and print PDF files but doesn’t have PDF creation capabilities. Acrobat and Reader are widely used as a way to present information with a fixed layout similar to a paper publication.
sudo apt-get install acroread
ScrubIt Public DNS profiles several million websites and by default block out any pornographic, phishing, and many other potentially harmful sites. It is a free open DNS for content filtering, and highly recommended if you have kids using your home network.
You can add it to your Static DNS entries in your hardware WiFi router configuration (recommended if you have never updated your router before: you can try calling the tech support company that made your router to help guide you throuh the process for updating your router’s “LAN” DNS settings. Just tell them you want to add a public DNS 67.138.54.100 and 207.225.209.66 to be used by all the computers on your network) or if you aren’t using a router on your individual Ubuntu system, you can update your DNS like this:
sudo gedit /etc/resolv.conf
Write down your existing ISP nameserver IP addresses in case you want to change it back later on. And then modify those ISP nameserver entries as to the pubic DNS ScrubIt entries:
nameserver 67.138.54.100 nameserver 207.225.209.66
Click on Save, and reboot your system.
Simple Yet Advanced Text Editor
Windows equivalent : Notepad ++
Ubuntu equivalent : GEdit
GEdit
sudo apt-get install gedit gedit-plugins
Access it through Applications → Accessories → Text Editor.
If you more suited to the original Notepad++ and Notepad++ plug-ins for programming, you can also install it by installing PlayOnLinux above and selecting it from the preconfigured wine application list.
Geany
Geany is a text editor using the GTK2 toolkit with basic features of an integrated development environment.
It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies from other packages. It supports many filetypes and has some nice features.
sudo apt-get install geany geany-plugins
LibreOffice (the new Openoffice.org replacement)
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Office
Ubuntu equivalent : LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a free software office suite developed by The Document Foundation as a fork of OpenOffice.org. It is compatible with other major office suites, including Microsoft Office, and available on a variety of platforms. Its developers’ goal is to produce a vendor-independent office suite with ODF support and without any copyright assignment requirements. The name is a hybrid word with the first part Libre, which means free (as in freedom) in French and Spanish, and the English word Office.
To install LibreOffice PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libreoffice sudo apt-get install libreoffice-gnome
To enable PDF import capability:
sudo apt-get install libreoffice-pdfimport
To enable Mozilla Office plugin:
sudo apt-get install mozilla-libreoffice
To browse and download additional custom fonts:
Scribus is an desktop open source page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux.
While the goals of the program are for ease of use and simple easy to understand tools, Scribus offers support for professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, easy PDF creation, Encapsulated Postscript import/export and creation of color separations.
sudo apt-get install scribus
Abiword
AbiWord is a free and open source software word processor. It was originally started by SourceGear Corporation as the first part of a proposed AbiSuite. Development stopped when SourceGear changed their focus to Internet appliances. AbiWord was adopted by some open source developers and AbiWord continued to be developed. AbiWord supports both basic word processing features such as lists, indents and character formats, and more sophisticated features including tables, styles, page headers and footers, footnotes, templates, multiple views, page columns, spell checking, and grammar checking. Starting with version 2.8.0, AbiWord includes a collaboration plugin that allows integration with AbiCollab.net, a Web-based service that permits multiple users to work on the same document in real time, in full synchronization.
sudo apt-get install abiword
FoxIt Adobe Reader
Foxit Reader for Desktop Linux is a PDF Reader used on a Linux Platform for you to view, search and print PDFs.
Graphical FTP clients
Windows equivalent : CuteFTP, SmartFTP
Ubuntu equivalent : FileZilla
FileZilla is free, open source, cross-platform FTP software, consisting of FileZilla Client and FileZilla Server. Binaries are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). As of 18 April 2011, FileZilla Client was the 7th most popular download of all time from SourceForge.net.
This is great FTP client, very complete, in my opinion, and the best one around.
To install FileZilla in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/programs-ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install filezilla filezilla-common
Access it through Applications → Internet → FileZilla FTP Client.
Development IDE
Windows equivalent : Dreamweaver
Ubuntu equivalent : Quanta, Kompozer, NetBeans
Quanta Plus
Quanta is capable of both WYSIWYG design and handcoding. It features tag completion on the fly, tag editing through a dialog interface, script language variable auto-completion, project management, live preview, PHP debugger, CVS support, Subversion support (through external plugin). The other Kdewebdev applications, Kommander, KImageMapEditor, KXSLDbg, KLinkStatus, KFileReplace, are tightly integrated with Quanta, but can be used independently as well.
sudo apt-get install quanta
Access it through Applications → Programming → Quanta Plus
KompoZer is an open source WYSIWYG HTML editor based on a rewritten version of the now-discontinued Nvu editor. KompoZer is maintained as a community-driven fork and is a project on Sourceforge.
KompoZer’s WYSIWYG editing capabilities are one of the main attractions of the software. In addition, KompoZer allows direct code editing as well as a split code-graphic view:
sudo apt-get install kompozer
Access it through Applications → Internet → Kompozer
NetBeans
The NetBeans platform allows applications to be developed from a set of modular software components called modules. Applications based on the NetBeans platform (including the NetBeans IDE) can be extended by third party developers.
sudo apt-get install netbeans
Access it through Applications → Programming → NetBeans IDE
Vector Graphics Editor
Windows equivalent : Adobe Illustrator
Ubuntu equivalent : Inkscape
Inkscape is a free software vector graphics editor, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Its goal is to implement full support for the Scalable Vector Graphics 1.1 standard. An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
Inkscape is cross-platform and runs on Mac OS X (typically under X11, although the underlying GTK+ toolkit can be compiled to run natively under Quartz),Unix-like operating systems, and Microsoft Windows. Inkscape’s implementation of SVG and CSS standards is incomplete. Most notably, it does not yet support animation. Inkscape has multi-lingual support, particularly for complex scripts, something currently lacking in most commercial vector graphics applications. The word Inkscape is a portmanteau of the words ink and landscape.
sudo apt-get install inkscape
Access it through Applications → Graphics → Inkscape Vector Graphics Editor.
Image Editor
Windows equivalent : Adobe Photoshop, Paint.Net
Ubuntu equivalent : GIMP
Basic GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. It has layering abilities like Photoshop.
In addition to detailed image retouching and free-form drawing, GIMP can accomplish essential image editing tasks such as resizing, editing, and cropping photos, photomontages combining multiple images, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also be used to create basic animated images in the GIF format.
GIMP’s product vision is that GIMP is, or will become, a free software high-end graphics application for the editing and creation of original images, icons, graphical elements of web pages and art for user interface elements.
sudo apt-get install gimp gimp-data gimp-plugin-registry gimp-data-extras
Access it through Applications → Graphics → GIMP Image Editor.
GIMP Paint Studio
GIMP Paint Studio (GPS) is a package with a collection of brushes and accompanying tool presets for GIMP aimed at improving the capabilities in drawing and painting using GIMP. GPS provides a wide range of tools for graphic designers and digital artists: different shadowing pencil brushes (graphite, 2B, 6B, etc), pen brushes (BIC pen, sketching pen), oil brushes and other presets for airbrushing, using the ink tool, smudging, etc.
To add the PPA and install GIMP Paint Studio in Ubuntu (install GIMP first), use the following commands on the terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shnatsel/gimp-paint-studio sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gimp-paint-studio
Gimp Painter adds some color blending and line smoothing features:
It is not a separate package, but a whole patched GIMP.
To install Gimp Painter from terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mizuno-as/gimp-painter sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade
Photo Management
Google Picasa
Google Picasa is an extremely professional good looking photo management application available on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. Google Picasa looks very user friendly as compared to similar open source application available on linux. Google Picasa for Linux is not a native linux application but runs on Linux thru the application layer called wine which allows many windows application to run flawlessly on Linux.
To install the Google Picasa repository:
sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-free' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"; wget --quiet http://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub -O - | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install picasa
Or you can install it alternatively:
Now to install Google Picasa directly from google’s web site – copy and paste the following command in the terminal window
for 32-bit Ubuntu versions:
wget http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/pool/non-free/p/picasa/picasa_3.0-current_i386.deb && sudo dpkg -i picasa_3.0-current_i386.deb
or for 64-bit Ubuntu versions:
wget http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/pool/non-free/p/picasa/picasa_3.0-current_amd64.deb && sudo dpkg -i picasa_3.0-current_amd64.deb
Access it through Applications → Graphics → Picasa → Picasa
(There is a more updated version from Google Picasa’s Web site too)
Pinta
Basically, it is reminiscent of the old Windows version of MS-Paint application if that is something you wish to be reunited with after all these years. Isn’t that the one that sank? I do believe this may be aptly named.
sudo apt-get install pinta
Access it through Applications → Graphics → Pinta Image Editor.
3D Graphics Applications
Windows equivalent : 3D Studio MAX
Ubuntu equivalent : Blender
Blender
Blender’s features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water and smoke simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulations, video editing software, compositing, and the ability to create interactive 3D applications, video games, animated film, or visual effects.
More advanced tools include rigid, realistic body, fluid, cloth and softbody dynamics simulation, modifier-based modeling, character animation, a node-based material and compositing system, and embedded scripting in Python.
sudo apt-get install blender
Or you can get the latest developmental beta version:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:irie/blender sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install blender2.5
Access it through Applications → Graphics → Blender (windowed).
Microsoft Visio
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Visio
Ubuntu equivalent : Dia
Dia
Dia can be used to draw many different kinds of diagrams and flowcharts. It has special objects to help draw entity-relationship models (tedia2sql can be used to create the SQL DDL), Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and simple electrical circuits. It is also possible to add support for new shapes by writing simple XML files, using a subset of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to draw the shape.
sudo apt-get install dia
Access it through Applications → Graphics → Dia Diagram Editor
Screenlets is the name of both a set of independently-developed widget applications and the widget engine which runs them. The engine runs primarily on X11-based compositing window managers, most notably with Compiz on Linux. Like Google Gadgets for windows.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:screenlets/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install screenlets
Business Accounting/Financial
Windows: Quickbooks, Peachtree
Ubuntu: Online Accounting Services
P2P Clients / Servers, File Sharing
Windows equivalent : Limewire, utorrent, Azureus, Emule
Ubuntu equivalent : Frostwire, Deluge, Azureus, Amule
Frostwire
Windows equivalent: Limewire
FrostWire is a free, open source BitTorrent client, first released in September, 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in appearance and functionality, but developers added more features, such as BitTorrent support. In version 5, Gnutella support was dropped entirely, and now FrostWire only uses the BitTorrent network. Development of the program has been active since the program was first released in September 2004.
Install Frostwire:
Locate the *.deb package in the directory 5.*.*and right click on it and save it to your hard drive. Here is where you can download that application:
wget http://main1.frostwire.com/frostwire/5.1.5/frostwire-5.1.5.all.deb sudo dpkg -i frostwire-5.1.5.all.deb
Or you can download the above file, and double-click on it to install it with your Ubuntu Software Center automatically.
Bittorrent Add-ons for Ubuntu:
Windows Equivalent: PeerGuardian
Ubuntu equivalent : Moblock (Highly Recommended)
MoBlock is a Linux application for blocking connections to and from a specified range of hosts. It is an open source IP filtering program similar to PeerGuardian for Linux. There are current plans between Phoenix Labs and MoBlock to make it the official PeerGuardian for Linux. If you are going to be using BitTorrent, this is a highly recommended application.
To install Moblock in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jre-phoenix/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install moblock blockcontrol mobloquer
Special Note: If you happen to catch an update error you may need to use this command:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jre-phoenix-ppa-oneiric.list
and simply remove the “ain” if it shows up there.. and click file and save.
Deluge
Deluge is a full-featured BitTorrent client for Linux, OS X, Unix and Windows. It uses libtorrent in it’s backend and features multiple user-interfaces including: GTK+, web and console. It has been designed using the client server model with a daemon process that handles all the bittorrent activity.
The Deluge daemon is able to run on headless machines with the user-interfaces being able to connect remotely from any platform.
Add the launchpad repository:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deluge-team/ppa && sudo apt-get update
Then install it :
sudo apt-get install deluge-torrent
Access it through Applications → Internet → Deluge Torrent.
Azureus: Uses Java to run, very complete but a bit heavy. And has a wide variety of add-ons to choose from too.
Vuze (formerly Azureus) is a P2P file sharing client using the bittorrent protocol. Search and download torrent files. Play, convert and transcode videos and music for playing on many devices such as PSP, TiVo, XBox, PS3, iTunes (iPhone, iPod, Apple TV).
sudo apt-get install azureus
Access it through Applications → Internet → Azureus.
Amule
aMule is an eMule-like client for the eD2k and Kademlia networks, supporting multiple platforms.
Add the launchpad repository :
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:happyaron/amule-dlp && sudo apt-get update
Then install it with the following command :
sudo apt-get install amule-dlp amule-dlp-gnome-support amule-dlp-utils-gui amule-dlp-daemon
Access it through Applications → Internet → aMule.
Music / MP3 / OGG Players
Windows equivalent : iTunes, Winamp
Ubuntu equivalent : Rhythmbox, Banshee, Amarok
Rhythmbox is an audio player that plays and helps organize digital music. Originally inspired by Apple’s iTunes, it is free software, designed to work well under the GNOME Desktop using the GStreamer media framework.
However, Rhythmbox functions on other desktop environments other than GNOME.
sudo apt-get install rhythmbox
Access it through Applications → Sound & Video → Rhythmbox Music Player.
Audacity is a cross-platform multitrack audio editor. It allows you to record sounds directly or to import files in various formats. It features a few simple effects, all of the editing features you should need, and unlimited undo.
The GUI was built with wxWidgets and the audio I/O supports PulseAudio, OSS and ALSA under Linux.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:audacity-team/daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install audacity lame libmp3lame0
Banshee is an open-source media player, called Sonance until 2005. Built upon Mono and Gtk#, it uses the GStreamer multimedia platform for encoding and decoding various media formats, including Ogg Vorbis, MP3 and FLAC. Banshee can play and import audio CDs and supports many portable media players, including Apple’s iPod, Android devices and Creative’s ZEN players. New custom support for the Barnes & Noble Nook
Other features include Last.fm integration, album artwork fetching, smart playlists and podcast support. Banshee is released under the terms of the MIT License. Stable versions are available for many Linux distributions, as well as a beta preview for Mac OS X and an alpha preview for Windows.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:banshee-team/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install banshee banshee-extension-ubuntuonemusicstore banshee-extension-appindicator banshee-extension-lyrics banshee-extension-mirage
Access it through Applications → Sound & Video → Banshee Media Player.
Amarok
Amarok’s tagline is “Rediscover Your Music”, and its development is based around this ideology. Amarok’s core features such as the unique “context browser”, integrated Wikipedia lookup and lyrics download help users to find new music, and to learn more about the music they have.
Amarok also features integration with last.fm, giving users suggestions about what to listen to next and which artists may fit their mood, as well as with Magnatune integration, allowing no-cost full listening of all the music in their catalog, and DRM-free purchasing.
sudo apt-get install amarok amarok-common
Access it through Applications → Sound & Video → Amarok.
iTunes with Wine on Ubuntu:
Repository for the latest version of Wine Emulator for Ubuntu (32-bit or 64-bit):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install wine1.3 winetricks playonlinux
You have now hopefully installed Wine with the above command line instructions.
Now type “winecfg” in terminal to set up Wine with the options you need:
winecfg
With winecfg open select the Windows XP option on the Applications tab and then click Auto Detect Drivers tab. Then check “ALSA Driver” and disable the control or OSS Audio tab
Now we want to install iTunes with Wine on Ubuntu:
export WINEPREFIX=~/.wine/itunes winetricks winxp wget http://download.oldapps.com/iTunes/iTunesSetup72.exe wine iTunesSetup72.exe
gtkpod
gtkpod is a graphical user interface for the Apple iPod for Unix-like systems, written using the GTK+ toolkit.
This application allow you to connect to your ipod, shuffle, idohickeythingamabob so you can access your music, mp4s, and tranfer them, copy them, rename them, with Ubuntu or Debian systems. It’s all kinds of good stuff for apple media users.
sudo apt-get install gtkpod
Programs for CD/DVD burning with GUI
Windows equivalent : Nero, Roxio Easy CD Creator
Ubuntu equivalent : K3b, Brasero
K3b (from KDE Burn Baby Burn) is a CD and DVD authoring application for the KDE desktop environment for Unix-like computer operating systems. It provides a graphical user interface to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct disc-to-disc copies.
sudo apt-get install k3b k3b-data libk3b6
Access it through Applications → Sound & Video → K3B.
Brasero is a application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop. It is designed to be as simple as possible and has some unique features to enable users to create their discs easily and quickly.
sudo apt-get install brasero
Access it through Applications → Sound & Video → Brasero Disc Burning .
Gnac is an easy-to-use audio conversion program for the GNOME desktop. It is designed to be powerful but simple. It provides easy audio file conversion between all GStreamer supported audio formats. This and WinFF I have found to be very handy.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnac-team/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gnac
Kdenlive, Kino, Openshot, Pitivi Video Editors
Kdenlive, Kino, Openshot, and Pitivi are intuitive and powerful multi-track video editor, including most recent video technologies. Winff is a video/audio converter. With WinFF you can convert a video from youtube into an MP3 audio file, for example. Avidemux is good general purpose video editor as well. Avidemux is conspicuously missing from the repositories as of Sept 25th 2011. Hmmm… I still liked using it from time to time. Oh well. We will have to make do with Kdenlive from now on. (Updated as of Sept. 25th. 2011)
sudo apt-get install kdenlive kino openshot pitivi winff
HandBrake is an open-source program designed to convert MPEG video (including DVD-Video) into an MPEG-4 video file in MPEG-4 Part 14 (.mp4) or Matroska (.mkv) containers.
The program is used to convert DVDs into other forms so they can be viewed on iPods, iPhones and with the Apple QuickTime Player and most media players.
Originally developed for BeOS, HandBrake is now available for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-snapshots sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk handbrake-cli
FfDiaporama is an application for assembling photos and videos. It is inspired by presentation software such as Impress or Powerpoint. It can read all image formats, a majority of cameras and camcorder video formats, and the most commonly used music formats.
It includes 140 transitions and a device database for the generation of videos with more than 50 models of video viewing devices (including smartphones, tablets, and home cinema systems). ffDiaporama can manage several hundreds of slides. Every slide can contain several tens of shots and several tens of blocks. Every shot contains its own block settings. The application calculates all the shot transformations.
VideoLAN Movie Creator (VLMC) is a cross-platform, non-linear, video editing software application based on the VLC Media Player. The software is still in early development.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/vlmc sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install vlmc frei0r-plugins
AcidRip is an automated front end for MPlayer/Mencoder (ripping and encoding DVD tool using mplayer and mencoder) written in Perl, using Gtk2::Perl for a graphical interface. Makes encoding a DVD just one button click!
You can install it as follows under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
sudo apt-get install acidrip
dvd::rip is a full featured DVD copy program written in Perl i.e. fron end for transcode and ffmpeg. It provides an easy to use but feature-rich Gtk+ GUI to control almost all aspects of the ripping and transcoding process.
It uses the widely known video processing swissknife transcode and many other Open Source tools. dvd::rip itself is licensed under GPL / Perl Artistic License. You can install dvd::rip as follows under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
sudo apt-get install dvdrip
K9copy is a KDE DVD Backup tool. It allows the copy of a DVD9 to a DVD5. It is also known as a Linux DVD shrink. It supports the following features:
The video stream is compressed to make the video fiton a 4.7GB recordable DVD
DVD Burning
Creation of ISO images
Choosing which audio and subtitle tracks are copied.
Title preview (video only)
The ability to preserve the original menus.
sudo apt-get install k9copy
Hulu Desktop is a standalone program for watching Hulu programming without a web browser. The program uses a 10-foot user interface and is designed to be compatible with existing computer remote controls. It requires a Flash player and runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Hulu Desktop does not currently support all content accessed through normal browser means.
The latest version of the software was released on February 10, 2011, bringing the version number to 0.9.14. The new version includes both bug fixes and also support for the new Hulu Plus subscription service.
You can download Hulu Desktop here:
After you have download it, you can double-click on the *.deb file and it should automatically install itself with your Ubuntu Software Center.
Sopcast Player
SopCast Player is a Linux GUI front-end for the p2p streaming technology developed by SopCast. SopCast can play various TV channels for free, using the internet. It comes with its own channel list but you can find lots more on various websites.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ferramroberto/sopcast sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install sopcast-player
You can also associate sop:// links with Sopcast Player using the commands below:
gconftool-2 -t string -s /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/sop/command "/usr/bin/sopcast-player %s" gconftool-2 --set --type=bool /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/sop/enabled true gconftool-2 --set --type=bool /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/sop/need-terminal false
FreetuxTV is a Web TV player for Linux that lets you watch and record free Web TV Channels and listen to Radio. Unlike Sopcast this works with direct asf/wmv connections/downloads for streaming media. And the programming lists appear to not be quite as updated as Sopcast at the moment. The application that runs on VLC as backend comes with lots of pre-added channels for many languages. You will need to open up the required ports on your firewall if it is enabled.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freetuxtv/freetuxtv sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install freetuxtv
For support contact: https://code.google.com/p/freetuxtv/
Kindle
Amazon released a “Kindle for PC” application in late 2009, available as a free download for Windows 7, Vista, and XP. This application allows thousands of books to be read on a personal computer in color, with no Kindle unit required, as e-books can simply be purchased from Amazon’s store. There is unfortunately no Linux-native version of this application. But with some finesse we’ve got it working perfectly. Besides if you already own a netbook what’s the point in buying a kindle to read books anyways? Right.
Special Notes: WineHQ write-up on KindleForPC application emulation in Ubuntu Wine:
Everything tested: Install, registering the software, dictionary, reading books, viewing books, fonts, browsing books in Tile or List views, sync, notes & marks, color modes, full screen mode, bookmarks, popular highlights, and search works perfectly.
Drop this doobly-do in your Terminal to install Wine Emulator PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install wine1.3 winetricks
Once Wine is installed, Click Applications -> Wine -> Configure Wine. Click on the ‘Audio‘ tab, click ‘OK‘ to the message that pops up, and then click on OK at the bottom of the window.
Drop this doobly-do in your Terminal to install Kindle:
sudo aptitude install lib32nss-mdns cabextract
Ok, now close out of terminal. And reopen terminal.
export WINEPREFIX=~/.wine/kindle winetricks winxp corefonts gecko gecko-dbg vcrun2005 wget http://kindleforpc.amazon.com/32337/KindleForPC-installer.exe wine KindleForPC-installer.exe
It should have placed a nifty little icon on your desktop, and you can give it a test and see if everything was successfully installed. Please leave any comments or questions in the box below. Just think, with all that extra money you have saved not having to buy a Kindle, you can now buy yourselves some ebooks.
Map Viewing and Management
Google Earth allows you to travel the world through a virtual globe and view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, and much more. With Google Earth’s rich, geographical content, you are able to experience a more realistic view of the world.
Cut and paste in Terminal:
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add - sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list' sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install google-earth-stable lsb-core
And if you are running a 64-bit version of Ubuntu 11.10 then you will also need:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
Alternative method (in case that doesn’t work for some of you):
To install Google Earth type the following command in the Terminal Window.
sudo apt-get install googleearth-package sudo make-googleearth-package --force
After downloading all Google Earth Packages, go to Places –> Home Folder.
There you’ll see Google Earth Deb package. Double click it to open Software Center.
In Software Center, click ‘Install’ to begin installing.
If you have having trouble getting this program to run make sure to also install:
sudo apt-get install lsb-core
Now you should be able to launch Google Earth from Applications → Internet → Google Earth
App Runner
App Runner is a small open source utility that makes it very easy to run any type of program/executable/script on any distro/OS that uses the nautilus file manager.
wget http://hacktolive.org/files/app_runner/App_Runner_0.4.9.deb && sudo dpkg -i App_Runner_0.4.9.deb
Then right-click the file -> Scripts -> Run This App or Run This App (root)
VMWare Player System Emulator
VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software package from VMware, Inc.(a company which was formerly a division of and whose majority shareholder remains EMC Corporation). VMware Player can run virtual appliances. VMware Player can also create virtual machines since version 3.0.
It uses the same virtualization core as VMware Workstation, a similar program with more features, and not free of charge. VMware Player is available without restriction for personal non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement.
Install VirtualBox 4 in Ubuntu – System Emulator
Oracle VM VirtualBox is an x86 virtualization software package, originally created by software company innotek GmbH, purchased by Sun Microsystems, and now developed by Oracle Corporation as part of its family of virtualization products. It is installed on an existing host operating system; within this application, additional guest operating systems, each known as a Guest OS, can be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.
Supported host operating systems include Linux, Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Solaris, and OpenSolaris; there is also a port to FreeBSD (only OSE version). Supported guest operating systems include versions and derivations of Windows, Linux, BSD, OS/2, Solaris and others. Since release 3.2.0, VirtualBox also allows limited virtualization of Mac OS X guests on Apple hardware.
According to 2010 surveys by LinuxJournal.com, and LifeHacker.com, VirtualBox was the most popular virtualization product with over 50% of the vote.
Add the VirtualBox repository and install the latest VirtualBox 4.0.6 using the commands below (before this, make sure you remove any VirtualBox 3.x version you may have installed).
To install Virtualbox 4 in terminal:
sudo echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -sc) contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.1
For some additional features like USB 2.0 support, you will need to install theVirtualBox Extension Pack which you can download from HERE. Once downloaded, double click the Extension Pack and it should open with VirtualBox and you can then easily install it. If that doesn’t work for you, Open VirtualBox and go to File > Preferences and on the Extensions tab, click the “add” button on the right (first blue diamond) and browse for the VirtualBox extension pack.
Free VirtualBox Images.
Ready-to-use virtual machines sporting open-source operating systems:
VirtualBox Homepage:
VirtualBox User’s Guide:
DraftSight
Windows: AutoCAD
Free CAD software* available for Windows®, Mac® and Linux®. A new 2D CAD product that provides professional CAD users, students and educators with a better way to create, edit and view DWG files.
Prerequisite installation packages:
sudo apt-get install libxcb-render-util0 sudo apt-get install libdirectfb-extra
If you need to install this on a 64-bit Ubuntu system here are instructions:
Microsoft Project
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Project
Ubuntu equivalent : OpenProj
OpenProj is an open source project management software intended as a complete desktop replacement for Microsoft Project, being able to open existing native Project files. It was developed by Projity in 2007. OpenProj runs on the Java Platform, allowing it to run on a variety of different operating systems.
OpenProj
wget http://nchc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/openproj/openproj_1.4-2.deb && sudo dpkg -i openproj_1.4-2.deb
Access it through Applications → Office → OpenProj
Source Control Management
Windows equivalent : TortoiseSVN
Ubuntu equivalent : RabbitVCS
RabbitVCS is a graphical front-end for version control systems available on Linux. It integrates into file managers to provide file context menu access to version control repositories. The project was originally called NautilusSvn, but due to the desire to support file managers in addition to Nautilus and more version control systems, it was renamed to RabbitVCS (Version Control System). The interface was inspired by TortoiseSVN, recognisable by the file manager shell integration, which is available on Nautilus and Thunar in the case of RabbitVCS. It can also integrate into Gedit or run independently on the command line.
Add the launchpad repository :
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rabbitvcs/ppa && sudo apt-get update
Then install it :
sudo apt-get install rabbitvcs-core rabbitvcs-nautilus rabbitvcs-thunar rabbitvcs-gedit rabbitvcs-cli killall nautilus
Right Click on any folder or file and access the RabbitVCS submenu
Adobe Air
Special Note: Beginning June 14 2011, Adobe AIR is no longer supported for desktop Linux distributions. Users can install and run AIR 2.6 and earlier applications but can’t install or update to AIR 2.7. The last version to support desktop Linux distributions is AIR 2.6. AIR 2.6 is available from the AIR Archive.
wget http://airdownload.adobe.com/air/lin/download/latest/AdobeAIRInstaller.bin chmod +x ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin sudo ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
or if you have a 64 bit version of Ubuntu then you will need to install:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs wget http://airdownload.adobe.com/air/lin/download/latest/AdobeAIRInstaller.bin chmod +x ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin sudo ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
Access it through Applications → Accessories → Adobe Air Application Installer.
Htop is an interactive system-monitor process-viewer written for Linux. It is designed to replace the Unix program top. It shows a frequently updated list of the processes running on a computer, normally ordered by the amount of CPU usage. Unlike ‘top’, Htop provides a full list of processes running, instead of the top resource-consuming processes. Htop uses color and gives visual information about processor, swap and memory status.
Users often deploy htop in cases where Unix top does not provide enough information about the systems processes, for example when trying to find minor memory leaks in applications. Compared to top, it provides a more convenient, cursor-controlled interface for killing processes.
Windows: Task-manager
Ubuntu: Htop
sudo apt-get install htop
Y PPA Manager:
Y PPA Manager is a GUI tool to easily add PPAs, search a package in all Launchpad PPAs, remove duplicate PPAs (only works with separate .list files), backup PPAs and other PPA-related tasks. Check out the Launchpad page for a complete features list.
To install in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install y-ppa-manager
Hard Disk Cloning Backup Entire System onto LIVE USB STICK, DVD-R, CD-R
Windows Equivalent: Norton Ghost
Ubuntu Equivalent: Relinux
Hard Disk Partitions Manager
Windows equivalent : Symantec Partition Magic
Ubuntu equivalent : GParted
GParted is a GTK+ front-end to GNU Parted and the official GNOME Partition Editor application.
It is used for creating, deleting, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems (works with Vista / Windows 7 System & Data partitions), reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging).
Xvidcap is a tool that can capture your monitor screen to create a presentation video that you can upload to share with other users. It comes in really handy when you need to create a demonstration or tutorial on something you are doing with your desktop. It works in two distinct modes: It can capture to single frames (like a number of jpeg images) or it can encode the captured frames to a video on-line.
It is intended to be a standards-based alternative to tools like Lotus ScreenCam for UNIX platforms. On-line encoding is done through FFMPEG and also allows for audio grabbing on OSS compatible systems.
sudo apt-get install xvidcap
GParted Partition Manager:
GParted is a free partition editor for graphically managing your disk partitions. It is useful for tasks such as: creating space for new operating systems, restructuring disk space to separate user and operating system data, and copying partitions to enable upgrading to a larger hard disk drive. Your hard disk drive or USB flash drive can be subdivided into one or more partitions. GParted enables you to reorganize your disk partitions while preserving the contents of these partitions.
sudo apt-get install gparted
Access it through System → Administration → Partition Editor.
BleachBit quickly frees disk space and tirelessly guards your privacy. Free cache, delete cookies, clear Internet history, shred temporary files, delete logs, and discard junk you didn’t know was there. Designed for Linux and Windows systems, it wipes clean 90 applications including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, and more.
Beyond simply deleting files, BleachBit includes advanced features such as shredding files to prevent recovery, wiping free disk space to hide traces of files deleted by other applications, and vacuuming Firefox to make it faster. Better than free, BleachBit is open source. If you have a system that seems to be running slower than normal, it’s always a good idea to try running Bleachbit to see if it may resolve your performance issues that you may be experiencing.
Windows equviant: CCleaner
Ubuntu: Bleachbit
sudo apt-get install bleachbit
