Useful Apps on Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an open source linux distribution that is easy to use for many linux users because of its friendly GUI and vast documentations as well as support. Being a PHP developer i find ubuntu very useful use it for my work. So, at some point you would want to know what software’s would be good to work with if you are a developer or a ubuntu user. So, here are my few picks to make it easy for you.

Tasksel is a mutliple related package installer. It has multiple packages including LAMP stack. I use this for my LAMP stack.Command line arguments

You can specify directly which task to install. For instance, to add the Apache-MySQL-PHP stack to an existing system:

sudo tasksel install lamp-server

To see available (unistalled – u) and installed (i) tasks:

tasksel --list-task

For complete options, see the tasksel manpage:

man tasksel

For More details you can goto this Link.

Wine allows you to run the Windows application in the Linux Platform. In linux all apps are not supported and developed. So, this comes in handy when you need to run a windows software.

Differences between Wine Stable and Development versions

Stable versions normally offer less bugs with better stability and usually receive updates every 3-6 months after release. The development version receives an update every 2 weeks which is uploaded to the PPA in a few days after release.

The decision to stick with the stable version (Even number versions: 1.0, 1.2, 1.4…) or with the unstable versions (Odd number version: 1.1, 1.3, 1.5…) is up to the user, but the main difference is compatibility and performance which are both enhanced in the Development version. You not only get the latest with any new fixes it offers, but also become a tester and can help in the development cycle.

Recommended Install

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wine

Find out more on this Link.

Although you can actually install and configure everything you need with Wine alone and it’s complementing apps. With Play on Linux you can save time and install by choosing directly. I used Photoshop CS-6 by installing necessary modules and files using POL. Play on linux is actually easier to use and has many choices.

Find out more here.

Indicator Stickynotes are Sticky notes that we use in windows. This one has various extra and different functionalities. You can download it from here. Sticky notes are really really useful when you are working and doing multi-tasks at the same time. You have many jobs in queue and you stack your jobs and works into these notes so that you can instantly view them.

For Sticky Notes

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:umang/indicator-stickynotes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-stickynotes

Another useful software is FlareGet. This is practically by far the most useful download manager i have used in ubuntu. It has the same UI like the internet download manager. After using FlareGet i bet you wont use any other download managers in ubuntu.

Get flareget through here

GIMP is a cross-platform image editor available for GNU/Linux, OS X, Windows and more operating systems. It is free software, you can change its source code and distribute your changes. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or scientist, GIMP provides you with sophisticated tools to get your job done. You can further enhance your productivity with GIMP thanks to many customization options and 3rd party plugins.

GIMP acts as an alternative to photoshop in ubuntu. In comparison to photoshop it cannot beat its features nor its user friendly experience but does provide the user to get what needs to be done. You can try out GIMP from here.

Guake Terminal is a useful tool. It is a Drop Down terminal. It is displayed by hitting a single keystroke and hidden by doing the same. The terminal is ran in the background allowing ease to use of terminal while executing different processes. We can simply hit a keystroke and bring down the terminal without any disturbance. Guake is available in ubuntu software cente as well.

This application displays the network speed on the top panel. It shows the download and upload speed. Rather important when measuring your net speed. By default, the Netspeed Indicator is placed as the first indicator on the left, but if you want to change its position, you can do this by using Dconf Editor (firstly, install dconf-tools: “sudo apt-get install dconf-tools”), by going to apps > indicators > netspeed and changing the “ordering-index” value. You can install it from here.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak