Essential Linux Apps


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(I guess this could relate to any OS, but I've just reinstalled Linux Mint on my laptop so the question is specific to Linux.)

 

My computer got screwed up over the weekend. It would boot but I was sent to the terminal where there was an error about reading the data. I don't know, it's not important anymore. The fact is that I ended up reinstalling Linux Mint.

When I booted back into the OS I thought, "ok, now to install the essentials...what are the essentials?"

 

Overall I think the default apps that come with Mint are pretty complete. I think I've only installed 4 items:

 

  • Google Chrome
  • VeraCrypt
  • TLP (which might have already been installed from the looks of things)
  • Oracle VirtualBox

 

That's it for the moment, but perhaps someone has an idea that I haven't thought about. So, what do you absolutely have to install when starting with a fresh OS?

 

EDIT: While creating this topic I also came across this article. It might be interesting for others in a similar situation.

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For me:

 

Firefox

Chromium

VS Code

Sublime Text 3

Rider

IntelliJ IDEA

Datagrip

WebStorm

Android Studio

Beyond Compare

Open JDK

.Net Core

Reminna

Boostnote

Yubico Authenticator

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It depends on what you do, Nick. :)

 

Look on the Debian site. Mint is based on Debian. So you can insatall anything from them

 

Currently, I use:

 

FireFox

Discord

Spotify

Minecraft

SMPlayer

 

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34 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

It depends on what you do, Nick. :)

Very true, and as my list shows there are some applications that others won't use. I guess I should rephrase:

 

What are the essential things that you do when you install your new Mint system?

 

I guess your point still stands for the above, but I'm looking for things that are missing, or tweaks that you apply to make it the best system possible.

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13 minutes ago, Nick H. said:

Very true, and as my list shows there are some applications that others won't use. I guess I should rephrase:

 

What are the essential things that you do when you install your new Mint system?

 

I guess your point still stands for the above, but I'm looking for things that are missing, or tweaks that you apply to make it the best system possible.

There are several guides online, or even YouTube, of "## things to do after you install <distro>"

 

It all depends on what "you" like. There's no "what does everyone use?" Everyone uses different apps. As seen above...

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4 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

There are several guides online, or even YouTube, of "## things to do after you install <distro>"

Well jeez, sorry for trying to create an IT discussion... :rolleyes:

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2 minutes ago, Nick H. said:

Well jeez, sorry for trying to create an IT discussion... :rolleyes:

Haha, you good, Nick. ;)

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I'm an old fart who still burns some discs so I install K3b for cd's and Bombono for dvd authoring. Don't care for the installed cd burning tool. Also install screengrab although most browsers can do that stuff anyway. That's about all I need to install that isn't included already, which is why I switched to Mint a good while back and will stick with it.

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Browser (your choice)

Do you need Virtualbox VM i.e. full os? could you use docker?

Discord

Slack

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For me on Linux Mint MATE:

 

Steam

everything Mono (need the libraries, including the Microsoft VBNC stuff)

WINE Development Branch (So I can install FLStudio and Notepad++)

Office 365 (yes, I use it .. pay the subscription for the extra stuff because it is worth it)

Discord

Proprietary Nvidia Drivers

Google Chrome

Mint-Meta-Codecs

Microsoft Fonts (A must have)

XScreensavers GL + Extras

RSS Screensavers

Compiz Reloaded + Emerald (How-to is here)

A fix for stuttery and crackling Pulseaudio (here), fixes the mic being nasty on Discord too

 

And other customizations & such (like aliases, etc). :yes: All described in the Useful Tips N Tricks post.

 

[EDIT] Oh, and WINE is also for my GOG.com game library too. Gotta love them.

[EDIT 2]DOSBox. Gotta have that.

 

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18 hours ago, Haggis said:

Browser (your choice)

Do you need Virtualbox VM i.e. full os? could you use docker?

Discord

Slack

I'm not sure that I need VirtualBox on this particular machine. Aside from anything else when I tried using it to load Kali Linux it ran so slow. But since my other machine doesn't leave the house I figured I'd install it anyway. What does Docker do in comparison though? Taking a quick look it seems that it helps run individual programs rather than a whole OS?

 

Ah yeah, I should probably install Slack. I wouldn't want to miss the lively staff chats! :p

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21 hours ago, Unobscured Vision said:

For me on Linux Mint MATE:

 

Steam

everything Mono (need the libraries, including the Microsoft VBNC stuff)

WINE Development Branch (So I can install FLStudio and Notepad++)

Office 365 (yes, I use it .. pay the subscription for the extra stuff because it is worth it)

Discord

Proprietary Nvidia Drivers

Google Chrome

Mint-Meta-Codecs

Microsoft Fonts (A must have)

XScreensavers GL + Extras

RSS Screensavers

Compiz Reloaded + Emerald (How-to is here)

A fix for stuttery and crackling Pulseaudio (here), fixes the mic being nasty on Discord too

 

And other customizations & such (like aliases, etc). :yes: All described in the Useful Tips N Tricks post.

 

[EDIT] Oh, and WINE is also for my GOG.com game library too. Gotta love them.

[EDIT 2]DOSBox. Gotta have that.

 

How are you getting a working Office 365 on Linux? Office is the one reason why I can't fully switch to Linux right now. The free versions of pseudo office are horrible which is why I stick to Windows.

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44 minutes ago, Gotenks98 said:

How are you getting a working Office 365 on Linux? Office is the one reason why I can't fully switch to Linux right now. The free versions of pseudo office are horrible which is why I stick to Windows.

Most likely using the online versions. 

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1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

That doesn’t really answer the question. 

 

5 hours ago, Nick H. said:

I'm not sure that I need VirtualBox on this particular machine. Aside from anything else when I tried using it to load Kali Linux it ran so slow. But since my other machine doesn't leave the house I figured I'd install it anyway. What does Docker do in comparison though? Taking a quick look it seems that it helps run individual programs rather than a whole OS?

 

Ah yeah, I should probably install Slack. I wouldn't want to miss the lively staff chats! :p

Docker provides the minimum possible in a VM to run an application.  Unless you are a developer, I can’t imagine you needing or wanting it over a full fledged hypervisor. 

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10 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

That doesn’t really answer the question. 

 

Docker provides the minimum possible in a VM to run an application.  Unless you are a developer, I can’t imagine you needing or wanting it over a full fledged hypervisor. 

Thanks for the information. Yeah, I read the link and thought, "well now I know how they number their builds, as well as the various types of releases...but I still don't know what it is." :laugh:

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10 hours ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Naah. I prefer it through WINE. Plus I use WINE for other things, so ... 😛 

completely fair. main reason I thought to mention it was for a native directory view when saving files instead of the WINE drive letter emulated directory view but to each their own :)

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On 8/27/2019 at 9:49 AM, Gotenks98 said:

How are you getting a working Office 365 on Linux? Office is the one reason why I can't fully switch to Linux right now. The free versions of pseudo office are horrible which is why I stick to Windows.

I use the web versions. I can't be bothered to install it. Works fine for my needs. Anything more complex I need I use LibreOffice.

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On 8/27/2019 at 3:49 PM, Nick H. said:

Thanks for the information. Yeah, I read the link and thought, "well now I know how they number their builds, as well as the various types of releases...but I still don't know what it is." :laugh:

so docker is kinda like Virtualbox but you dont have to install an OS each time, it puts a container on top of your OS and runs the app etc in there

 

So for example for my dev stuff i use a centos docker to give me linux shell etc, i also run Apache in a docker and good thing is as its separate from your system you can blow it away withouth affecting the host :)

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