As Linux gains more popularity and acceptance, the list of available applications and Linux software keeps growing. Like the OS itself, Linux software is typically less resource-intensive than its Windows counterparts and it’s also usually free. Here are some of the most popular and useful Linux software packages across a variety of areas, including desktops, security and productivity applications.
Office Apps
The most well-known piece of Linux software for office applications is Open Office. Consider this the free Linux counterpart to Microsoft Office. In Open Office, Linux users will find all the necessary productivity apps, including word processing, spreadsheets and presentation programs. Work can be saved in a variety of formats, ensuring compatibility with Office.
Desktops
Launchy is an easy-to-use program launcher desktop app. It requires far less memory then Windows Explorer and can be used not just as a desktop, but as a media player and a web bookmark app, too.
Antivirus
Linux software users really don’t rely on antivirus as much as proponents of Windows do, but it’s still helpful to have an antivirus application, especially when trading files with Windows friends. Like a lot of Linux software, Clam is lightweight, easy to use and free.
Firewall
Firestarter is a useful all-in-one firewall app that can be as simple or as complex as needed. It is set up with a simple wizard but it also allows Linux software users to open and close specific ports at will, view traffic in real time, configure whitelist and blacklist rules and much more.
Web Browsing
Everyone will mention Firefox, and with good reason. Since that’s the case, we’ll go with Opera here, instead. Opera is free and extremely useful. It comes with a very effective RSS reader, clients for email and newsgroups and even an IRC client. Combine all that with cutting edge features like tab stacking and Firefox definitely has some competition in the “non-IE” sector.
Games
Owning a computer isn’t just about productivity, security and browsing. There’s a wide variety of games for fans of Linux software to try, including BillardGL for fans of pool, Gnome Hearts and even First person shooter Urban Terror. When it’s time to put down the spreadsheets and have fun, Linux software offers a lot of options.