In my previous post I said I would be looking an alternative in Linux for everything I do in Windows. Here’s an initial list of the applications that I am finding an alternative to. I would be updating this post fairly regularly, adding more things to the list and their alternatives, until I am confident that I can plan to make Ubuntu as my primary OS.
| Softwares | Type | Alternative in Linux |
| Which have Nix versions | ||
| Firefox | Browser | Firefox |
| F.lux | Screen Dimming app | F.lux |
| Dropbox | File sharing | Dropbox |
| Telegram | Chat application | Telegram |
| VLC Player | Video Player | VLC |
| Steam | Gaming software | Steam |
| Which have no Nix Versions | ||
| Garena | Gaming LAN client | NA |
| Raptr | Gaming Client | NA |
| Which have good alternatives | ||
| uTorrent | Bit torrent application | Transmission |
| Everything | Real time file search | Locate command in Terminal |
| Nettalk | IRC Client | XChat |
| Microsoft Office Picture Manager | Picture editor | Shotwell or GIMP |
| Wordweb | Dictionary | GoldenDict |
| Netmeter | Record of consumed bandwidth | Conky comes closest |
| IDM | Download manager | uGet |
| Google Talk | Google chat application | EmpathyIM |
| Winamp | Music Player | Rhythmbox or Banshee |
| MS Office | Office Suite | LibreOffice or Wine |
| Where no alternative is needed | ||
| BullZip | PDF Printer | Not Needed since ubuntu have built-in PDF Printer |
| PuTTY | SSH and Telnet Client | ssh and telnet command on Terminal |
| FileZilla | FTP Client | ftp command in Terminal |
| Code::Blocks | C, C++ Programming IDE | Use GCC from Terminal or Emacs |
| To Be Decided | ||
| MS-Paint | Pixel level bitmap picture editor | |
Apart from the applications, there are other things which a particular Windows user gets adapt to:
- Custom Keyboard Shortcuts: As per current info it’s possible to set custom Keyboard Shortcuts in Nix easily.
- Ability to create apps shortcuts:
- Background apps and a System Tray:
- Window Switching: From what I know now, switching in Nix is cooler and more functional than windows. Shortcut to use it is “Home key” + “W”.
- Autostart Apps: Ability to let the apps start automatically when OS boots by putting the app in something called as StartUp folder.
When the softwares and UX is sorted out next thing which comes is understanding some lingo of Nix which might be totally unfamiliar to newbies in Linux:
- Filesystem: Nix don’t have the concept of Drives like C, D or E. Rather everything in Nix starts from the root. “\” is root folder. Hence path to your home folder can be, “\home\vyom” which means “vyom folder inside home folder of root folder”.
- Mounting of drives: Any DVD or removable USB drive you insert is mounted to some folder inside root folder. <insert example>.
- Installing Apps: Nix don’t have .EXE files rather it have various ways to install apps.
- apt-get install <softwarename>
- TAR Packages
Expect revision to this post to reflect new information soon.
Isn’t nettalk your IRC client ?
Yes. And thanks for that mock post of yours. -_-
You created that post too soon, since this was a very early draft that I would update quickly. I would also be adding the “User experience” factor in this post too.
I hope you keep *your* post updated to reflect the changes. 😉
A good alternate to bandwidth monitoring is “vnstat”. Also install “vnstati” for a nice .png graph output
Installing apps:
1. *Nix don’t have .EXE but it does have .DEB on debian based distros and .rpm on red hat distros. So use Gdebi installer and install apps just like windows(With less clicks and stupid licence agreements :P)
2. Use Ubuntu Software centre on Ubuntu.
3. Use Synaptic package manager – Super powerful package manager! No windows app can ever beat this.
Something I’d like to add.
Synapse app launcher. Search it, install it and play with it. You’ll notice increase in productivity from day one 😛
Thanks for the valuable suggestions. .deb is an alternative to .exe installers. Command line would still be most preferable method though. 😛
And Ubuntu Software center is really good. I will try to use Synaptic and write about my experience.
Ubuntu Software Center and Synaptic are both based off apt. Sure, sometimes you need to search for applications, and there, synaptic beats software center hands down, but I just prefer to apt-get my way around.