Stuff I do in Windows that needs an alternative in Linux

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:

  1. Custom Keyboard Shortcuts: As per current info it’s possible to set custom Keyboard Shortcuts in Nix easily.
  2. Ability to create apps shortcuts:
  3. Background apps and a System Tray:
  4. 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”.
  5. 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:

  1. 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”.
  2. Mounting of drives: Any DVD or removable USB drive you insert is mounted to some folder inside root folder. <insert example>.
  3. 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.

8 thoughts on “Stuff I do in Windows that needs an alternative in Linux

    1. 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. 😉

  1. A good alternate to bandwidth monitoring is “vnstat”. Also install “vnstati” for a nice .png graph output

  2. 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 😛

    1. 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.

    2. 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.

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