The best Linux distributions are Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Elementary OS, Arch, OpenSuse, Debian, Fedora, and Centos. People who use Windows OS have misconceptions that Linux OS is suitable only for developers. They also believe Linux OS doesn’t provide as many programs that are available for the Windows OS. While the 2nd statement holds true up to a certain extent, one should know that the apps that Linux offers are far more stable than their Windows alternatives. You can run the apps as many times as you want. Linux OS won’t fumble.
After installing your favorite distro, the first thing you should do is install the best Linux apps. Over 100K software in the programming, graphics editing, administration, office categories are available for the users. The best applications among them are as follows:
12 Must have Linux apps 2017
13Atom
Atom is a free website development tool for Linux. It is better than Netbeans, Eclipse, Geany, and others. You can change the look and feels of the Atom editor by installing themes. Developers can easily extend Atom’s functionality by installing packages. I use it for web development with PHP, HTML, JQUERY, CSS. The Atom Editor supports over 50 programming languages. It is a great tool for developing web applications.
12Eclipse
Eclipse is one of the most used development tools in the world. It is feature packed IDE with intuitive UI.
People use Eclipse because:
- It is lighter than Netbeans
- Supports many languages.
- Provides drag and drop GUI builder.
- Supports autocompletion.
- And many more reasons.
Eclipse can be configured to support any widely used language by installing plugins. It is one of the must have and best Linux software for frontend or GUI developers.
11BleachBit
Although Linux is a reliable and stable operating system, it doesn’t remove junk files generated by programs, broken shortcuts, etc. BleachBIt is the best Linux system maintenance software. It is a user-friendly and free application that allows you to get rid of junk on your PC. Linux doesn’t require cleanup, but if your system doesn’t have enough room left for other apps, BleachBit can come in handy
10Oracle VirtualBox
You may want to run Windows or Remix OS on Windows. To do so, you must install the VirtualBox app. Sun Microsystems is the original developer of VB. It became an Oracle product after the acquisition.
9Wine
Wine is one of the best Linux Software for the users who have switched from Windows OS. It lets you install all types of Windows applications. It is a great alternative to Virtualbox.
8Google Chrome
GC is a great browser that works quite well with the Linux OS. Most Internet users have switched to Chrome from Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer. Chrome is fast, secure, and provides a private browsing feature in the form of incognito mode.
The browser offers 1000s of free Chrome extensions, which help you get rid of standalone file transfer, VPN client, and website testing tools.
7WhatsApp
After installing Chrome, visit WhatsApp web and bookmark it. Don’t waste time in installing emulator application for using WhatsApp on PC.
6Skype:
Skype is a free messaging program. It is older than WhatsApp and has over 200 million users worldwide. What makes Skype a great program is its ability to connect you with other users real-time for making video calls.
5Thunderbird
Want yourself to keep updated with latest emails? Download and Install the free Mozilla Thunderbird app on your Linux PC. Once you install the software, configure your email accounts and install the FireTray addon which ensures that ThunderBird minimizes to the taskbar and keeps you informed about new emails when you’re using it.
Whether you’re a developer or a normal user, you cannot risk your online accounts by saving passwords in a plain text file.
4KeePass
KeePass2 or KeepassX is the best Linux Password manager application. It is a powerful and lightweight tool which saves your login credentials in encrypted format in a database stored locally.
The program lets users generate random strong passwords. It has import and export function to create/restore backups of the passwords.
KeePass password manager supports plugins. You’ll have to enter a master password to access the list of passwords you’ve saved. Keepass links the password to a key. If you forget the key, you will lose all your passwords.
Make sure that you back up the key file and DB at a safe location.
3VLC (Video Lan Codec)
No other video or audio player software supports as many files as VLC media player software does. Whether it is Windows or Linux, VideoLAN should be the default software for playing MP3, MP4, MPG, DVD, AVI, or MKV files. VLC supports customization of audio and video effects. It is a tiny and powerful application.
Linux offers plenty of good graphics editing software.
2GIMP
It is one of the most advanced image editing tool available for Linux. It is a free Linux software which offers high-end tools that you’ll find in Photoshop, Corel Draw, etc. GIMP supports advanced features such as layering, path, scanning, masking, etc.
GIMP supports PSP, PSD file formats and editing of images stored on a remote PC using an extension called as gvfs-backend.
Conclusion: Developers bundle Modern Linux Distros with many tools and utilities. While installing Linux, the OS gives you the option of choosing packages you want your PC to have. Make sure you select required apps. You must install some of the tools we have mentioned above manually. Please refer the developer’s website for the instructions.
We’ll cover more Linux apps as we find them.
