Great apps to help with the Linux Journey !!

Discussion in 'Linux' started by smallhagrid, Feb 12, 2020.

  1. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

    Sep 14, 2013
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    #1 smallhagrid, Feb 12, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2020
  2. ktgrrl

    ktgrrl MDL Novice

    Feb 18, 2013
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    Super! That truly is quite a list, so I've copy/pasted it ito a word processor to peruse offline at leisure. I use & like some of your choices, and there are some different ones that I prefer. (No contest intended. Different folks, different strokes!) I'll try to organize & post my list of favorites soon.
    I'm on Debian Testing, and some of my choices from D's repo may not also work without dependency issues in U or Mint etc, and vice versa.

    Meanwhile, I'm ALSO interested in your (and anyone else's) "techie-type apps" for Linux !

    In general, I think it might be helpful if we all could please specify the distro we're using when we recommend apps or ask / offer advice or help.
    Maybe in our sigs, or in member's first post in a thread? Or perhaps adding Tag(s): e.g., Ubuntu; Mint; Debian; Fedora.

    (I don't see how to make a tag, though, and I think they're for the entire thread, not a single post? I'm in MDL Classic view, but I'll change that if needed)

    I'll probably make my sig something like this:
    I currently use Debian 10 Testing, also (rarely) Win XP and 7 in VirtualBox.
     
  3. crayolaeater

    crayolaeater MDL Novice

    Jan 2, 2020
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    For simple audio editing/creation I recently found ocenaudio to be a nice catch. Cons: documentation and help is very slim to nothing, but if you've ever used any other software for similar tasks, it is pretty easy to get the hang of the where's and what's.
    Code:
    @ ocenaudio.com

    Devuan ASCII and Beowulf w/ openbox
     
  4. ipx

    ipx MDL Addicted

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    #4 ipx, Feb 17, 2020
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  5. Kim100

    Kim100 MDL Addicted

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  6. ipx

    ipx MDL Addicted

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    #8 ipx, Feb 19, 2020
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  7. ipx

    ipx MDL Addicted

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    #9 ipx, Feb 24, 2020
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  8. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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    A bit of unfortunate info to share here:
    The main choices for an M$office equivalent under Linux are Libreoffice (supposedly the most mature of the lot...), WPS office & Freeoffice.
    (I left another one out of here because it was so very appalling that I've even forgotten its name...sorry.)

    Given the demand for most folks to use DOCX type files so as to be sort of universally compatible amongst users, it is very important to have an office suite that can be relied upon.

    Of the 3 major players mentioned above - none of which truly qualify and using the 'real' M$office online is a non-option for anyone with privacy or confidentiality concerns - the same as G. docs would be, not even remotely (haha) an option.

    What with both Libreoffice & WPS Office tending to be quite crashy & having some very odd bugs - something better would sure be appreciated, if such a thing even exists ??

    So here is where I wonder if anyone who is also sort of a Linux junkie (besides myself) has found another really good option to cover this need ??

    Thanks for any helpful replies.

    PS:
    Not related with the office suite SNAFU is that Balena Etcher is included in the list of better known apps in the OP here.
     
  9. nodnar

    nodnar MDL Expert

    Oct 15, 2011
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    used all mentioned here. [except m$ cloudgarbage. libre crashed regularlly in documents containing photos, now using wpe. but it is a pain, with those ads. used to have m$ office 2003, but i lost the cd and key in a housemove. [i liked that one best, but it was nasty that m$ `upgraded` file extensions. [ only used word, and excel for lists. presentations are useless, imo; just bloatware.
     
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  10. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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    Hi Nodnar & thanks for pitching in here !!
    What is WPE, please ??
    And did you use M$0 03 via WINE ??
    Thanks.
     
  11. nodnar

    nodnar MDL Expert

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  12. nodnar

    nodnar MDL Expert

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    i would prefer to stay far away from m$ products. they did not ask my permission for polluting my w7 with telemetry, and the devil only knows what they will decide to do next.
    maybe i will use w7 again, but it will stay offline.
     
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  13. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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    Thanks for replying Nodnar !!
    WPS Office in the Linux version is very recent & free with no nags.

    Sadly all three of the 'major' office suites have problems.
    Libreoffice tends to be quite crashy & has some very odd bugs - the biggie being that when it crashes it leaves behind lock files.
    WPS Office & Freeoffice seem to be a little better.

    There is a paid/commercialized version of LO called Collabora Office that claims to be less buggy & crashy in a shared file situation, but even if its trial shows it to be that much better - it is very expensive to get.
     
  14. ktgrrl

    ktgrrl MDL Novice

    Feb 18, 2013
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    I've recently started using FreeOffice instead of LibreOffice. LO has become too bloated & slow for my liking and too many crashes, and FO seems lighter & faster with no crashes so far. I hardly ever use Win at all any more (XP & 7 offline-only in VirtualBox running on Debian for a few old games & utilities). I sometimes collaborate with Win 10 users for research & doc editing, and so far no problems with text or spreadsheets using FreeOffice. IMO none of the office apps do a great job with embedded images from web pages, even after stripping off the urls to view the doc with images offline later, but that's probably at least in part due to scripting idiosyncracies (lazy web devs). I don't want to save a web page as PDF or html if I can copy/paste/save it as a much smaller doc file!

    Call me cheap, but if I can get free (as in beer and also libre) apps that do what I need without hogging system resources and with minimal trouble, then I see no reason to buy a license or put up with nag-ads to get a few extra bells & whistles. Instead, I'll gladly donate to support the work of freeware devs and/or organizations that provide what I need, and hope that my donations help to keep it going at a price anybody can afford.

    Anybody know about Gnome-Boxes as a possible alternative for VirtualBox for running WinXP and 7 under Linux? I came across it the other day but haven't had time to try it. Win 7 offline in VirtualBox really lags on an older PC running bare-bones Debian with XFCE, so I'm hoping for something a little more lightweight than VB. Win 7 worked fine on that PC back in the day. I'd rather not dual-boot because I want the "crossover" ability between Win 7 and Linux running concurrently on the same machine.
    (I'm in the middle of repairs & clean-up to my house & property due to big fallen trees in a recent storm, so if anyone replies to this, please forgive me if I don't respond soon. I'll come back when I can while things are being sorted out at home!)
     
  15. ipx

    ipx MDL Addicted

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    #19 ipx, Feb 27, 2020
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2022
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  16. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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