The Key Applications For A Fully Functional Desktop Linux
Applications to install for a powerful desktop workstation
In my previous article, I detailed how to go from a base install of Linux Mint for MATE desktop through the changes that help make the foundation for a real workstation from the perspective of a long-time user of Linux. https://medium.com/@rthomas_40287/installing-linux-mint-21-3-with-the-mate-desktop-1f942b532c7a
But the real magic of Linux? It’s the treasure trove of powerful, free applications that you’re your desktop a productivity powerhouse.
Linux has evolved over three decades from a hobbyist’s project into a formidable desktop operating system. What truly sets Linux apart is the vast array of quality native applications available. In this article, I’ll share the applications that I use daily, or find indispensible when I need their specific capabilities. Most of these are open-source and free, making Linux not just powerful but also accessible.
The beauty of Linux is its simplicity. A few clicks in the Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager and you’re up and running — no unnecessary software bundled in, no intrusive registrations. The open source ecosystem is something I deeply appreciate, and I always look for ways to give back to the community that makes this possible, starting with Linux Mint itself. https://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php
File Management with Caja
The default file manager in Linux, Caja, is excellent but it can be even better with a few tweaks. The default Icon view feels clunky, so I recommend switching to “Compact View” under Edit > Preferences. Don’t forget to uncheck “All columns have the same width” for a more streamlined experience. Customize the zoom level to suit your screen resolution and comfort.
While setting up your file manager, consider creating a “~/bin” directory in your home folder. This is where you can store scripts and small utility programs and is especially helpful when installing technical packages to avoid the proliferation of directories in your home folder.
Thunderbird: The All-in-One Productivity Tool
Thunderbird is more than just an email client — it’s your command center for emails, calendars, contacts, tasks, and RSS feeds. Setting up your email accounts is a breeze and your can synchronize your online calendar and contacts with just a few add-ons.
Email: Setting up preexisting IMAP email accounts is fast and straightforward. Once connected, it will replicate the servers’ messages locally. Keep in mind that you will need to again put in each account’s information for the SMTP outgoing server in order to send email as well. If you wish to setup the signatures for emails that you send, I would recommend putting them in your ~/bin directory for good housekeeping. The main settings for Thunderbird are in a hidden folder called ~/.thunderbird in a cryptically named profile folder. The profile is loaded on startup based on the contents of the installs.ini and profiles.ini files. If you’re migrating from another computer, knowing this will allow you to bring over your existing profile to this directory and point Thunderbird to it.
Calendar: Many of us live and die by our calendars. Thunderbird’s calendar will synchronize with online calendars such as Google Calendar. For this, you need to go to Tools > Add-ons and Themes to add TbSync and Google-4-TbSync. You can then connect to your online Google Calendar and have bi-directional ability to see and manage your calendar.
Contacts/Address Book: Thunderbird’s Address Book connects to your online contacts using the TbSync add-in. One caution is that currently, TbSync is only unidirectional. You will need to add your contacts to Google Contacts online and then synchronize them to get them to remain in Thunderbird’s contacts.
Tasks: Thunderbird will synchronize with Google Tasks. I use an open source task manager at https://tasks.org to maintain these tasks on my phone and tablet.
Vivaldi Browser: The Ultimate Tab Manager
I used to juggle between Firefox and Chrome to manage my many tabs — an exhausting and chaotic task. Then I discovered Vivaldi, a browser so powerful it replaced both. Vivaldi’s tab management features are unparalleled. You can group tabs by subject area and collapse them accordion-style, or create separate workspaces for different subject areas. Now, I effortlessly manage over 100 tabs, all neatly organized and easy to access.
Like Firefox and Chrome, it gives you the option of remembering the login information for each site requiring logins. If you create a Vivaldi account, then these logins will be available if you install Vivaldi on your phone and tablet. You can download this excellent software for free here: https://vivaldi.com
Keepass2: Secure Your Digital Life
In today’s digital age, using a password manager isn’t optional; it’s essential. Keeypass2 is a free, cross-platform password manager that makes it easy to store and organize complex passwords. With the option to protect your keepass file with not only a password but also a master key that you’d generate using GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) you can store your password file in the cloud on Dropbox or pCloud knowing that it’s secure from your locally stored master key file.
pCloud: Cloud Storage
If you’re tired of the subscription model of Dropbox, pCloud offers a refreshing alternative. pCloud integrates seamlessly with the Caja file manager just like Dropbox. pCloud provides flexible cloud storage options and the ability for a one-time purchase for lifetime access, saving you from the never-ending cycle of subscription fees. Like Dropbox, pCloud has a free tier to try the product. https://www.pcloud.com
Simplenote: Quick and Easy Note-Taking
Simplenote is the perfect cross-platform tool for taking quick notes, accessible across all your devices. https://simplenote.com Once you install it and make an account, then your notes are available and editable on whatever platform you are logged into. After I moved to Linux Mint 21.3, I needed to add “ — disable-gpu-sandbox %U” to the icon’s command to get it to run smoothly.
Zoom, Discord, and Slack: Stay Connected
In today’s remote work environment, staying connected is crucial. Zoom, Discord, and Slack all have native Linux versions, allowing you to seamlessly integrate them into your workflow. While Discord’s frequent updates can be a minor annoyance, the benefits outweigh the 30 seconds it takes to install them.
PDF Studio and VueScan: Professional Grade Tools
Adobe may be king on other platforms, but in the Linux world, PDF Studio by Qoppa Software is a powerful alternative to creating and managing PDFs’ https://www.qoppa.com
If you need more robust scanning software, VueScan is the tool to beat, especially when dealing with scanner document feeders. https://www.hamrick.com It’s available on multiple platforms. The proprietor is extremely responsive to support issues.
GIMP: The Open-Source Photoshop
Need to edit images? GIMP is the go-to alternative to Adobe Photoshop on Linux. It’s powerful, free, and without the hefty subscription fee.
Gantt Charts
If you ever need to create Gantt charts for project management, ganttproject a free and multi-platform tool that’s actually useful.
Timeshift and Grsync: Safeguard Your System
Ever made a change to your system that broke everything? Timeshift is your safety net, allowing you to roll back to previous system states with ease. Timeshift takes snapshots of key system files at predefined intervals. Once installed, it has a wizard to allow you to set the intervals.
Pair this with Grsync, a graphical overlay to rsync so that you can create easy, reliable backups of your system.
Crossover from CodeWeavers
While LibreOffice is good for casual use of a spreadsheet, word processing, and presentation software, the standard is Excel, Word, and PowerPoint — especially if you wish to exchange these documents with others. Crossover provides “bottles” in which Windows programs run where they are tricked into running in artificial Windows environments. Programs running in Crossover are running natively — not emulated. Because of this, they run quickly and behave just like a Linux application. There is a free version called WINE (Wine Is Not an Emulator) but I recommend paying the money to have the more refined version if you plan on seriously depending on using Windows programs. https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover There is a huge list of Windows applications that will run on WINE. Here is their database of applications: https://appdb.winehq.org It is an amazing project that has been around almost as long as Linux itself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_(software)
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Some Windows applications cannot run in WINE or Crossover. Tableau, Acrobat products and the occasional Excel spreadsheet that expects to work with a browser to retrieve data are examples. In these cases, you can run a full windows desktop in a dedicated workspace window of Linux, or you can run the application where it appears as just another application on your desktop but it’s actually running in Windows. https://www.virtualbox.org
Audio Applications for Linux
For music lovers, Linux has you covered. Spotify has a native application for Linux distributions that are on the Debian/Ubuntu branch. For other distributions, you can use Snap to install it: https://www.spotify.com/us/download/linux/
Pithos is a free install for streaming Pandora.
The VLC Media Player is good for playing DVD’s.
If you have your own music library, there are good tools available freely available. Asunder CD Ripper lets you choose to rip the music to a FLAC file (Free Lossless Audio Codec) for the highest audio quality or you can rip the music to a lossy file format such as MP3 as well as OOG and AAC formats. Sound Converter let’s you convert from one format to another if you maintain a parallel library between lossless and lossy files. If you have vinyl records to rip to audio files, you can use Audacity to bring in the audio files and chop out the individual songs based on the pauses between songs. Ex Falso is a great tool to edit the songs’ metadata.
Strawberry is a forked version of Clementine that is being maintained: https://www.strawberrymusicplayer.org
Stock Charting and Trading Applications
TradingView is a well-known trading software that allows you to chart, trade, screen, and analyze stocks. It comes with a large community of users — many of whom post customized indicators and strategies written in the proprietary language for TradingView called Pine Script. TradingView has a native version for Debian/Ubuntu branch distributions and a Snap version for others: https://www.tradingview.com/
Interactive Brokers has their venerable Trader Workstation (TWS) freely available from their website to download allowing you to trade your accounts there. Additionally, TWS allows you to use Python to connect to Interactive Brokers from programmatically. You can use your ~/bin directory to prevent yet another directory to be needed at the root of your home directory. https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/tws.php#tws-software
When Schwab purchased TD Ameritrade, probably the best part of their acquisition was TD’s Thinkorswim (TOS) trading platform. There is an install for Linux. https://www.schwab.com/trading/thinkorswim
Conclusion: The Freedom of Linux
With so many excellent free and paid applications, Linux offers a level of flexibility and power unmatched by other operating systems. Whether you’re looking to escape the constraints and irritations of Windows or the walled garden of Apple, Linux provides a robust, capable environment for all of your desktop needs. The Debian branch of distributions, like Linux Mint, Ubuntu, MX Linux, and Debian, offers the widest selection of desktop applications, making it my personal choice for a desktop operating system. These distributions benefit from the excellent package management system of DEB files. If a multi-platform desktop application is made available for Linux, it will often be only available in a DEB file and the others must use the Snap subsystem.
There can’t be enough screenshots showing a Linux Desktop doing office productivity work so that people can see that it’s an approachable operating system that’s extremely powerful but simple to use.
So are you ready to take your Linux experience to the next level? Stay tuned for my next article where I’ll dive into setting up the technical stack for development work on Linux in Python, R, and Postgres.
