Link: http://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/to-do-list-after-installing-ubuntu-12-04-lts-aka-precise-pangolin/
...........................................
Ubuntu 12.04 Unity Desktop Environment
Ubuntu 12.04 Classic “Flashback” Desktop Environment
Ubuntu 12.04 Gnome 3 Desktop Environment
Ubuntu 12.04 Cairo Desktop (Gnome Environment)
Supported until April 2017
Last time this page was link-checked and completely updated: November 2013
Ubuntu is designed primarily for use on personal computers, although a server edition also exists. Ubuntu holds an estimated global usage of more than 12 million desktop users, making it the most popular desktop Linux distribution with about 50% of Linux desktop marketshare. In January 2012, the people at Ubuntu estimated that 20 million people use their operating system. It is fourth most popular on web servers, though its popularity is increasing rapidly. No more viruses, and no more spyware/malware. This guide was created primarily to help new Ubuntu users transition quickly over from other operating systems, but is just as useful to even very experienced Linux users. When you are done installing everything on this list hopefully you will have everything you would probably find on other comparable commercially available operating systems. There was a step-by-step list written for Fedora many many years ago when I was first starting out learning about Linux OS and was the concept for this guide, and I always found this to be best way to do fresh installations of Linux on my own computers.
Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK-based company Canonical Ltd. Canonical generates revenue by selling technical support and services related to Ubuntu, while the operating system itself is entirely free of charge, if you get really stuck at some point, it would probably make more sense to use paid commercially available technical support if you run into trouble installing Ubuntu OS than using a free how-to list, like this one.
Here is a nice user guide:
https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu-help/index.html
For more specific information (recommended):
Existing Mac users can use these instructions on how to install Ubuntu for the first time:
When you have your ubuntu.iso downloaded, and installed onto a USB Flash Thumb Drive, you will need to boot your computer from the USB Flash Drive. When you turn on your computer there should be an option at the bottom of your screen to allow you to change the boot order or you may need to select BIOS settings to boot from your USB port first, instead of your HDD. You can change it back to the default when you are done installing Ubuntu. You will need to have your newly created Ubuntu installation USB inserted in your USB port when the computer is booting up. If this is your first time using Ubuntu on your computer, please make sure that you throughly test everything with your Live Ubuntu USB drive to make sure everything still works on your computer before installing it to your hard drive.
Special Note: If you have a hard drive (non-SSD drive only) that you need to have magnetically shredded because you are giving your computer to someone else make sure to use “Secure Erase” application within the Parted Magic boot disc. It will overwrite everything, even sectors marked as bad. The Parted Magic live linux CD has a GUI interface to run Secure Erase, and it makes shredding very simple for even new users to Linux OS. If you have an SSD drive that you need to have shredded, make sure to use the disc that came from the factory since SSD are usually encrypted. Here is where you can download Parted Magic iso image to burn onto a blank cd-r/dvd-r disc:
http://partedmagic.com
Installation of Ubuntu:
Make sure you select and place checkmarks next to “Download updates while installing”, and “Install this third-party software” on the following screen. (Recommended)
You
can either select to repartition your entire hard drive for Ubuntu, or
you want to keep your existing Windows OS installation, and you can
select a side-by-side installation.
Since
there have been issues with the video card drivers in Ubuntu 12.04 you
probably would want to leave the Log in automatically deselected and
change it to “Require my password to log in”, and that way you can
switch your session to Ubuntu 2D in case your video drivers have
problems in 12.04. (Recommended)
Now
that you hopefully have Ubuntu installed on your computer, here is how
to use this To-do List Tutorial if you are new to using Ubuntu Linux
(click the gear icon to switch to HD video):
Okay, if you rebooted your computer after installing and your computer fails to start correctly you can try to fix grub bootloader with the following program called Boot-Repair.
Boot-Repair is a simple tool to repair frequent boot issues you may encounter in Ubuntu like when you can’t boot Ubuntu after installing Windows or another Linux distribution, or when GRUB is not displayed anymore, some upgrades breaks GRUB, etc.
Boot-Repair lets you fix these issues with a simple click, which (generally reinstall GRUB and) restores access to the operating systems you had installed before the issue. You need to boot from your live stick of Ubuntu again and then run these commands in Terminal:
Grub Customizer is a GUI configuration tool to allow users to change the Grub 2 settings without using the command line. The application allows the user to add, remove, freeze, rename and reorder boot menu items. It will also allow changes to the Grub 2 configuration settings such as background image and menu timeout. For long-time users familiar with StartUp-Manager, this application performs many of the same capabilities with additional options. It also makes convoluted guides such as my “Grub 2 Title Tweaks” unnecessary for all but the most devoted command-line enthusiasts!
They have done a terrific job updating the Ubuntu Classic “Fallback” Desktop Environment in Ubuntu 12.04 for those who don’t really like Unity, and still long for the original Gnome 2.* Desktop look and feel. To install Gnome Fallback session DE (see screenshot at the top of this article), you will need to install “gnome-session-fallback” package using Ubuntu Software Center, and Synaptic Package Manager (which no longer comes installed by default either in 12.04).
To install Classic Ubuntu “Fallback” Desktop Environment:
Ubuntu 12.04 (Gnome 2 Fork) Mate Desktop Environment
Unhappy with Unity? Want your old school Gnome 2 desktop back? Just when you thought Gnome 2 was gone forever. It’s back with MATE!
More info here: http://mate-desktop.org/
How to install older Gnome 2 clone “Mate” Desktop Environment in 12.04:
Lubuntu (LXDE) 12.04 Desktop Environment
Lubuntu is a lightweight Linux operating system based on Ubuntu but
using the LXDE desktop environment in place of Ubuntu’s Unity shell and
GNOME desktop. LXDE is touted as being “lighter, less resource hungry
and more energy-efficient”. Lubuntu received official recognition as a
formal member of the Ubuntu family on 11 May 2011, commencing with
Lubuntu 11.10, released October 13th 2011. If you really want something
more like Gnome 2 was in Ubuntu, I can suggest trying Lubuntu as a nice
slim retro alternative, copy and paste into Terminal:
Adding Medibuntu Package Repository (Discontinued) (Optional Alternative):
The only thing this does is provide you with DVD codecs to playback DVD movies. If you don’t have a DVD drive, or you don’t watch DVD movies on your computer you can ignore these packages.
Special Note: w32codecs and w64codecs are no longer available.
https://launchpad.net/medibuntu/+announcement/11219
Express Post-Installation Bash Script for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
If you have Ubuntu 12.04 freshly installed, and you have completely updated your system and rebooted your system (make sure to bookmark this web site first):
Special Note: You will need to manually install Medibuntu above before using this script.
Estimated Time of Installation: 30-45 minutes depending on your bandwidth.
Download Post-Installation Python Script:
For 32-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
Special Note: You will still need to manually install your 3rd party proprietary drivers, software like Google Earth, Google Chrome Browser, and configuring your firewall settings separately in the rest of this guide below and also installing your add-on plugins for Firefox and Google Chromium.
Enable Partner and Independent Repositories in Ubuntu Software Center (Prerequisite and Requirement) :
Open Ubuntu Software Center and select “Edit” and then select “Software Sources”:
Make
sure both Canonical Partner repositories have check marks next to them
and make sure it looks something like this and click close:
If you receive any update errors regarding your cdrom install disc make sure to go back to the previous “other software” and leave them disabled, and then update your system.
Now open up Terminal and copy and paste (afterwards reboot your system and repeat this step until no further updates are found – do not proceed until done here):
Adobe Flash Player (Prerequisite and Required) is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromising viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems. Flash Player 10.3 delivers beautiful HD video, faster graphics rendering, and high performance on mobile devices and personal computers and is designed to take advantage of native device capabilities — enabling richer, more impressive user experiences.
Open Terminal and copy and paste this:
Video Drivers and Proprietary Drivers Check (Required):
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/linux-display-ia32-304.37-driver-uk.html
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Legacy/Pages/radeon_linux.aspx
http://intellinuxgraphics.org/index.html
Run this in terminal to check your video driver and hopefully you have all “yes” listed:
Here is how you can upload your hardware specifications to pastebin for sharing with Ubuntu Forums support:
Open your Terminal, copy and paste (this one works for me the best):
Or you can try the latest unstable version. Open your Terminal, copy and paste (fyi- ppa purge doesn’t work when you try to uninstall it however):
If you have ATI video graphics here is how to install your ATI video driver.
How-to install the AMD Catalyst Proprietary Drivers:
http://askubuntu.com/a/126513
Alternative ATI Legacy Video Driver PPA installation for (for < 5000 series cards):
If you have a pesky annoying AMD watermark in the lower right-hand corner after rebooting your system, you can try to remove it with this bash script file:
If you don’t have any plans on using your internal Wi-Fi now would also be a good time to disable it from within BIOS to keep anyone with a Wi-Fi sniffer from gaining access to your system. Depending on the BIOS capabilities of your system you may also be able to disable Bluetooth as well, if you know for a fact that you will not be needing it and preventing anyone with a Bluetooth sniffer from gaining access to your system. (These are only a personal recommendation if you want greater security…)
How-to access your BIOS settings:
http://www.techbusy.org/tutorial/how-to-enter-in-bios-setup-in-pc/
Adding Medibuntu Package Repository (Discontinued) (Optional Alternative):
The only thing this does is provide you with DVD codecs to playback DVD movies. If you don’t have a DVD drive, or you don’t watch DVD movies on your computer you can ignore these packages.
This is where GUFW comes in.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
To check your current settings:
If you want to tighten-up your security even further please review:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1893751
Here is a configuration script if you are running a server:
http://www.frozentux.net/documents/iptables-tutorial/
How to periodically scan for rootkits. Both RKHunter and CHKRootkit basically do the same thing – check your system for rootkits. No harm in using both.
Would you like to mine for Bitcoins? Here are guides on how to install bgfminer or cgminer:
Windows equivalent : Skype
Ubuntu equivalent : Skype, Jitsi, Brosix
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chats over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.
And if you are running a 64-bit version of Ubuntu 12.10 you will this:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/
Hardware acceleration and WebGL also feature in this release but are not turned on by default. Head into opera:config to enable it.
Other new features include:
If you have webcam issues with skype, fix this by doing this:
Skype Wrapper is a small third-party tool, Skype-wrapper brings a bunch of Ubuntu-specific features to Skype, including Messaging Menu integration and native notifications for message alerts, and Unity quicklists for quick access to call controls.
http://www.zoiper.com/download_intermediate.php?os=Linux&ap=z2&location=zoiper2_linux_tar_gz
Jitsi (formerly SIP Communicator) is a VoIP, videoconferencing, and instant messaging application for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It supports several popular instant messaging and telephony protocols.
Download your Ubuntu debian (*.deb) installation packages at either:
http://jitsi.org or http://download.jitsi.org/jitsi/debian/
Brosix Enterprise Instant Messenger is a secured instant messenger that is designed to help business users find a secure way to connect to one another quickly. It uses encrypted communications in order to secure messages in a manner that is similar to secure email services. Video chat just like Skype, and even LogMeIn-like features.
To download and install, copy and paste in Terminal:
ScrubIt Public DNS profiles several million websites and by default block out any pornographic, phishing, and many other potentially harmful sites. It is a free open DNS for content filtering, and highly recommended if you have kids using your home network. Free parental controls.
You
can add it to your Static DNS entries in your hardware WiFi router
configuration (you can try calling the tech support company that made
your router to help guide you through the process to update your
router’s “LAN” DNS settings. Just tell them you want to add a public DNS
67.138.54.100 and 207.225.209.66 to be used by all the computers on
your network) or if you aren’t using a router on your individual Ubuntu
system, you can update your system local DNS like this:
Click on Save, and reboot your system.
The best way to update your DNS nameserver is to change your wifi router configuration. Just call tech support for your make and model router (the manufacturers tech support phone number) and ask them to walk you through the process to update your DNS nameserver configuration for your router box. It should normally be free of charge to call support for your make and model router box. Make sure you put a good password on your router box when you are done. And never let your kids have administrative accounts on Ubuntu. Always create new users without superuser rights too. Only you, the superuser should be able to change any of the system network settings from within Ubuntu OS.
Here is an alternative to set up the same kind of parental blocking service but with OpenDNS instead:
https://www.opendns.com/parental-controls
GEdit
Essentially is it like notepad in MS Windows but with many many more features.
It
was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few
dependencies from other packages. It supports many filetypes and has
some nice features.
Komodo Edit
is a free text editor for dynamic programming languages. It was
introduced in January 2007 to complement Active State’s commercial
Komodo IDE product. With the release of version 4.3, Komodo Edit is
built on top of the Open Komodo project. Many of Komodo’s features are
derived from an embedded Python interpreter. Open Komodo uses the
Mozilla code base, along with Scintilla, and the two products share many
features and support the same languages (including Python, Perl, PHP,
Ruby, Tcl, SQL, Smarty, CSS, HTML and XML) and computer platforms
(Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows). The editor component is implemented
using the NPAPI, with the Scintilla view embedded in the XUL interface
in the same manner as a web browser plugin. Both Komodo Edit and Komodo
IDE support user customization through plugins and macros. Komodo
plug-ins are based on Mozilla Add-ons and extensions can be searched
for, downloaded, configured, installed and updated from within the
application. Available extensions include a functions list, pipe
features, additional language support and user interface enhancements.
Windows: Notepad++
In 32-bit Ubuntu:
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Office Suite
Ubuntu equivalent : LibreOffice Suite
LibreOffice is a free software office suite developed by The Document Foundation as a fork of OpenOffice.org. It is compatible with other major office suites, including Microsoft Office, and available on a variety of platforms. Its developers’ goal is to produce a vendor-independent office suite with ODF support and without any copyright assignment requirements. The name is a hybrid word with the first part Libre, which means free (as in freedom) in French and Spanish, and the English word Office.
LibreOffice comes preinstalled by default in Ubuntu usually, but you still want to double-check at this point that you have everything else installed that you probably will need, and that you have the latest updated version from the developers.
To install LibreOffice PPA:
http://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/how-to-install-grammar-checker-in-libreoffice-in-ubuntu/
To enable PDF import capability:
http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center
Special Note: If you would like the MS Windows OS or Apple Mac OS version of LibreOffice Suite for another computer you have at work or school – here is where you can find the link. And I definitely recommend using the torrent because the direct link doesn’t usually completely download for some unknown reason. https://www.libreoffice.org/download/ or you can download LibreOffice for Windows via Torrent here:
http://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/stable/4.0.0/win/x86/LibreOffice_4.0.0_Win_x86.msi.torrent
GWoffice (Google Web Office)
is an application that lets you access Google Drive and its content
directly from your desktop in Ubuntu. It supports HUD, drop and drag to
upload documents, and offline synchronization. GWoffice comes with a
clean and nice GTK theme that integrates well with Ubuntu. Although it
only works with office documents, spreadsheets, and presentation files,
it’s nice to have if you want to sync your Google documents in Ubuntu.
While
the goals of the program are for ease of use and simple easy to
understand tools, Scribus offers support for professional publishing
features, such as CMYK color, easy PDF creation, Encapsulated Postscript
import/export and creation of color separations.
Windows equivalent : CuteFTP, SmartFTP, CoreFTP
Ubuntu equivalent : FileZilla
FileZilla is free, open source, cross-platform FTP/SFTP software, consisting of FileZilla Client and FileZilla Server. Binaries are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). As of 18 April 2011, FileZilla Client was the 7th most popular download of all time from SourceForge.net.
This is great FTP client, very complete, in my opinion, and the best one around.
To install FileZilla in terminal:
Development IDE
Windows equivalent : Dreamweaver
Ubuntu equivalent : Kompozer, Netbeans
KompoZer is an open source WYSIWYG HTML editor based on a rewritten version of the now-discontinued Nvu editor. KompoZer is maintained as a community-driven fork and is a project on Sourceforge.
KompoZer’s WYSIWYG editing capabilities are one of the main attractions of the software. In addition, KompoZer allows direct code editing as well as a split code-graphic view:
NetBeans
MultiSystem
is for creating a multiboot live USB flash drives or thumb-drives.
Instead of carrying around a bunch of different flash drives for all of
your different live operating systems, and restoration images, now can
move them all onto one large USB flash drive. Simply drag and drop your
.iso files. It is very similar to Xboot in WinOS.
Beyond
simply deleting files, BleachBit includes advanced features such as
shredding files to prevent recovery, wiping free disk space to hide
traces of files deleted by other applications, and vacuuming Firefox to
make it faster. Better than free, BleachBit is open source. If you have a
system that seems to be running slower than normal, it’s always a good
idea to try running Bleachbit to see if it may resolve your performance
issues that you may be experiencing. I personally recommend that heavy
internet users run this at least once or twice a month.
...........................................
Ubuntu 12.04 Unity Desktop Environment
Ubuntu 12.04 Classic “Flashback” Desktop Environment
Ubuntu 12.04 Gnome 3 Desktop Environment
Ubuntu 12.04 Cairo Desktop (Gnome Environment)Last time this page was link-checked and completely updated: November 2013
Ubuntu is designed primarily for use on personal computers, although a server edition also exists. Ubuntu holds an estimated global usage of more than 12 million desktop users, making it the most popular desktop Linux distribution with about 50% of Linux desktop marketshare. In January 2012, the people at Ubuntu estimated that 20 million people use their operating system. It is fourth most popular on web servers, though its popularity is increasing rapidly. No more viruses, and no more spyware/malware. This guide was created primarily to help new Ubuntu users transition quickly over from other operating systems, but is just as useful to even very experienced Linux users. When you are done installing everything on this list hopefully you will have everything you would probably find on other comparable commercially available operating systems. There was a step-by-step list written for Fedora many many years ago when I was first starting out learning about Linux OS and was the concept for this guide, and I always found this to be best way to do fresh installations of Linux on my own computers.
Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK-based company Canonical Ltd. Canonical generates revenue by selling technical support and services related to Ubuntu, while the operating system itself is entirely free of charge, if you get really stuck at some point, it would probably make more sense to use paid commercially available technical support if you run into trouble installing Ubuntu OS than using a free how-to list, like this one.
Here is a nice user guide:
https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu-help/index.html
For more specific information (recommended):
- wiki.ubuntu.com/PrecisePangolin/ReleaseNotes/UbuntuDesktop
- help.ubuntu.com/community
- linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php
- ubuntuguide.org
- www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/index.php
- ow.ly/rymzE
- Ubuntu 12.04 Precise 32-bit (Desktop)
- Ubuntu 12.04 Precise 64-bit (Desktop)
- Ubuntu 12.04 Precise 32-bit (Server)
- Ubuntu 12.04 Precise 64-bit (Server)
- Ubuntu 12.04 Precise 32-bit (Alternate)
- Ubuntu 12.04 Precise 64-bit (Alternate)
- http://ubuntu.mirrors.pair.com/releases//precise/
- http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/12.04/ (Cloud images)
- http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/ (Cloud images)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/release/(Ubuntu DVD, preinstalled ARM images, source)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/12.04/release/ (Ubuntu Core)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/12.04/ (Ubuntu Netboot)
- http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/12.04/ (Kubuntu)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu-active/releases/precise/release/ (Kubuntu Active)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/12.04/ (Xubuntu)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/12.04/ (Edubuntu DVD)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/12.04/ (Ubuntu Studio)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/12.04/(Mythbuntu)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/12.04/release/ (Lubuntu)
- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/12.04/release/ (Apple Hardware Support)
- http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu
- http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/burn-a-dvd-on-ubuntu
Existing Mac users can use these instructions on how to install Ubuntu for the first time:
- http://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBook
- http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-mac-osx
- http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/burn-a-dvd-on-mac-osx
- http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvnaLxw7fEg
- http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/burn-a-dvd-on-windows
- https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/installation-guide/amd64/pre-install-bios-setup.html
When you have your ubuntu.iso downloaded, and installed onto a USB Flash Thumb Drive, you will need to boot your computer from the USB Flash Drive. When you turn on your computer there should be an option at the bottom of your screen to allow you to change the boot order or you may need to select BIOS settings to boot from your USB port first, instead of your HDD. You can change it back to the default when you are done installing Ubuntu. You will need to have your newly created Ubuntu installation USB inserted in your USB port when the computer is booting up. If this is your first time using Ubuntu on your computer, please make sure that you throughly test everything with your Live Ubuntu USB drive to make sure everything still works on your computer before installing it to your hard drive.
Special Note: If you have a hard drive (non-SSD drive only) that you need to have magnetically shredded because you are giving your computer to someone else make sure to use “Secure Erase” application within the Parted Magic boot disc. It will overwrite everything, even sectors marked as bad. The Parted Magic live linux CD has a GUI interface to run Secure Erase, and it makes shredding very simple for even new users to Linux OS. If you have an SSD drive that you need to have shredded, make sure to use the disc that came from the factory since SSD are usually encrypted. Here is where you can download Parted Magic iso image to burn onto a blank cd-r/dvd-r disc:
http://partedmagic.com
Installation of Ubuntu:
Make sure you select and place checkmarks next to “Download updates while installing”, and “Install this third-party software” on the following screen. (Recommended)
You
can either select to repartition your entire hard drive for Ubuntu, or
you want to keep your existing Windows OS installation, and you can
select a side-by-side installation.
Since
there have been issues with the video card drivers in Ubuntu 12.04 you
probably would want to leave the Log in automatically deselected and
change it to “Require my password to log in”, and that way you can
switch your session to Ubuntu 2D in case your video drivers have
problems in 12.04. (Recommended)
Now
that you hopefully have Ubuntu installed on your computer, here is how
to use this To-do List Tutorial if you are new to using Ubuntu Linux
(click the gear icon to switch to HD video):Okay, if you rebooted your computer after installing and your computer fails to start correctly you can try to fix grub bootloader with the following program called Boot-Repair.
Boot-Repair is a simple tool to repair frequent boot issues you may encounter in Ubuntu like when you can’t boot Ubuntu after installing Windows or another Linux distribution, or when GRUB is not displayed anymore, some upgrades breaks GRUB, etc.
Boot-Repair lets you fix these issues with a simple click, which (generally reinstall GRUB and) restores access to the operating systems you had installed before the issue. You need to boot from your live stick of Ubuntu again and then run these commands in Terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair && sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && boot-repair
Grub Customizer is a GUI configuration tool to allow users to change the Grub 2 settings without using the command line. The application allows the user to add, remove, freeze, rename and reorder boot menu items. It will also allow changes to the Grub 2 configuration settings such as background image and menu timeout. For long-time users familiar with StartUp-Manager, this application performs many of the same capabilities with additional options. It also makes convoluted guides such as my “Grub 2 Title Tweaks” unnecessary for all but the most devoted command-line enthusiasts!
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install grub-customizerSpecial Note: If your desktop seems to be running slow, you can switch your session to Ubuntu 2D by logging out, and clicking the little gear looking icon next to where you enter in your password, and click on the gear to change your session to Ubuntu 2D instead and re-login again to save your changes.
They have done a terrific job updating the Ubuntu Classic “Fallback” Desktop Environment in Ubuntu 12.04 for those who don’t really like Unity, and still long for the original Gnome 2.* Desktop look and feel. To install Gnome Fallback session DE (see screenshot at the top of this article), you will need to install “gnome-session-fallback” package using Ubuntu Software Center, and Synaptic Package Manager (which no longer comes installed by default either in 12.04).
To install Classic Ubuntu “Fallback” Desktop Environment:
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback sudo apt-get install indicator-applet-appmenu sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-toolThen log out and select “GNOME Classic” at the LightDM login screen. You need to click on the the little-round-looking-icon next to where you type your password to change your session to Ubuntu Classic “Fallback” session. And Gnome 3.x Desktop Themes can be added with gnome-tweak-tool.
Ubuntu 12.04 (Gnome 2 Fork) Mate Desktop EnvironmentUnhappy with Unity? Want your old school Gnome 2 desktop back? Just when you thought Gnome 2 was gone forever. It’s back with MATE!
More info here: http://mate-desktop.org/
How to install older Gnome 2 clone “Mate” Desktop Environment in 12.04:
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main" sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install mate-archive-keyring sudo apt-get install mate-coreThen log out and select “MATE” at the LightDM login screen. You need to click on the the little-gear-looking-icon next to where you type your password to change your session to Mate session.
Lubuntu (LXDE) 12.04 Desktop Environmentsudo add-apt-repository ppa:lubuntu-desktop/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktopNow log out and select “Lubuntu” at the LightDM login screen. You need to click on the the little gear looking icon next to where you type your password to switch your session to Lubuntu.
Adding Medibuntu Package Repository (Discontinued) (Optional Alternative):
The only thing this does is provide you with DVD codecs to playback DVD movies. If you don’t have a DVD drive, or you don’t watch DVD movies on your computer you can ignore these packages.
Special Note: w32codecs and w64codecs are no longer available.
To disable the Medibuntu repository and enable the libdvdcss one, use these commands:
They are currently looking for new maintainer(s) for Medibuntu, if interested please visit:sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list curl ftp://ftp.videolan.org/pub/debian/videolan-apt.asc | sudo apt-key add - echo "deb ftp://ftp.videolan.org/pub/debian/stable ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/libdvdcss.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2
https://launchpad.net/medibuntu/+announcement/11219
Express Post-Installation Bash Script for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
If you have Ubuntu 12.04 freshly installed, and you have completely updated your system and rebooted your system (make sure to bookmark this web site first):
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade sudo rebootAnd if you have a broadband hardwired connection to the Internet (WiFi would take forever to download all the packages), you can use the following python script file to install most of the ‘recommended’ packages you will need on your system that are found on the rest of this walk-through guide. You can skip this python script file if you prefer to install everything manually instead. It is experimental, so if you have any doubts about using a python script, you can move on to the following steps in this guide to install everything you want individually.
Special Note: You will need to manually install Medibuntu above before using this script.
Estimated Time of Installation: 30-45 minutes depending on your bandwidth.
Download Post-Installation Python Script:
cd Desktop wget http://debianhelp.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ubuntu-1204-postinstall2-tar.doc cp ubuntu-1204-postinstall2-tar.doc ubuntu-1204-post-install1-tar.gz tar -xvf ubuntu-1204-post-install1-tar.gz sudo chmod a+x ubuntu-12.04-postinstall.pyNow you need to choose which CPU architecture your Ubuntu OS is running. It will be either 32-bit or 64-bit Ubuntu.
For 32-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
sudo ./ubuntu-12.04-postinstall.py -c mycfg32.cfgFor 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
sudo ./ubuntu-12.04-postinstall.py -c mycfg64.cfgImportant: Keep in mind that it is going to take a while to install everything. Make some coffee. Watch some TV and relax while it does most of the work on this do-to list. Try to avoid using your computer until is it completely done. Make sure to reboot your computer and check for any further software updates with Synaptic Package Manager (not the command line) after you reboot your system. Make sure to install, and run Synaptic Package Manager and check for updates through that application at least once after using this script.
Special Note: You will still need to manually install your 3rd party proprietary drivers, software like Google Earth, Google Chrome Browser, and configuring your firewall settings separately in the rest of this guide below and also installing your add-on plugins for Firefox and Google Chromium.
Enable Partner and Independent Repositories in Ubuntu Software Center (Prerequisite and Requirement) :
Open Ubuntu Software Center and select “Edit” and then select “Software Sources”:
Make
sure both Canonical Partner repositories have check marks next to them
and make sure it looks something like this and click close:
If you receive any update errors regarding your cdrom install disc make sure to go back to the previous “other software” and leave them disabled, and then update your system.
Now open up Terminal and copy and paste (afterwards reboot your system and repeat this step until no further updates are found – do not proceed until done here):
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgradeYou can set up automatic unattended-upgrades pretty easily by typing this in a terminal (and when it prompts you to select yes or no – hit the left arrow key to select yes):
sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades
sudo dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades
Adobe Flash Player (Prerequisite and Required) is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromising viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems. Flash Player 10.3 delivers beautiful HD video, faster graphics rendering, and high performance on mobile devices and personal computers and is designed to take advantage of native device capabilities — enabling richer, more impressive user experiences.
Open Terminal and copy and paste this:
sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer gsfonts-x11
Video Drivers and Proprietary Drivers Check (Required):
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
gksu jockey-gtkIf you are having video issues in general, make sure your video card is supported in Ubuntu:
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/linux-display-ia32-304.37-driver-uk.html
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Legacy/Pages/radeon_linux.aspx
http://intellinuxgraphics.org/index.html
Run this in terminal to check your video driver and hopefully you have all “yes” listed:/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -pIf your video drivers didn’t install correctly or you couldn’t find any: restart your system, and check again. If they still don’t show up go to Ubuntu Forums, cut and paste the above results and do a hardware specifications pastebin upload and then post a trouble-ticket with them specifying what make and what model computer you are running and what kind of graphics adapter you are trying to install drivers for on Ubuntu. Be patient with them since they are all volunteers. They should be able to sort out any video driver problems you may be experiencing.
Here is how you can upload your hardware specifications to pastebin for sharing with Ubuntu Forums support:
sudo apt-get install pastebinit dmesg | pastebinitCopy the link these commands provide you with and post that to Ubuntu Forums requesting technical support with your hardware configuration. Make sure to also provide them with your unity support test results from the first unity test above. Be patient as wait time may be 24 to 48 hours for a forum reply.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste (this one works for me the best):sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgradeAnd then reboot your system.
Or you can try the latest unstable version. Open your Terminal, copy and paste (fyi- ppa purge doesn’t work when you try to uninstall it however):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:upubuntu-com/nvidia sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgradeAnd then reboot your system.
If you have ATI video graphics here is how to install your ATI video driver.
How-to install the AMD Catalyst Proprietary Drivers:
http://askubuntu.com/a/126513
Alternative ATI Legacy Video Driver PPA installation for (for < 5000 series cards):
sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx fglrx_* fglrx-amdcccle* fglrx-dev* sudo add-apt-repository ppa:makson96/fglrx sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic fglrx-legacy sudo aticonfig --initialAnd then reboot.
If you have a pesky annoying AMD watermark in the lower right-hand corner after rebooting your system, you can try to remove it with this bash script file:
wget http://debianhelp.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/fixwatermark-sh.doc sudo cp fixwatermark-sh.doc fixwatermark.sh sudo chmod a+x fixwatermark.sh sudo ./fixwatermark.shOr if that doesn’t fix it you can try to edit the ATI signature file:
sudo gedit /etc/ati/signature9777c589791007f4aeef06c922ad54a2:ae59f5b9572136d99fdd36f0109d358fa643f2bd4a2644d9efbb4fe91a9f6590a145:f612f0b01f2565cd9bd834f8119b309bae11a1ed4a2661c49fdf3fad11986cc4f641f1ba1f2265909a8e34ff1699309bf211a7eb4d7662cd9f8e3faf14986d92f646f1bc
If you don’t have any plans on using your internal Wi-Fi now would also be a good time to disable it from within BIOS to keep anyone with a Wi-Fi sniffer from gaining access to your system. Depending on the BIOS capabilities of your system you may also be able to disable Bluetooth as well, if you know for a fact that you will not be needing it and preventing anyone with a Bluetooth sniffer from gaining access to your system. (These are only a personal recommendation if you want greater security…)
How-to access your BIOS settings:
http://www.techbusy.org/tutorial/how-to-enter-in-bios-setup-in-pc/
Adding Medibuntu Package Repository (Discontinued) (Optional Alternative):
The only thing this does is provide you with DVD codecs to playback DVD movies. If you don’t have a DVD drive, or you don’t watch DVD movies on your computer you can ignore these packages.
To disable the Medibuntu repository and enable the libdvdcss one, use these commands:
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list curl ftp://ftp.videolan.org/pub/debian/videolan-apt.asc | sudo apt-key add - echo "deb ftp://ftp.videolan.org/pub/debian/stable ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/libdvdcss.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2
They are currently looking for new maintainer(s) for Medibuntu, if interested please visit:https://launchpad.net/medibuntu/+announcement/11219
Samba
is no longer installed by default apparently in Ubuntu 12.04 so if you
need to share files over the local network you will need to install a
few packages. Afterwards lookup “Personal File Sharing” and it should be
ready to configure and run. And don’t forget to leave the proper port
open when you configure GUFW/UFW firewall settings. After you install
the packages listed here you will need to also power cycle/reboot your
system.How to Share Files over the Network:
http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/03/filesharing-in-windows-7-and-ubuntu-12-04-precise-pangolin/
Terminator is a GPL terminal emulator. It is available on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other Unix X11 systems.
Terminator will run on any modern POSIX system with Java 5 or later.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/285/make-your-work-easy-using-terminator
MyUnity
is tweak tool for Ubuntu Unity Environment, It is really well designed
and fully featured. You can find all tools for your Unity Desktop to
customize your Unity. (Recommended)
Unsettings is graphical configuration tool for Unity, Unsetting allows you to change the themes for GTK, window manger, icons, cursors, switch off the global menu and the overlay scrollbars used in Unity, another nice feature is that Unsetting lets you to save your settings into and load from a text file (JSON format) so you can easily backup you settings or copy them to a different account. (optional)
Cairo-Dock
is a pretty, fast and customizable desktop interface. You can think of
it as a good alternative/addition to Unity, Gnome-Shell, Xfce-panel,
KDE-panel, etc. You can use OpenGL if your video adapter supports it, or
you can run it without OpenGL. You can logout after you have it
installed and change your session to Cairo Gnome to run it.
Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW & GUFW) (Highly Recommended)
is a firewall that is designed to be easy to use. It uses a command
line interface consisting of a small number of simple commands, and uses
iptables. iptables is already a very powerful tool by itself, but it’s
syntax can get awkward at times and hard to figure out, so Ubuntu
developers decided to make ufw (“The reason ufw was developed is that we
wanted to create a server-level firewall utility that was a little bit
more for `human beings`.”), which was to be simpler. Now, on the
graphical side of things, Firestarter already existed. But why not make
an even easier to use GUI for desktop `human beings`, powered by ufw?
Samba
is no longer installed by default apparently in Ubuntu 12.04 so if you
need to share files over the local network you will need to install a
few packages. Afterwards lookup “Personal File Sharing” and it should be
ready to configure and run. And don’t forget to leave the proper port
open when you configure GUFW/UFW firewall settings. After you install
the packages listed here you will need to also power cycle/reboot your
system.How to Share Files over the Network:
sudo apt-get install samba smbfs system-config-sambaHere is a tutorial on how to set up Samba to share between Win7 and Ubuntu:
http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/03/filesharing-in-windows-7-and-ubuntu-12-04-precise-pangolin/
Terminator is a GPL terminal emulator. It is available on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other Unix X11 systems.
Terminator will run on any modern POSIX system with Java 5 or later.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
sudo apt-get install terminatorFor how to use Terminator terminal utility check out:
http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/285/make-your-work-easy-using-terminator
MyUnity
is tweak tool for Ubuntu Unity Environment, It is really well designed
and fully featured. You can find all tools for your Unity Desktop to
customize your Unity. (Recommended)sudo add-apt-repository ppa:myunity/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install myunity
Unsettings is graphical configuration tool for Unity, Unsetting allows you to change the themes for GTK, window manger, icons, cursors, switch off the global menu and the overlay scrollbars used in Unity, another nice feature is that Unsetting lets you to save your settings into and load from a text file (JSON format) so you can easily backup you settings or copy them to a different account. (optional)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diesch/testing sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install unsettings
Cairo-Dock
is a pretty, fast and customizable desktop interface. You can think of
it as a good alternative/addition to Unity, Gnome-Shell, Xfce-panel,
KDE-panel, etc. You can use OpenGL if your video adapter supports it, or
you can run it without OpenGL. You can logout after you have it
installed and change your session to Cairo Gnome to run it.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cairo-dock-team/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
This is where GUFW comes in.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
sudo apt-get install gufw gufwIf you would like to simply use UFW from the command line, you can try any of these commands to make changes to your firewall.
To check your current settings:
sudo ufw status verboseTo add basic firewall rules:
sudo ufw deny 5353/udp sudo ufw deny 5900/tcp sudo ufw deny 22 sudo ufw deny 25/tcp sudo ufw deny 135,139,445/tcp sudo ufw deny 137,138/udp sudo ufw deny 110 sudo ufw deny 2049 sudo ufw deny 143 sudo ufw deny 21/tcp sudo ufw deny sshTo block Outgoing Ports Except Those Needed (This configuration will allow the following outbound ports: 20-21, 53, 80, 123, 443 which is all that is required for many users):
sudo ufw deny out 1:19/tcp sudo ufw deny out 1:19/udp sudo ufw deny out 22:52/tcp sudo ufw deny out 22:52/udp sudo ufw deny out 54:79/tcp sudo ufw deny out 54:79/udp sudo ufw deny out 81:122/tcp sudo ufw deny out 81:122/udp sudo ufw deny out 124:442/tcp sudo ufw deny out 124:442/udp sudo ufw deny out 444:65535/tcp sudo ufw deny out 444:65535/udpRe-check your changes:
sudo ufw status verboseRe-check enable (required):
sudo ufw enableIt will automatically load these settings from now on. If you need to access one of those ports temporarily, then you can open up sudo gufw and disable your firewall momentarily. Just don’t forget to re-enable it when you are done.
If you want to tighten-up your security even further please review:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1893751
Here is a configuration script if you are running a server:
#!/bin/sh # obtain server's IP address SERVERIP=`hostname --all-ip-addresses | cut --fields 1 --delimiter " "` # disable firewall ufw disable # reset all firewall rules ufw reset # set default rules: deny all incoming traffic, allow all outgoing traffic ufw default deny incoming ufw default allow outgoing # open port for SSH ufw allow OpenSSH # open port for Webmin ufw allow webmin # open ports for Samba file sharing ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to $SERVERIP app Samba ufw allow to 10.0.0.0/8 from $SERVERIP app Samba # open ports for Transmission-Daemon ufw allow 9091 ufw allow 20500:20599/tcp ufw allow 20500:20599/udp # open port for MySQL ufw allow proto tcp from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 3306 # open ports for Lighttpd ufw allow “Lighttpd Full” # open port for network time protocol (ntpd) ufw allow ntp # enable firewall ufw enable # list all firewall rules ufw status verboseFor more information:
http://www.frozentux.net/documents/iptables-tutorial/
How to periodically scan for rootkits. Both RKHunter and CHKRootkit basically do the same thing – check your system for rootkits. No harm in using both.
Open a Terminal and enter the following :
located in /usr/bin/ is a ruby script. It is perfectly normal and you can whitelist it in rkhunter.conf{,.local}.
And if you are interested in further hardening your Ubuntu security (optional):
http://www.thefanclub.co.za/how-to/how-secure-ubuntu-1204-lts-server-part-1-basics
How to change your privacy settings on Ubuntu 12.04 (Recommended):
Open up the Software Center and install “Activity Log Manager” if your system doesn’t come installed by default with Privacy options. Or you can cut and paste this in Terminal:
How to change your Startup Application Manager settings on Ubuntu 12.04 (recommended) :
Starting with Ubuntu 12.* the ‘Startup Applications’ manager now only displays a sub-set of applications to control at startup with the remaining applications being hidden. There are many applications running in the background by default in Ubuntu and it only makes sense to disable the ones you don’t really need to have running all the time. To make the hidden applications visible in the manager, follow these steps:
Copy and paste the following command into Terminal:
And you can remove the following applications that you probably will never use:
Anti-Virus
Windows equivalent : AVG AntiVirus, NAV, TrendMicro, F-Prot, Kaspersky, …
Ubuntu equivalent : ClamAV, BitDefender
ClamAV
Clam Anti-virus (ClamAV) is a free, cross-platform anti-virus software tool-kit able to detect many types of malicious software, including viruses. One of its main uses is on mail servers as a server-side email virus scanner. The application was developed for Unix and has third party versions available for AIX, BSD, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS X, OpenVMS, OSF (Tru64) and Solaris. As of version 0.96 ClamAV builds and runs on Microsoft Windows. Both ClamAV and its updates are made available free of charge.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
First you need to get a free scanner key here via email. It should be good for one year.
To install in Ubuntu, copy and paste in Terminal one line at a time:
Don’t forget to bookmark this page!
When you are ready to reboot just copy and paste:
Special Note: Troubleshooting BitDefender Scanner Engine Crashing
Some users are reporting that BitDefender crashes right after the scanning engine is initialized. In order to fix this error you will need to copy and paste this into terminal:
For further BitDefender support please visit:
http://forum.bitdefender.com
Essential packages for running 32-bit applications in 64-bit Ubuntu OS
sudo apt-get install rkhunter chkrootkitTo run chkrootkit open a terminal window and enter :
sudo chkrootkitTo update and run RKHunter. Open a Terminal and enter the following :
sudo rkhunter --update sudo rkhunter --propupd sudo rkhunter --checkIf you get a warning for unhide.rb rkhunter simply informs you the unhide.rb executable
located in /usr/bin/ is a ruby script. It is perfectly normal and you can whitelist it in rkhunter.conf{,.local}.
And if you are interested in further hardening your Ubuntu security (optional):
http://www.thefanclub.co.za/how-to/how-secure-ubuntu-1204-lts-server-part-1-basics
How to change your privacy settings on Ubuntu 12.04 (Recommended):
Open up the Software Center and install “Activity Log Manager” if your system doesn’t come installed by default with Privacy options. Or you can cut and paste this in Terminal:
sudo apt-get install activity-log-manager-common activity-log-manager activity-log-manager-control-centerIf you are using Fallback DE, it is located in System Settings.
How to change your Startup Application Manager settings on Ubuntu 12.04 (recommended) :
Starting with Ubuntu 12.* the ‘Startup Applications’ manager now only displays a sub-set of applications to control at startup with the remaining applications being hidden. There are many applications running in the background by default in Ubuntu and it only makes sense to disable the ones you don’t really need to have running all the time. To make the hidden applications visible in the manager, follow these steps:
Copy and paste the following command into Terminal:
sudo sed -i 's/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g' /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktopDo a search for Startup Applications to add or remove/disable features at startup. There are probably several apps that are running at startup that you can safely remove if you know what you are doing, and will save you time during bootup.
And you can remove the following applications that you probably will never use:
sudo apt-get purge oneconf popularity-contest python-ubuntuone-client python-ubuntuone-storageprotocol ubuntuone-installer gir1.2-ubuntuoneui-3.0 libsyncdaemon-1.0-1 libubuntuoneui-3.0-1 python-ubuntuone-control-panel rhythmbox-ubuntuone ubuntuone-client ubuntuone-client-gnome ubuntuone-control-panel ubuntuone-couch unity-scope-musicstores deja-dup libfreerdp1 remmina remmina-common vino remmina-plugin-rdp remmina-plugin-vnc activity-log-manager-common python-zeitgeist activity-log-manager-control-center rhythmbox-plugin-zeitgeist unity-lens-video unity-scope-video-remote zeitgeist zeitgeist-core zeitgeist-datahub rsync sudo apt-get autoremoveHow to get a missing PGP key after adding a new repository or if you need to find a missing PGP key during updates (optional):sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ $(lsb_release -sc) partner"sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3E5C1192sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get update 2> /tmp/keymissing; for key in $(grep "NO_PUBKEY" /tmp/keymissing |sed "s/.*NO_PUBKEY //"); do echo -e "nProcessing key: $key"; gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv $key && gpg --export --armor $key | sudo apt-key add -; doneWindows equivalent : AVG AntiVirus, NAV, TrendMicro, F-Prot, Kaspersky, …
Ubuntu equivalent : ClamAV, BitDefender
ClamAV
Clam Anti-virus (ClamAV) is a free, cross-platform anti-virus software tool-kit able to detect many types of malicious software, including viruses. One of its main uses is on mail servers as a server-side email virus scanner. The application was developed for Unix and has third party versions available for AIX, BSD, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS X, OpenVMS, OSF (Tru64) and Solaris. As of version 0.96 ClamAV builds and runs on Microsoft Windows. Both ClamAV and its updates are made available free of charge.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
sudo apt-get install clamav clamtkBitDefender is an anti-virus software suite developed by Romania-based software company Softwin. It was launched in November 2001, and is currently in its thirteenth version. The 2011 version was launched in August 2010, and it includes several protection and performance enhancements as Search Advisor and Performance Optimizer. The thing I love about BitDefender is that it will run in the taskbar after start-up and has a resident shield that is always monitoring your system for any potential threats, not that viruses normally target Linux operating systems however.
First you need to get a free scanner key here via email. It should be good for one year.
To install in Ubuntu, copy and paste in Terminal one line at a time:
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://download.bitdefender.com/repos/deb/ bitdefender non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bitdefender.list' wget http://download.bitdefender.com/repos/deb/bd.key.asc sudo apt-key add bd.key.asc sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install bitdefender-scanner-guiOnce completely installed then you will need to reboot your system. And you will need to enter in the free scanner key you received via email by running Bitdefender.
Don’t forget to bookmark this page!
When you are ready to reboot just copy and paste:
sudo rebootBefore using the scanner it’s probably best to install the latest virus/malware signatures by clicking on the ‘Update’ button.
Special Note: Troubleshooting BitDefender Scanner Engine Crashing
Some users are reporting that BitDefender crashes right after the scanning engine is initialized. In order to fix this error you will need to copy and paste this into terminal:
sudo touch /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so.linux-x86_64 sudo ln -fs /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so.linux-x86_64 /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so sudo bdscan --updateTo copy and paste your key that you received in your email, enter this terminal and then click save after you have changed your registration key:
sudo gedit /opt/Bitdefender-scanner/etc/bdscan.confAs of December 2012 they still do not have this fixed in BitDefender for Linux yet. Hopefully someone will let them know by posting a message to their support forum? Thanks.
For further BitDefender support please visit:
http://forum.bitdefender.com
Essential packages for running 32-bit applications in 64-bit Ubuntu OS
(Required if you are using 64-bit Ubuntu OS):
Essential tools for compiling from sources.
There are times when you need to compile software from sources, maybe because you need to compile the package with some specific option that is not enabled in the default package, or maybe the software application you wish to install isn’t available in any of your repositories. When you begin the installation process you will come to a window that will require you to accept the EULA to install, and you will need to click on your <Tab> key to select <OK> and press enter. (Here is a guide on how to compile software from source) and here are the required packages you need in order to compile sources in Ubuntu:
Windows equivalent : windows media player, real player, vlc, mplayer, media codecs
Ubuntu equivalent : vlc, mplayer, fluendo media codecs
Unfortunately, many audio and video formats won’t work “out of the box” with Ubuntu, or most Linux distros.
MPlayer is a movie player that plays most MPEG, VOB, AVI, OGG/OGM, VIVO, ASF/WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, FLI, RM, NuppelVideo, yuv4mpeg, FILM, RoQ, and PVA files. You can also use it to watch VCDs, SVCDs, DVDs, 3ivx, RealMedia, and DivX movies. It supports a wide range of output drivers including X11, XVideo, DGA, OpenGL, SVGAlib, fbdev, AAlib, DirectFB etc. There are also nice antialiased shaded subtitles and OSD.
VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream in uni-cast or multi-cast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
Open your Terminal, copy and paste (when you get to the EULA prompt press Tab key):
VLC blu-ray libraries:
http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/
http://vlc-aacs.whoknowsmy.name/
Internet Web Browsers:
Here are some highly recommended and thoroughly tested add-ons for Firefox:
Adblock Plus (plugin) (Highly Recommended)
Adblock Plus (ABP) is a content-filtering extension for Mozilla Firefox (including Firefox for mobile) and Google Chrome web browsers. ABP, a forked version of Adblock, allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. Very popular, and almost what I would consider to be a necessity, if you surf the Internet on a daily basis. Works great with sites like youtube.com and other similar web sites that bombard you with constant commercials. It will also allow you to import preconfigured blocklists to stop tracker web sites from monitoring your browser presence.
Password Exporter (plugin)
This extension allows you to export your saved passwords and disabled login hosts using XML or CSV files that can be imported later. Very helpful when needing to re-install Ubuntu onto a new system or migrating your data and personal information. This works on any OS with Firefox browser and you can migrate passwords from other browsers with Firefox preferences.
NetVideoHunter (plugin)
NetVideoHunter is a Firefox add-on (extension), and you can easily download videos and audio from almost all audio and video streaming web pages with two clicks. Tested and considered to be probably the best plugin out of all the other similar plugins available for this kind of task.
HTTPS Everywhere (plugin) (Recommended)
HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox and Chrome extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.
Tor Browser Bundle
The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.
Alternatively, you can use this PPA to install Tor Browser Bundle:
http://www.webupd8.org/2013/12/tor-browser-bundle-ubuntu-ppa.html
Remember Passwords (plugin)
Patches the original Login Manager to allow saving of passwords on forms which otherwise suppress it. A really nice time-saver.
NoScript (plugin) (Recommended, but can be very intrusive at times)
NoScript (plugin) is a free and open-source extension for Mozilla Firefox, SeaMonkey, and other Mozilla-based web browsers, created and actively maintained by Giorgio Maone, an Italian software developer and member of the Mozilla Security Group. NoScript allows executable web content such as JavaScript, Java, Flash, Silverlight, and other plugins only if the site hosting it is considered trusted by its user and has been previously added to a whitelist. NoScript also offers specific countermeasures against security exploits. There have been reports of Java viruses/malware infecting Mac systems (Unices-based systems), so NoScript will stop that kind of problem before it becomes a serious issue on your Ubuntu OS.
YesScript (plugin)
A very simple JavaScript blacklist. Lately, I’ve noticed scripts not responsing on certain web sites (like abs.twimg.com and others) when browsing on twitter. If you recieve an error that says a script isn’t responding (would you like to continue etc etc), causing your browser to hang/crash your browser -and- you don’t want to use the above NoScript plugin because it can be too intrusive most of the time, simply cut and paste the offending web site address into YesScript Firefox plug-in, and you can surf without further problems of this kind.
Dictionaries & Language Packs (plugin) (Recommended)
Spell-checking plugin for Mozilla Firefox browser.
Additional Miscellaneous Add-ons for Firefox and Iceweasel
Openjdk 7 Update and Sun Java 7 JDK option
The default version of openjdk with Ubuntu may need be updated. (Required)
Here is the updated openjdk that should work for most users:
Now if openjdk isn’t what you need and you know you need the proprietary Sun Java 7 JDK instead, use this installation script (optional):
Test your browser to make sure your Java is installed and working properly here:
http://browserspy.dk/java.php
If you are still having problems trying to install Java and getting Java to work correctly on your system, please visit the following web site for further support:
http://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/java
sudo apt-get install ia32-libsSpecial Note: If you are running 32-bit Ubuntu already then you won’t need ia32-libs.
Essential tools for compiling from sources.
There are times when you need to compile software from sources, maybe because you need to compile the package with some specific option that is not enabled in the default package, or maybe the software application you wish to install isn’t available in any of your repositories. When you begin the installation process you will come to a window that will require you to accept the EULA to install, and you will need to click on your <Tab> key to select <OK> and press enter. (Here is a guide on how to compile software from source) and here are the required packages you need in order to compile sources in Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall cdbs devscripts dh-make fakeroot libxml-parser-perl check avahi-daemonMultimedia (Prerequisite and Required)
Windows equivalent : windows media player, real player, vlc, mplayer, media codecs
Ubuntu equivalent : vlc, mplayer, fluendo media codecs
Unfortunately, many audio and video formats won’t work “out of the box” with Ubuntu, or most Linux distros.
MPlayer is a movie player that plays most MPEG, VOB, AVI, OGG/OGM, VIVO, ASF/WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, FLI, RM, NuppelVideo, yuv4mpeg, FILM, RoQ, and PVA files. You can also use it to watch VCDs, SVCDs, DVDs, 3ivx, RealMedia, and DivX movies. It supports a wide range of output drivers including X11, XVideo, DGA, OpenGL, SVGAlib, fbdev, AAlib, DirectFB etc. There are also nice antialiased shaded subtitles and OSD.
VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream in uni-cast or multi-cast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install vlc mplayerSMPlayer intends to be a complete front-end for MPlayer, from basic features like playing videos, DVDs, and VCDs to more advanced features like support for MPlayer filters and more. One of the most interesting features of SMPlayer: it remembers the settings of all files you play. So you start to watch a movie but you have to leave. Don’t worry, when you open that movie again it will resume at the same point you left it, and with the same settings: audio track, subtitles, and volume. This is really great for watching DVD movies.
sudo apt-get install smplayerFFMpeg is a complete and free Internet live audio and video broadcasting solution for Linux/Unix. It also includes a digital VCR. It can encode in real time in many formats including MPEG1 audio and video, MPEG4, h263, ac3, asf, avi, real, mjpeg, and flash.
Open your Terminal, copy and paste:
sudo apt-get install libxine1-ffmpeg gxine mencoder mpeg2dec vorbis-tools id3v2 mpg321 mpg123 libflac++6 ffmpeg totem-mozilla icedax tagtool easytag id3tool lame nautilus-script-audio-convert libmad0 libjpeg-progs flac faac faad sox ffmpeg2theora libmpeg2-4 uudeview flac libmpeg3-1 mpeg3-utils mpegdemux liba52-0.7.4-dev libquicktime2Gstreammer 0.10
Open your Terminal, copy and paste (when you get to the EULA prompt press Tab key):
sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 gstreamer0.10-gnonlin gstreamer0.10-sdl gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly totem-plugins-extra gstreamer-dbus-media-service gstreamer-tools ubuntu-restricted-extras ttf-mscorefonts-installerCheck and see if you can now view DVD movie discs on your computer. If not you may need to set the region key and you are usually allowed to do this only 5 times (only use if needed, and very optional):
sudo apt-get install regionset sudo regionsetOr you can purchase the proprietary codecs from your Software Center:
VLC blu-ray libraries:
http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/
http://vlc-aacs.whoknowsmy.name/
Internet Web Browsers:
Here are some highly recommended and thoroughly tested add-ons for Firefox:Adblock Plus (plugin) (Highly Recommended)
Adblock Plus (ABP) is a content-filtering extension for Mozilla Firefox (including Firefox for mobile) and Google Chrome web browsers. ABP, a forked version of Adblock, allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. Very popular, and almost what I would consider to be a necessity, if you surf the Internet on a daily basis. Works great with sites like youtube.com and other similar web sites that bombard you with constant commercials. It will also allow you to import preconfigured blocklists to stop tracker web sites from monitoring your browser presence.
Password Exporter (plugin)
This extension allows you to export your saved passwords and disabled login hosts using XML or CSV files that can be imported later. Very helpful when needing to re-install Ubuntu onto a new system or migrating your data and personal information. This works on any OS with Firefox browser and you can migrate passwords from other browsers with Firefox preferences.
NetVideoHunter (plugin)
NetVideoHunter is a Firefox add-on (extension), and you can easily download videos and audio from almost all audio and video streaming web pages with two clicks. Tested and considered to be probably the best plugin out of all the other similar plugins available for this kind of task.
HTTPS Everywhere (plugin) (Recommended)
HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox and Chrome extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.
Tor Browser Bundle
The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.
Alternatively, you can use this PPA to install Tor Browser Bundle:
http://www.webupd8.org/2013/12/tor-browser-bundle-ubuntu-ppa.html
Remember Passwords (plugin)
Patches the original Login Manager to allow saving of passwords on forms which otherwise suppress it. A really nice time-saver.
NoScript (plugin) (Recommended, but can be very intrusive at times)
NoScript (plugin) is a free and open-source extension for Mozilla Firefox, SeaMonkey, and other Mozilla-based web browsers, created and actively maintained by Giorgio Maone, an Italian software developer and member of the Mozilla Security Group. NoScript allows executable web content such as JavaScript, Java, Flash, Silverlight, and other plugins only if the site hosting it is considered trusted by its user and has been previously added to a whitelist. NoScript also offers specific countermeasures against security exploits. There have been reports of Java viruses/malware infecting Mac systems (Unices-based systems), so NoScript will stop that kind of problem before it becomes a serious issue on your Ubuntu OS.
YesScript (plugin)
A very simple JavaScript blacklist. Lately, I’ve noticed scripts not responsing on certain web sites (like abs.twimg.com and others) when browsing on twitter. If you recieve an error that says a script isn’t responding (would you like to continue etc etc), causing your browser to hang/crash your browser -and- you don’t want to use the above NoScript plugin because it can be too intrusive most of the time, simply cut and paste the offending web site address into YesScript Firefox plug-in, and you can surf without further problems of this kind.
Dictionaries & Language Packs (plugin) (Recommended)
Spell-checking plugin for Mozilla Firefox browser.
Additional Miscellaneous Add-ons for Firefox and Iceweasel
- BCExplorer for Firefox – BrightCloud category and reputation info as you browse!
- Beef Taco – Sets permanent opt-out cookies to stop behavioral advertising by 102 different advertising networks (recommended)
- BetterPrivacy – BetterPrivacy is a safeguard which protects from usually not deletable LSO’s on Google, YouTube, Ebay… (recommended)
- BitDefender TrafficLight for Firefox – Adds a strong and non-intrusive layer of security to your browsing experience
- BrowserProtect – Protect your browser configuration against homepage and search hijacks
- CipherFox – Displays the current SSL/TLS cipher and certificate chain in the status bar.
- CS Lite – This extension will allow you to easily control cookie permissions.
- Ghostery – Protect your privacy. See who’s tracking your web browsing and block them with Ghostery.
- GoogleSharing – GoogleSharing ultimately aims to provide a level of anonymity that will prevent google from tracking your searches, movements, and what websites you visit.
- HTTPS Finder – HTTPS Finder automatically detects and alerts when SSL is available on a web page. It also provides one-click rule creation for HTTPS Everywhere. Other features include an ignore-domain list, and “auto-forward” to HTTPS.
- Keylogger Beater – Use it to keep your username or password from being stolen by a keylogger.
- LinkExtend – Provides meta-site-ratings for computer safety, child safety, company ethics, and popularity.
- Master Password+ – Various enhancements for “master password”
- Netcraft Toolbar – Blocks phishing sites, helping to protect users from online fraud…
- anonymoX – Firefox add-on to achieve anonymity in surfing, using web-based proxy
- PrivacySuite – One place to protect your privacy when you go online.
- RefControl – Control what gets sent as the HTTP Referer on a per-site basis.
- RequestPolicy – Be in control of which cross-site requests are allowed.
- ShowIP – Show the IP address(es) of the current page in the status bar. It also allows querying custom information services by IP (right click) and hostname (left click), like whois, netcraft, etc. Additionally you can copy the IP address to the clipboard.
- Certificate Patrol – Verifies SSL certificates
- TrackMeNot – Protects users against search data profiling…
- Priv3 – Practical Third-Party Privacy for the Social Web
- WOT – The WOT add-on is a safe surfing tool for your browser.
- For Human Eyes Only – converts messages into images
- User Agent Switcher – To switch the user agent of a browser and OS reporting
- Change IP Address – How to quickly change your Internet IP address via new router MAC address (recommended)
Openjdk 7 Update and Sun Java 7 JDK optionThe default version of openjdk with Ubuntu may need be updated. (Required)
Here is the updated openjdk that should work for most users:
sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk openjdk-7-jre icedtea-7-plugin
And then run:
sudo update-alternatives --config javaAnd then select /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk from the selection list and press enter.
Now if openjdk isn’t what you need and you know you need the proprietary Sun Java 7 JDK instead, use this installation script (optional):
cd ~/ wget https://github.com/flexiondotorg/oab-java6/raw/0.3.0/oab-java.sh -O oab-java.sh chmod +x oab-java.sh sudo ./oab-java.sh -7 sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-jre oracle-java7-jdk oracle-java7-plugin oracle-java7-fontsIf you are behind a proxy you may need to run using:
sudo -i ./oab-java.shIf you want to see what this script is doing while it is running then execute the following from another shell:
tail -f ./oab-java.sh.logThanks to https://github.com/flexiondotorg/ for providing us this method to install Java on Ubuntu.
Test your browser to make sure your Java is installed and working properly here:
http://browserspy.dk/java.php
If you are still having problems trying to install Java and getting Java to work correctly on your system, please visit the following web site for further support:
http://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/java
Archiver/ Packing software (Recommended)Windows equivalent : winrar, zip, 7zip
Ubuntu equivalent : tar, unrar, p7zip, arj, unace
An
archive format is the file format of an archive file. The archive
format is determined by the file archiver. Some archive formats are
well-defined by their authors and have become conventions supported by
multiple vendors and/or open-source communities.
File Archiving:
Windows equivalent : Internet explorer, opera, google chrome
Ubuntu equivalent : Opera, Chromium, Google Chrome, Google Chrome Beta
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds.
Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. The project’s hourly Chromium snapshots appear essentially similar to the latest builds of Google Chrome aside from the omission of certain Google additions, most noticeable among them: Google’s branding, auto-update mechanism, click-through licensing terms, usage-tracking, a built-in PDF viewer and bundling of the Adobe Flash Player. Chromium uses the WebKit layout engine.
Chromium:
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. It uses its own flash plugin to play flash video/audio. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or “chrome”, of web browsers. As of June 2011, Chrome was the third most widely used browser with 20.65% worldwide usage share of web browsers, according to StatCounter.
Adblock Plus (plugin) (Recommended) Adblock Plus (ABP) is a content-filtering extension for Google Chrome web browsers. ABP, a forked version of Adblock, allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. Very popular, and almost what I would consider to be a necessity, if you surf the Internet on a daily basis. Works great with sites like youtube.com and other similar web sites that bombard you with constant commercials. It will also allow you to import preconfigured blocklists to stop tracker web sites from monitoring your browser presence.
Remember Passwords (plugin)
Patches the original Login Manager to allow saving of passwords on forms which otherwise suppress it. A really nice time-saver.
Remote Desktop (plugin) Access other computers or allow another user to access your computer securely over the Internet.
HTTPS Everywhere (plugin) HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox and Chrome extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.
Reditr is to Reddit what Tweetdeck is to Twitter. And now you can experience it under any GNU/Linux based system thanks to Google Chrome.
Additional Miscellaneous Add-ons for Chrome and Chromium:
Google Talk is a browser plugin that lets you voice and video chat with friends and family from your browser. Install this plugin and logon to Gmail with your webcam and microphone attached to your computer, then initiate a chat with a friend or family member. It will try to connect to your webcam and enable video chat.
Compiz (optional) has been updated, introducing a handy plugin, Workspace Naming, that, as its name clearly suggests, allows users to name workspaces with desired names, names that feature a high usability potential and numerous usecases, like for instance, naming a workspace text-only if in that workspace the user deals only with text files, and/or coding-only specific to a coding-oriented “desktop”. Its usage is as simple as navigating to CompizConfig Settings Manager–>Window Management–>check Workspace Naming and tweaking the provided functionalities (names, Display Time, Font Size, etc).
Copy and paste the following command into Terminal:
Windows equivalent : Free download manager
Ubuntu equivalent : Multiget
MultiGet is an easy-to-use and open source file download manager for Windows. It supports HTTP/FTP protocols which covers the requirements of most users. The download accelerator supports multi-task with multi-thread on multi-server. It supports resuming downloads if the Web server supports it, and if you like, you can reconfigure the thread number without stopping the current task. It’s also support SOCKS 4, 4a, 5 proxy, ftp proxy, http proxy. MultiGet also supports switching language dynamically; you can choose English, Chinese, and German. Plus this it will automatically choose a proper language for you.
Graphical Email client
Thunderbird
Windows: Outlook, Outlook Express
Despite perceptions to the contrary, the desktop-based e-mail client is not dead. Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 is a serious reaction to the prevalence of Web mail, so whether you’re looking for a strong desktop client, an Outlook replacement, or a powerful tool for managing archives and Web mail offline, Thunderbird can scale to your needs.
Outlook users will notice the speed and responsiveness of the program, which loads quickly, even when weighed down by multiple folders and RSS feeds, and the basic feature set remains intact: good junk mail filters, HTML support, multiple identities, and robust Web mail, POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange server support. Security features include S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, and a built-in phishing detector. Add-ons, based on the same code as Firefox’s add-on network, can enhance your security even further. Thunderbird is now installed by default and replaces evolution as the default mail client in 12.04.
To import Outlook PST files in Thunderbird:
Instant Messanging protocal clients
Windows equivalent : MSN messenger, Trillian, Yahoo messenger, QQ, AIM, Gtalk, ICQ,IRC
Ubuntu equivalent : Empathy, Pidgin, Emesene
Empathy is an instant messaging client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM protocols. Empathy is installed by default on Ubuntu, however you may want to make sure you have the latest updated version.
Pidgin
Pidgin is an easy to use and a free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once. Supported chat networks: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo!, Zephyr
Add the launchpad repository :
Gmail Notification
Checkgmail
If you would like to get notified when you have a new mail in your google mail account, checkgmail is for you.
To install Checkgmail type the following command in the Terminal Window.
Bitcoin
Wallet/Client (sign: BTC) is a decentralized digital currency based on
an open-source, peer-to-peer internet protocol. It was introduced by a
pseudonymous developer named Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. Internationally,
bitcoins can be exchanged by personal computer directly through a wallet
file or a website without an intermediate financial institution. In
trade, one bitcoin is subdivided into 100 million smaller units called
satoshis, defined by eight decimal places. Bitcoin does not operate like
typical currencies: it has no central bank and it solely relies on an
internet-based peer-to-peer network. The money supply is automated,
limited, divided and scheduled, and given to servers or “bitcoin miners”
that verify bitcoin transactions and add them to a decentralized and
archived transaction log every 10 minutes. The log is authenticated by
hashed ECDSA digital signatures and verified by the intense process of
bruteforcing SHA256 hash functions of varying difficulty by competing
“bitcoin miners.” Transaction fees may apply to new transactions
depending on the strain put on the network’s resources. Bitcoin is the
most widely used alternative currency. As of March 2013, the monetary
base of bitcoin is valued at over $1 billion USD. The large fluctuation
in the dollar value of a bitcoin has evoked criticism of bitcoin’s
economic suitability as a currency.
Electrum (the blockchain is the cloud)
is an easy to use Bitcoin client. It protects you from losing coins in a
backup mistake or computer failure, because your wallet can be
recovered from a secret phrase that you can write on paper or learn by
heart. There is no waiting time when you start the client, because it
does not download the Bitcoin blockchain.
http://electrum.org/download.html
Make sure you open GUFW and reset your firewall settings before
running Electrum. When you first run Electrum you will be prompted with
your seed information. Write the seed words down by hand and put it
somewhere safe in case data recovery becomes necessary someday.
Ubuntu equivalent : tar, unrar, p7zip, arj, unace
An
archive format is the file format of an archive file. The archive
format is determined by the file archiver. Some archive formats are
well-defined by their authors and have become conventions supported by
multiple vendors and/or open-source communities.sudo apt-get install unace rar unrar p7zip-rar p7zip zip
Alternative Graphical Web Browsers Windows equivalent : Internet explorer, opera, google chrome
Ubuntu equivalent : Opera, Chromium, Google Chrome, Google Chrome Beta
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds.
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ stable non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera.list' sudo sh -c 'wget -O - http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | apt-key add -' sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install opera
Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. The project’s hourly Chromium snapshots appear essentially similar to the latest builds of Google Chrome aside from the omission of certain Google additions, most noticeable among them: Google’s branding, auto-update mechanism, click-through licensing terms, usage-tracking, a built-in PDF viewer and bundling of the Adobe Flash Player. Chromium uses the WebKit layout engine.
Chromium:
sudo apt-get install chromium-browser chromium-browser-l10n
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. It uses its own flash plugin to play flash video/audio. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or “chrome”, of web browsers. As of June 2011, Chrome was the third most widely used browser with 20.65% worldwide usage share of web browsers, according to StatCounter.
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add - sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list && chmod 644 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list' sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stableor if you want the latest developmental version:
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-betaChrome Plugins:
Adblock Plus (plugin) (Recommended) Adblock Plus (ABP) is a content-filtering extension for Google Chrome web browsers. ABP, a forked version of Adblock, allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. Very popular, and almost what I would consider to be a necessity, if you surf the Internet on a daily basis. Works great with sites like youtube.com and other similar web sites that bombard you with constant commercials. It will also allow you to import preconfigured blocklists to stop tracker web sites from monitoring your browser presence.
Remember Passwords (plugin)
Patches the original Login Manager to allow saving of passwords on forms which otherwise suppress it. A really nice time-saver.
Remote Desktop (plugin) Access other computers or allow another user to access your computer securely over the Internet.
HTTPS Everywhere (plugin) HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox and Chrome extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.
Reditr is to Reddit what Tweetdeck is to Twitter. And now you can experience it under any GNU/Linux based system thanks to Google Chrome.
Additional Miscellaneous Add-ons for Chrome and Chromium:
- A Little Privacy – Prevents passing referrer to third parties, removes redirect trackers, resolves short URLs, and more.
- Abine TACO – Opt-out of advertising networks
- Block Mixed Content – This extension blocks loading of insecure active content in secure (HTTPS) pages.
- Chrome BCExplorer BETA – BrightCloud category and reputation info as you browse!
- Chromeblock – Stop secret tracking of your web browsing
- Disconnect – Stop major third parties and search engines from tracking the webpages you go to and searches you do.
- Ghostery – Protect your privacy. See who’s tracking your web browsing with Ghostery.
- KB SSL Enforcer – Automatic security, browse encrypted.
- Keep My Opt-Outs – Permanently opts your browser out of online ad personalization via cookies.
- NOREF – Suppress Referrer (referer) for Hyperlinks
- NotScripts – A clever extension that provides a high degree of ‘NoScript’ like control of javascript, iframes, and plugins on Google Chrome.
- SafeBrowser – Sends the url of the currently selected tab to Google Safe Browsing to retrieve some malware results of that domain
- SaferChrome – SaferChrome makes browsing safer by identifying and preventing security and privacy breaches.
- Signature Check – Allows users to check a certificate thumbprint against the SignatureCheck.org thumbprint to detect man-in-the-middle attacks that use valid signing certificates.
- SiteAdvisor for Chrome – SiteAdvisor will give safety ratings for websites, this extension will warn you before you open threat sites.
- TrafficLight (BETA) – Adds a strong and non-intrusive layer of security to your browsing experience
- Unencrypted Password Warning – Helps to prevent you from sending unencrypted passwords or credit card numbers.
- Vanilla Cookie Manager – A Cookie Whitelist Manager that helps protect your privacy. Automatically removes unwanted cookies.
- WOT – The WOT add-on is a safe surfing tool for your browser.
- Hide My IP – Anonymous browsing
Google Talk is a browser plugin that lets you voice and video chat with friends and family from your browser. Install this plugin and logon to Gmail with your webcam and microphone attached to your computer, then initiate a chat with a friend or family member. It will try to connect to your webcam and enable video chat.
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add - sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/talkplugin/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list' sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install google-talkplugin
Compiz (optional) has been updated, introducing a handy plugin, Workspace Naming, that, as its name clearly suggests, allows users to name workspaces with desired names, names that feature a high usability potential and numerous usecases, like for instance, naming a workspace text-only if in that workspace the user deals only with text files, and/or coding-only specific to a coding-oriented “desktop”. Its usage is as simple as navigating to CompizConfig Settings Manager–>Window Management–>check Workspace Naming and tweaking the provided functionalities (names, Display Time, Font Size, etc).
Copy and paste the following command into Terminal:
sudo apt-get install compiz compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-pluginsDownload Manager
Windows equivalent : Free download manager
Ubuntu equivalent : Multiget
MultiGet is an easy-to-use and open source file download manager for Windows. It supports HTTP/FTP protocols which covers the requirements of most users. The download accelerator supports multi-task with multi-thread on multi-server. It supports resuming downloads if the Web server supports it, and if you like, you can reconfigure the thread number without stopping the current task. It’s also support SOCKS 4, 4a, 5 proxy, ftp proxy, http proxy. MultiGet also supports switching language dynamically; you can choose English, Chinese, and German. Plus this it will automatically choose a proper language for you.
sudo apt-get install multigetAccess it through Applications → Internet → MultiGet .
Graphical Email client
Thunderbird
Windows: Outlook, Outlook Express
Despite perceptions to the contrary, the desktop-based e-mail client is not dead. Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 is a serious reaction to the prevalence of Web mail, so whether you’re looking for a strong desktop client, an Outlook replacement, or a powerful tool for managing archives and Web mail offline, Thunderbird can scale to your needs.
Outlook users will notice the speed and responsiveness of the program, which loads quickly, even when weighed down by multiple folders and RSS feeds, and the basic feature set remains intact: good junk mail filters, HTML support, multiple identities, and robust Web mail, POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange server support. Security features include S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, and a built-in phishing detector. Add-ons, based on the same code as Firefox’s add-on network, can enhance your security even further. Thunderbird is now installed by default and replaces evolution as the default mail client in 12.04.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/thunderbird-stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install thunderbird xul-ext-calendar-timezones xul-ext-lightningAccess it through Applications → Internet → Mozilla Thunderbird Mail/News .
To import Outlook PST files in Thunderbird:
sudo apt-get install readpst readpst -r nameofyourPSTfilehereThis changes the output format to Recursive. This will create folders as named in the PST file, and will put all emails in a file called “mbox” inside each folder. These files are then compatible with all mbox-compatible email clients. Then just import the mbox file into Thunderbird and you should be all good.
Instant Messanging protocal clients
Windows equivalent : MSN messenger, Trillian, Yahoo messenger, QQ, AIM, Gtalk, ICQ,IRC
Ubuntu equivalent : Empathy, Pidgin, Emesene
Empathy is an instant messaging client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM protocols. Empathy is installed by default on Ubuntu, however you may want to make sure you have the latest updated version.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:telepathy/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install empathyAdditional plugins for Empathy remote desktop (RDC) feature:
sudo apt-get install vino vinagreThen install Empathy plugins in terminal:
sudo apt-get install empathy telepathy-mission-control-5 telepathy-gabble telepathy-haze telepathy-idle telepathy-salut telepathy-sofiasip msn-pecanAccess it through Applications → Internet → Empathy IM Client .
Pidgin
Pidgin is an easy to use and a free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once. Supported chat networks: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo!, Zephyr
Add the launchpad repository :sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pidgin-developers/ppa && sudo apt-get updateThen install it :
sudo apt-get install pidgin pidgin-data pidgin-lastfm pidgin-guifications msn-pecan pidgin-musictracker pidgin-plugin-pack pidgin-themesAccess it through Applications → Internet → Pidgin Internet Messenger .
Gmail Notification
Checkgmail
If you would like to get notified when you have a new mail in your google mail account, checkgmail is for you.
To install Checkgmail type the following command in the Terminal Window.
sudo apt-get install checkgmailNow you can launch it from Application → Internet → CheckGmail
Bitcoin
Wallet/Client (sign: BTC) is a decentralized digital currency based on
an open-source, peer-to-peer internet protocol. It was introduced by a
pseudonymous developer named Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. Internationally,
bitcoins can be exchanged by personal computer directly through a wallet
file or a website without an intermediate financial institution. In
trade, one bitcoin is subdivided into 100 million smaller units called
satoshis, defined by eight decimal places. Bitcoin does not operate like
typical currencies: it has no central bank and it solely relies on an
internet-based peer-to-peer network. The money supply is automated,
limited, divided and scheduled, and given to servers or “bitcoin miners”
that verify bitcoin transactions and add them to a decentralized and
archived transaction log every 10 minutes. The log is authenticated by
hashed ECDSA digital signatures and verified by the intense process of
bruteforcing SHA256 hash functions of varying difficulty by competing
“bitcoin miners.” Transaction fees may apply to new transactions
depending on the strain put on the network’s resources. Bitcoin is the
most widely used alternative currency. As of March 2013, the monetary
base of bitcoin is valued at over $1 billion USD. The large fluctuation
in the dollar value of a bitcoin has evoked criticism of bitcoin’s
economic suitability as a currency.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qtSpecial Note #1: Bitcoin will connect to other nodes, usually on TCP port 8333. You will need to allow outgoing TCP connections to port 8333 if you want to allow your Bitcoin client to connect to many nodes. Testnet uses TCP port 18333 instead of 8333.
sudo ufw allow 8333 sudo ufw disable sudo ufw enableSpecial Note #2: Bitcoin-qt is a full-node and needs a full-copy of the blockchain to run and it can take days to update the blockchain. This inactivity will happen, and I’ve no idea why but it seems to get through it if left long enough eventually. A lightweight client like Multibit java-based will be up-to-date in a few seconds so Multibit Bitcoin Client may be a better option for some users if they are in a big hurry. And there is Armory you can try as well. Here is the one I use:
Electrum (the blockchain is the cloud)
is an easy to use Bitcoin client. It protects you from losing coins in a
backup mistake or computer failure, because your wallet can be
recovered from a secret phrase that you can write on paper or learn by
heart. There is no waiting time when you start the client, because it
does not download the Bitcoin blockchain.- Instant on: Your client does not download the blockchain, it uses a remote server.
- Forgiving: Your wallet can be recovered from a secret seed.
- Safe: Private keys are never sent to the server. Information sent by the server is verified using SPV
- No downtimes: Several public servers are available, you can switch instantly.
- Ubiquitous: You can use the same wallet on different computers, it will auto-synchronize.
- Open: You can export your private keys into other Bitcoin clients.
- Tested and audited: Electrum is open source and was first released in November 2011.
http://electrum.org/download.html
Would you like to mine for Bitcoins? Here are guides on how to install bgfminer or cgminer:- https://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/bitcoin-mining-in-ubuntu-with-bfgminer/
- https://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/bitcoin-mining-with-ubuntu-12-04-lts-and-cgminer/
Windows equivalent : Skype
Ubuntu equivalent : Skype, Jitsi, Brosix
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chats over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.
And if you are running a 64-bit version of Ubuntu 12.10 you will this:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libsTo install Skype, in terminal, copy and paste:
sudo apt-get install skypeOr if you want the very latest version use:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/
Hardware acceleration and WebGL also feature in this release but are not turned on by default. Head into opera:config to enable it.
Other new features include:
- Webcam support
- Support for the Do Not Track header
- CSS3 Animations and Transitions
- Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (Cors) Support
- Improved language support
If you have webcam issues with skype, fix this by doing this:
echo -e '#!/bin/bash n LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype' | sudo tee /usr/local/bin/skype sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/skypeIf that doesn’t fix it trying downgrading your Ubuntu OS from 64-bit to 32-bit during the installation and then reinstall it. Yes, that means reinstalling your entire system from the beginning.
Skype Wrapper is a small third-party tool, Skype-wrapper brings a bunch of Ubuntu-specific features to Skype, including Messaging Menu integration and native notifications for message alerts, and Unity quicklists for quick access to call controls.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:skype-wrapper/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install skype-wrapperZoiper is a SIP and IAX multilingual cross-platform desktop softphone eases and enhances the calling experience of anybody taking advantage of VoIP at home or in the office. Novice and power users can make high-quality voice and video calls, send and receive faxes, chat and set online presence from their desktop softphone:
http://www.zoiper.com/download_intermediate.php?os=Linux&ap=z2&location=zoiper2_linux_tar_gz
Jitsi (formerly SIP Communicator) is a VoIP, videoconferencing, and instant messaging application for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It supports several popular instant messaging and telephony protocols.
Download your Ubuntu debian (*.deb) installation packages at either:
http://jitsi.org or http://download.jitsi.org/jitsi/debian/
Brosix Enterprise Instant Messenger is a secured instant messenger that is designed to help business users find a secure way to connect to one another quickly. It uses encrypted communications in order to secure messages in a manner that is similar to secure email services. Video chat just like Skype, and even LogMeIn-like features.
To download and install, copy and paste in Terminal:
curl -o brosix_free.deb http://download.brosix.com/download.aspx/Brosix_ubuntu/1/brosix_free.deb sudo dpkg -i brosix_free.debFor more information about Brosix and support: http://www.brosix.com/
ScrubIt Public DNS profiles several million websites and by default block out any pornographic, phishing, and many other potentially harmful sites. It is a free open DNS for content filtering, and highly recommended if you have kids using your home network. Free parental controls.
You
can add it to your Static DNS entries in your hardware WiFi router
configuration (you can try calling the tech support company that made
your router to help guide you through the process to update your
router’s “LAN” DNS settings. Just tell them you want to add a public DNS
67.138.54.100 and 207.225.209.66 to be used by all the computers on
your network) or if you aren’t using a router on your individual Ubuntu
system, you can update your system local DNS like this:sudo gedit /etc/resolv.confWrite down your existing ISP nameserver IP addresses in case you want to change it back later on. And then modify those ISP nameserver entries as to the pubic DNS ScrubIt entries:
nameserver 67.138.54.100 nameserver 207.225.209.66
The best way to update your DNS nameserver is to change your wifi router configuration. Just call tech support for your make and model router (the manufacturers tech support phone number) and ask them to walk you through the process to update your DNS nameserver configuration for your router box. It should normally be free of charge to call support for your make and model router box. Make sure you put a good password on your router box when you are done. And never let your kids have administrative accounts on Ubuntu. Always create new users without superuser rights too. Only you, the superuser should be able to change any of the system network settings from within Ubuntu OS.
Here is an alternative to set up the same kind of parental blocking service but with OpenDNS instead:
https://www.opendns.com/parental-controls
GEdit
Essentially is it like notepad in MS Windows but with many many more features.
sudo apt-get install gedit gedit-plugins gedit-developer-pluginsGeany is a lightweight cross-platform GTK+ text editor based on Scintilla and including basic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) features. Among the supported programming languages are C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, LaTeX, CSS, Python, Perl, Ruby, Pascal, Haskell, Erlang, Vala and many others.
It
was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few
dependencies from other packages. It supports many filetypes and has
some nice features.sudo apt-get install geany geany-plugins
Komodo Edit
is a free text editor for dynamic programming languages. It was
introduced in January 2007 to complement Active State’s commercial
Komodo IDE product. With the release of version 4.3, Komodo Edit is
built on top of the Open Komodo project. Many of Komodo’s features are
derived from an embedded Python interpreter. Open Komodo uses the
Mozilla code base, along with Scintilla, and the two products share many
features and support the same languages (including Python, Perl, PHP,
Ruby, Tcl, SQL, Smarty, CSS, HTML and XML) and computer platforms
(Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows). The editor component is implemented
using the NPAPI, with the Scintilla view embedded in the XUL interface
in the same manner as a web browser plugin. Both Komodo Edit and Komodo
IDE support user customization through plugins and macros. Komodo
plug-ins are based on Mozilla Add-ons and extensions can be searched
for, downloaded, configured, installed and updated from within the
application. Available extensions include a functions list, pipe
features, additional language support and user interface enhancements.Windows: Notepad++
In 32-bit Ubuntu:
wget http://downloads.activestate.com/Komodo/releases/8.5.0/Komodo-Edit-8.5.0-13638-linux-x86.tar.gz tar xzvf Komodo-Edit-8.5.0-13638-linux-x86.tar.gz cd Komodo-Edit-8.5.0-13638-linux-x86/ sudo ./install.shin 64-bit Ubuntu:
wget http://downloads.activestate.com/Komodo/releases/8.5.0/Komodo-Edit-8.5.0-13638-linux-x86_64.tar.gz tar xzvf Komodo-Edit-8.5.0-13638-linux-x86_64.tar.gz cd Komodo-Edit-8.5.0-13638-linux-x86_64/ sudo ./install.shWhen prompted to specify the directory or folder to install into, type this command:
/opt/Komodo-Edit-8/After installing, run this command in your terminal to complete the process.
export PATH="/opt/Komodo-Edit-8/bin:$PATH"LibreOffice (Recommended)
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Office Suite
Ubuntu equivalent : LibreOffice Suite
LibreOffice is a free software office suite developed by The Document Foundation as a fork of OpenOffice.org. It is compatible with other major office suites, including Microsoft Office, and available on a variety of platforms. Its developers’ goal is to produce a vendor-independent office suite with ODF support and without any copyright assignment requirements. The name is a hybrid word with the first part Libre, which means free (as in freedom) in French and Spanish, and the English word Office.
LibreOffice comes preinstalled by default in Ubuntu usually, but you still want to double-check at this point that you have everything else installed that you probably will need, and that you have the latest updated version from the developers.
To install LibreOffice PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-4-1 sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade sudo apt-get install libreoffice libreoffice-java-common libreoffice-math libreoffice-gnome libreoffice-java-commonHow to install Grammar checking Plug-in for LibreOffice Writer:
http://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/how-to-install-grammar-checker-in-libreoffice-in-ubuntu/
To enable PDF import capability:
sudo apt-get install libreoffice-pdfimportTo enable Mozilla Office plugin:
sudo apt-get install mozilla-libreoffice
http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center
Special Note: If you would like the MS Windows OS or Apple Mac OS version of LibreOffice Suite for another computer you have at work or school – here is where you can find the link. And I definitely recommend using the torrent because the direct link doesn’t usually completely download for some unknown reason. https://www.libreoffice.org/download/ or you can download LibreOffice for Windows via Torrent here:
http://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/stable/4.0.0/win/x86/LibreOffice_4.0.0_Win_x86.msi.torrent
GWoffice (Google Web Office)
is an application that lets you access Google Drive and its content
directly from your desktop in Ubuntu. It supports HUD, drop and drag to
upload documents, and offline synchronization. GWoffice comes with a
clean and nice GTK theme that integrates well with Ubuntu. Although it
only works with office documents, spreadsheets, and presentation files,
it’s nice to have if you want to sync your Google documents in Ubuntu.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tombeckmann/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gwofficeScribus is an desktop open source page layout program with the aim of producing commercial grade output in PDF and Postscript, primarily, though not exclusively for Linux.
While
the goals of the program are for ease of use and simple easy to
understand tools, Scribus offers support for professional publishing
features, such as CMYK color, easy PDF creation, Encapsulated Postscript
import/export and creation of color separations.sudo apt-get install scribusAbiWord is a free and open source software word processor. It was originally started by SourceGear Corporation as the first part of a proposed AbiSuite. Development stopped when SourceGear changed their focus to Internet appliances. AbiWord was adopted by some open source developers and AbiWord continued to be developed. AbiWord supports both basic word processing features such as lists, indents and character formats, and more sophisticated features including tables, styles, page headers and footers, footnotes, templates, multiple views, page columns, spell checking, and grammar checking. Starting with version 2.8.0, AbiWord includes a collaboration plugin that allows integration with AbiCollab.net, a Web-based service that permits multiple users to work on the same document in real time, in full synchronization.
sudo apt-get install abiwordGraphical FTP clients
Windows equivalent : CuteFTP, SmartFTP, CoreFTP
Ubuntu equivalent : FileZilla
FileZilla is free, open source, cross-platform FTP/SFTP software, consisting of FileZilla Client and FileZilla Server. Binaries are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). As of 18 April 2011, FileZilla Client was the 7th most popular download of all time from SourceForge.net.
This is great FTP client, very complete, in my opinion, and the best one around.
To install FileZilla in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/programs-ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install filezilla filezilla-commonAccess it through Applications → Internet → FileZilla FTP Client.
Development IDE
Windows equivalent : Dreamweaver
Ubuntu equivalent : Kompozer, Netbeans
KompoZer is an open source WYSIWYG HTML editor based on a rewritten version of the now-discontinued Nvu editor. KompoZer is maintained as a community-driven fork and is a project on Sourceforge.
KompoZer’s WYSIWYG editing capabilities are one of the main attractions of the software. In addition, KompoZer allows direct code editing as well as a split code-graphic view:
sudo apt-get install kompozerAccess it through Applications → Internet → Kompozer
NetBeans
The NetBeans platform allows applications to be developed from a set
of modular software components called modules. Applications based on the
NetBeans platform (including the NetBeans IDE) can be extended by third
party developers.
Windows equivalent : Adobe Photoshop
Ubuntu equivalent : GIMP
Basic GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. It has layering abilities like Photoshop.
In addition to detailed image retouching and free-form drawing, GIMP can accomplish essential image editing tasks such as resizing, editing, and cropping photos, photomontages combining multiple images, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also be used to create basic animated images in the GIF format.
New additions in Gimp 2.8 are single window mode, on-canvas text editing, layers group, and to apply all changes to a layer grouping. You will need to install the PPA to upgrade to Gimp 2.8 below.
GIMP’s
product vision is that GIMP is, or will become, a free software
high-end graphics application for the editing and creation of original
images, icons, graphical elements of web pages and art for user
interface elements.
Download additional Script-Fu filters and tweaks:
Instructions on how to install Scripts that work in Gimp 2.8:
http://www.gimphelp.org/script28.shtml
GIMP Paint Studio
GIMP Paint Studio (GPS) is a package with a collection of brushes and accompanying tool presets for GIMP aimed at improving the capabilities in drawing and painting using GIMP. GPS provides a wide range of tools for graphic designers and digital artists: different shadowing pencil brushes (graphite, 2B, 6B, etc), pen brushes (BIC pen, sketching pen), oil brushes and other presets for airbrushing, using the ink tool, smudging, etc.
To add the PPA and install GIMP Paint Studio in Ubuntu (install GIMP first), use the following commands on the terminal (this PPA might not be available yet in 12.04):
It is not a separate package, but a whole patched GIMP.
To install Gimp Painter from terminal:
http://registry.gimp.org/popular
G’MIC is an open and full-featured framework for image processing, providing several different user interfaces to convert/manipulate/filter/visualize generic image datasets, from 1d scalar signals to 3d+t sequences of multi-spectral volumetric images.
G’MIC provides a serious tool for image processing along with flexibility for creative applications. It has a very lightweight core that is mature code and comes with a complete set of manipulation and filter commands which operate on a stack of images.
Windows equivalent : Adobe Illustrator
Ubuntu equivalent : Inkscape
Inkscape is a free software vector graphics editor, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Its goal is to implement full support for the Scalable Vector Graphics 1.1 standard. An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
Inkscape is an open source drawing tool that uses the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) scalable vector graphics format (SVG). Some supported SVG features include basic shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, and grouping. In addition, Inkscape supports Creative Commons’ metadata, node-editing, layers, complex path operations, text-on-path, text-in-shape, and SVG XML editing. It also imports several formats like EPS, PostScript, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
Photo Management
Windows equivalent: Aftershot Pro, Lightroom, Bridge, Photoshop Organizer
RAW file viewers/editors/plugins for SLR Digital Photography
Not the most intuitive program to use at first, Raw Therapee is a fairly feature rich and comprehensive RAW editor that’s compatible with Linux. At the time of writing, the team are working on a stable release of version 3.0, which is a major release for the project. Unidentified Flying RAW (or UFRaw for short) is a dedicated RAW image editor based on GTK+. It can be used as an application on its own or as a plugin for GIMP (simply open a RAW image in GIMP to be presented with the UFRaw editor window).
Darktable
is an open source photography workflow application and RAW developer. A
virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages your
digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable
lighttable and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them. It
focuses on the workflow to make it easier for the photographer to
quickly handle the thousands of images a day of shooting can produce.
It’s also one of the very few FOSS projects able to do tethered
shooting.
Shotwell
can import photos and videos from a digital camera directly. Shotwell
automatically groups photos and videos by date, and supports tagging.
Its image editing features allow users to rotate, crop, eliminate red
eye, and adjust levels and color balance. It also features an auto
“enhance” option that will attempt to guess appropriate levels for the
image. Shotwell allows users to publish their images and videos to
Facebook, Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Piwigo, and YouTube.
PhotoFilmStrip
creates movies out of your pictures in just 3 steps. Great if you need
to create video presentations. First select your photos, customize the
motion path and render the video. There are several output possibilities
for VCD, SVCD, DVD up to FULL-HD. Creates animated slideshows. You can
add audio with Avidemux when you are done creating your slideshow with
PhotoFilmStrip.
sudo apt-get install netbeansImage Editors
Windows equivalent : Adobe Photoshop
Ubuntu equivalent : GIMP
Basic GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. It has layering abilities like Photoshop.
In addition to detailed image retouching and free-form drawing, GIMP can accomplish essential image editing tasks such as resizing, editing, and cropping photos, photomontages combining multiple images, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also be used to create basic animated images in the GIF format.
New additions in Gimp 2.8 are single window mode, on-canvas text editing, layers group, and to apply all changes to a layer grouping. You will need to install the PPA to upgrade to Gimp 2.8 below.
GIMP’s
product vision is that GIMP is, or will become, a free software
high-end graphics application for the editing and creation of original
images, icons, graphical elements of web pages and art for user
interface elements.sudo apt-get --purge remove gimp* sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gimp gimp-data gimp-data-extrasAccess it through Applications → Graphics → GIMP Image Editor.
Download additional Script-Fu filters and tweaks:
Instructions on how to install Scripts that work in Gimp 2.8:
http://www.gimphelp.org/script28.shtml
GIMP Paint Studio
GIMP Paint Studio (GPS) is a package with a collection of brushes and accompanying tool presets for GIMP aimed at improving the capabilities in drawing and painting using GIMP. GPS provides a wide range of tools for graphic designers and digital artists: different shadowing pencil brushes (graphite, 2B, 6B, etc), pen brushes (BIC pen, sketching pen), oil brushes and other presets for airbrushing, using the ink tool, smudging, etc.
To add the PPA and install GIMP Paint Studio in Ubuntu (install GIMP first), use the following commands on the terminal (this PPA might not be available yet in 12.04):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shnatsel/gimp-paint-studio sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gimp-paint-studioGimp Painter adds some color blending and line smoothing features:
It is not a separate package, but a whole patched GIMP.
To install Gimp Painter from terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mizuno-as/gimp-painter sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgradeTo install additional helpful plugins for Gimp try:
http://registry.gimp.org/popular
G’MIC is an open and full-featured framework for image processing, providing several different user interfaces to convert/manipulate/filter/visualize generic image datasets, from 1d scalar signals to 3d+t sequences of multi-spectral volumetric images.
G’MIC provides a serious tool for image processing along with flexibility for creative applications. It has a very lightweight core that is mature code and comes with a complete set of manipulation and filter commands which operate on a stack of images.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gmic gimp-gmicVector Graphics Editor
Windows equivalent : Adobe Illustrator
Ubuntu equivalent : Inkscape
Inkscape is a free software vector graphics editor, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Its goal is to implement full support for the Scalable Vector Graphics 1.1 standard. An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
Inkscape is an open source drawing tool that uses the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) scalable vector graphics format (SVG). Some supported SVG features include basic shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, and grouping. In addition, Inkscape supports Creative Commons’ metadata, node-editing, layers, complex path operations, text-on-path, text-in-shape, and SVG XML editing. It also imports several formats like EPS, PostScript, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
sudo apt-get install inkscapeAccess it through Applications → Graphics → Inkscape Vector Graphics Editor.
Photo Management
Windows equivalent: Aftershot Pro, Lightroom, Bridge, Photoshop Organizer
RAW file viewers/editors/plugins for SLR Digital Photography
Not the most intuitive program to use at first, Raw Therapee is a fairly feature rich and comprehensive RAW editor that’s compatible with Linux. At the time of writing, the team are working on a stable release of version 3.0, which is a major release for the project. Unidentified Flying RAW (or UFRaw for short) is a dedicated RAW image editor based on GTK+. It can be used as an application on its own or as a plugin for GIMP (simply open a RAW image in GIMP to be presented with the UFRaw editor window).
sudo apt-get install libraw-bin ufraw ufraw-batch and gimp-ufraw rawtherapeeFor more raw file utilities visit: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-great-tools-editing-raw-photos-linux/
Darktable
is an open source photography workflow application and RAW developer. A
virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages your
digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable
lighttable and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them. It
focuses on the workflow to make it easier for the photographer to
quickly handle the thousands of images a day of shooting can produce.
It’s also one of the very few FOSS projects able to do tethered
shooting.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pmjdebruijn/darktable-release-plus sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install darktable
Shotwell
can import photos and videos from a digital camera directly. Shotwell
automatically groups photos and videos by date, and supports tagging.
Its image editing features allow users to rotate, crop, eliminate red
eye, and adjust levels and color balance. It also features an auto
“enhance” option that will attempt to guess appropriate levels for the
image. Shotwell allows users to publish their images and videos to
Facebook, Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Piwigo, and YouTube.sudo apt-get install shotwell
PhotoFilmStrip
creates movies out of your pictures in just 3 steps. Great if you need
to create video presentations. First select your photos, customize the
motion path and render the video. There are several output possibilities
for VCD, SVCD, DVD up to FULL-HD. Creates animated slideshows. You can
add audio with Avidemux when you are done creating your slideshow with
PhotoFilmStrip.sudo apt-get install photofilmstrip3D Graphics Application
Windows equivalent : 3D Studio MAX, Google Sketch
Ubuntu equivalent : Blender
Blender
Blender’s features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water and smoke simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulations, video editing software, compositing, and the ability to create interactive 3D applications, video games, animated film, or visual effects.
More
advanced tools include rigid, realistic body, fluid, cloth and softbody
dynamics simulation, modifier-based modeling, character animation, a
node-based material and compositing system, and embedded scripting in
Python.
Microsoft Visio
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Visio
Ubuntu equivalent : Dia
Dia
Dia can be used to draw many different kinds of diagrams and flowcharts. It has special objects to help draw entity-relationship models (tedia2sql can be used to create the SQL DDL), Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and simple electrical circuits. It is also possible to add support for new shapes by writing simple XML files, using a subset of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to draw the shape.
Google Picasa is an image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, plus an integrated photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time may have resided at Idealab) in 2002 and owned by Google since 2004. “Picasa” is a blend of the name of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, the phrase mi casa for “my house”, and “pic” for pictures (personalized art). For Linux, Google has bundled Wine with the Windows version to create an installation package rather than write a native Linux version, but this version is severely out of date (the latest Windows version, however, can be run with Wine; see the Linux section).
http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/package/mint_import/maya/import/base/picasa
You will need to either select the 32-bit or 64-bit version according to the version of Ubuntu you have installed on your computer.
Screenlets is the name of both a set of independently-developed widget applications and the widget engine which runs them. The engine runs primarily on X11-based compositing window managers, most notably with Compiz on Linux. Like Google Gadgets for windows.
Windows equivalent : Limewire, utorrent, Azureus, Emule, PeerGuardian
Ubuntu equivalent : Frostwire, Deluge, Azureus, Amule, Moblock/Mobloquer
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data over the Internet. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and it has been estimated that it accounted for roughly 43% to 70% of all Internet traffic (depending on geographical location) as of February 2009.
Frostwire
Windows equivalent: Limewire
FrostWire is a free, open source BitTorrent client, first released in September, 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in appearance and functionality, but developers added more features, such as BitTorrent support. In version Five, Gnutella support was dropped entirely, and now FrostWire only uses the BitTorrent network. Development of the program has been active since the program was first released in September 2004.
Install Frostwire:
http://www.frostwire.com/download/?os=ubuntu&
Bittorrent Add-ons for Ubuntu:
Windows Equivalent: PeerGuardian (highly recommended for Bittorent users)
Ubuntu equivalent : PGL and PGLGUI
PeerGuardian Linux (pgl) is a privacy oriented firewall application. It blocks connections to and from hosts specified in huge blocklists (thousands or millions of IP ranges). Its origins lie in targeting aggressive IPs while you use P2P.
While you are installing PGL just accept the default settings for now. You can change them with PGLGUI after you are done installing everything.
To install PGL and PGLGUI in terminal (select the default settings by using the TAB key and pressing enter – there will be several prompts – just accept default settings and afterwards you can configure the blocklists):
The first thing most users will notice after installing PGL and have it running is that their Pidgin/Empathy/IMclientOfChoice/WebBrowser stops working. PGLGUI log will list the IP’s and info about the IP’s, so just whitelist them if need be with one mouse click.
It is really a very strong utility and will block pretty much everything until you tell it to do otherwise. But you only need to run this when you are seeding or downloading torrent files.
Deluge Client is a full-featured BitTorrent client for Linux, OS X, Unix and Windows. It uses libtorrent in it’s backend and features multiple user-interfaces including: GTK+, web and console. It has been designed using the client server model with a daemon process that handles all the bittorrent activity.
The Deluge daemon is able to run on headless machines with the user-interfaces being able to connect remotely from any platform.
Azureus Client: Uses Java to run, very complete but a bit heavy. And has a wide variety of add-ons to choose from too.
Vuze (formerly Azureus) is a P2P file sharing client using the bittorrent protocol. Search and download torrent files. Play, convert and transcode videos and music for playing on many devices such as PSP, TiVo, XBox, PS3, iTunes (iPhone, iPod, Apple TV).
µTorrent Server is a very tiny BitTorrent server, super fast and ultra light. µTorrent’s built for speed. That means ultra-efficient downloads of mega-sized files.
Go to µTorrent official site and download the Ubuntu installation package and use the following instructions to install µTorrent at:
http://ubuntuguide.net/install-lightweight-fast-%C2%B5torrent-on-ubuntu-12-04-lts/
Amule
aMule is an eMule-like client for the eD2k and Kademlia networks, supporting multiple platforms.
Add the launchpad repository :
Music / MP3 / OGG Players
Windows equivalent : iTunes, Winamp
Ubuntu equivalent : Amarok, Nuvola Player, Spotify
Amarok 2.5 “Earth Moving” was released on December 2011.
New features:
Nuvola Player
is an application that integrates cloud music services like Google
Music, Grooveshark, Hype Machine, 8tracks, Pandora, Rdio and Amazon
Cloud Player with your desktop. Using it, you’ll get desktop
notifications, multimedia keys support, Mpris v2 (integration with
Ubuntu Sound Menu or GNOME Shell Media Player extension) integration,
Unity quicklists and more.
Great Little Radio Player is a robust internet radio station streamer for various Linux distributions. It connects to web sites offering radio streaming and lets you play radio stations directly from that locations. With Great Little Radio Player, you will have collection of more then 500 radio stations worldwide. Best part, it’s free of charge.
You can download it here:
Spotify is a Swedish-founded, UK-headquartered DRM-based music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal.
Launched
in October 2008 by Swedish startup Spotify AB, the service had
approximately ten million users as of 15 September 2010; about 2.5
million of whom were paying members.The service is, as of November 2011,
available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France,
the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
and the United States.
The GUI was built with wxWidgets and the audio I/O supports PulseAudio, OSS and ALSA under Linux.
Jack Audio Connection Kit (Recommended if you do audio editting)
For more specific information: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/What%20is%20JACK
Mixxx has the ability to provide comprehensive support for any MIDI controller due to its scripting engine, and it ships with mappings for a number of popular controllers, a complete list of which can be found on the Hardware Compatibility page.
Airtime
an award-winning open source radio management software, has reached
version 2.1, getting real-time show editing and live stream
rebroadcasting.
Airtime 2.1 allows connecting remotely via tools such as Mixxx or Virtual DJ and the application will rebroadcast the stream either at a time you set or in the middle of the broadcast, using a nice transition.
Download Airtime (officially supports Ubuntu and Debian, but works on other Linux distributions too)
Ardour
is a hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation application. It
runs on Linux, Mac OS X and FreeBSD. Its primary author is Paul Davis,
who is also responsible for the JACK Audio Connection Kit. Ardour’s
intention is to provide digital audio workstation software suitable for
professional use.
Traverso DAW
(digital audio workstation) is an easy to use, open source multitrack
audio recording and editing suite with a great user interface. You’ll
find yourself doing more work in half the time thanks to the unique
interface geared toward both the home user and profession musician;
instead of endless menus and submenus, Traverso uses both the mouse and
the keyboard together for precision and speed.
Linux Multimedia Studio (LMMS)
is a free DAW (digital audio workstation) created for Linux &
Windows. Although it has a rather steep learning curve, there are many
tutorials and it includes several sample songs that you can learn from.
Users learn the functions pretty quickly once they go through a few of
the examples. LMMS come equipped with four different synthesizers. There
is one that allows manipulation of samples by adding filters and a
BitInvader plugin that is a wavetable synthesizer, allowing you to
create a waveform for your sound. There is a guitar synthesizer and one
with three oscillators.
Jokosher
is a multi-track music editor. The interface uses familiar concepts to
musicians rather than relying on their knowledge of multi-track
recorders. Guitarists and other players who don’t want to spend the
funds or the time to learn the ins and outs of multi-tracking will
appreciate this software. The idea of Jokosher is to be able to ignore
the software and be able to concentrate on your music.
bristol
is a vintage synthesiser software emulator suite. The application
consists of an engine itself called bristol and a graphical user
interface called brighton. The graphical interface is a bitmap
manipulation library to present the diverse synth devices such as
potentiometers, buttons, sliders, patch cables and which generates the
messages to configure the synth emulator.
The
engine is an infrastructure that hosts the emulator code that couples
together the different audio operators required to generate the audio.
The engine and GUI are started together with the start Bristol script
which sets up the required environment for the two to connect together.
It is not generally envisaged that bristol and brighton be started
outside of the script however there are options to the script to only
start one or the other. Bristol also has a command line interface that
can be used rather than the GUI. Audio drivers are PCM/PCM plug or Jack.
Midi drivers are either OSS/ALSA rawmidi interface, or ALSA SEQ.
Multple GUIs can connect to the single audio engine, which then operates
multitimbrally.
Currently the following synthesizers are emulated:
http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/precise/man1/bristol.1.html
In Terminal copy and paste to install the GUI:
Amarok
Amarok’s tagline is “Rediscover Your Music”, and its development is based around this ideology. Amarok’s core features such as the unique “context browser”, integrated Wikipedia lookup and lyrics download help users to find new music, and to learn more about the music they have.
Windows equivalent : iTunes
Amarok
also features integration with last.fm, giving users suggestions about
what to listen to next and which artists may fit their mood, as well as
with Magnatune integration, allowing no-cost full listening of all the
music in their catalog, and DRM-free purchasing.
gtkpod
gtkpod is a graphical user interface for the Apple iPod for Unix-like systems, written using the GTK+ toolkit.
Windows equivalent : iTunes
This
application allow you to connect to your ipod, shuffle,
idohickeythingamabob so you can access your music, mp4s, and tranfer
them, copy them, rename them, with Ubuntu or Debian systems. It’s all
kinds of good stuff for apple media users.
Windows equivalent : Nero, Roxio Easy CD Creator
Ubuntu equivalent : K3b, Brasero
K3b (from KDE Burn Baby Burn)
is a CD and DVD authoring application for the KDE desktop environment
for Unix-like computer operating systems. It provides a graphical user
interface to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD
from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced
tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct
disc-to-disc copies.
Brasero is a application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop. It is designed to be as simple as possible and has some unique features to enable users to create their discs easily and quickly.
Gnac is an easy-to-use audio conversion program for the GNOME desktop. It is designed to be powerful but simple. It provides easy audio file conversion between all GStreamer supported audio formats. This and WinFF I have found to be very handy.
Kdenlive, Kino, Openshot, Avidemux, and Pitivi are intuitive and powerful multi-track video editors, including some of the most recent video technologies. Winff is a video/audio converter. With WinFF you can convert a video from youtube into an MP3 audio file, for example. Avidemux is good general purpose video editor as well.
WinFF is a GUI for the FFmpeg command line video converter. It will convert any video file that is supported by FFmpeg. WinFF processes multiple files in multiple formats at once. You can, for example, convert mpeg, flv, and mov files into avi videos, all at once. To install the most recent updated version:
OpenShot provides extensive editing and compositing features, and has been designed as a practical tool for working with high-definition video including HDV and AVCHD.
Copy and paste in Terminal:
Flowblade
is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux designed to “provide a
fast, precise and as-simple-as-possible editing experience”. The
application can be used to join or cut videos, create movies from video
clips, audio clips and images, add filters and more.
Download Flowblade (.deb and source files available)
HandBrake is an open-source program designed to convert MPEG video (including DVD-Video) into an MPEG-4 video file in MPEG-4 Part 14 (.mp4) or Matroska (.mkv) containers.
The program is used to convert DVDs into other forms so they can be viewed on iPods, iPhones and with the Apple QuickTime Player and most media players.
Originally developed for BeOS, HandBrake is now available for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
Kazam is a simple screen recording program that will capture the content of your screen and record a video file that can be played by any video player that supports VP8/WebM video format. You are able to have a mic enabled and background soundtrack too.
Optionally you can record sound from any sound input device that is supported and visible by PulseAudio.
You can install it as follows under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
It
uses the widely known video processing swissknife transcode and many
other Open Source tools. dvd::rip itself is licensed under GPL / Perl
Artistic License. You can install dvd::rip as follows under Debian /
Ubuntu Linux:
Hulu Desktop is a lean-back viewing experience for your personal computer. It features a sleek new look that’s optimized for use with standard Windows Media Center remote controls or Apple remote controls, allowing you to navigate Hulu’s entire library with just six buttons. For users without remotes, the application is keyboard and mouse-enabled. Hulu Desktop is a downloadable application and will work on PCs and Macs. It will initially launch as a beta product during which we plan to gather and incorporate user feedback to improve the service. The new version includes both bug fixes and also support for the new Hulu Plus subscription service.
You can download the deb installation package for your 32-bit or 64-bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 here:
We start by downloading the Ubuntu deb package:
Special Note: There is a problem when you run the
default HuluDesktop configuration in FullScreen mode on Linux. To fix
this you must manually edit your .huluconfig file to match your current
monitor display resolution.
Copy and paste in Terminal:
http://www.hulu.com/discussions
TV-MAXE
is an application which provides the ability to watch TV stations and
listen radio via different streams, such is SopCast. Currently it has a
large number of channels, both romanian and international. I tested this
in 12.04 and it is working very good.
FreetuxTV is a Web TV player for Linux that lets you watch and record free Web TV Channels and listen to Radio. Unlike Sopcast this works with direct asf/wmv connections/downloads for streaming media. And the programming lists appear to not be quite as updated as Sopcast at the moment. The application that runs on VLC as backend comes with several pre-added channels for many languages. You will need to open up the required ports on your firewall if it is enabled.
Netflix is an American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. It started its subscription-based digital distribution service in 1999 and by 2009 it was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers. On February 25, 2007, Netflix announced the billionth DVD delivery. In April 2011, Netflix announced 23.6 million subscribers in the United States and over 26 million worldwide. By 2011, the total digital revenue for Netflix reached $1.5 billion. The new Netflix streaming media player takes advantage of Play Ready DRM, which is built into Silverlight codec, for the playback of protected content. According to Netflix, this had not been possible with previous technologies. The company also said that it has expanded the number of movies and television programs available through the “Watch Instantly” service. The paid service is roughly around $7.99 per month. Currently, you are allowed a 30-day trial to test the services.
If you have questions or need support please visit:
https://launchpad.net/netflix-desktop
Ubuntu equivalent : Blender
Blender
Blender’s features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water and smoke simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulations, video editing software, compositing, and the ability to create interactive 3D applications, video games, animated film, or visual effects.
More
advanced tools include rigid, realistic body, fluid, cloth and softbody
dynamics simulation, modifier-based modeling, character animation, a
node-based material and compositing system, and embedded scripting in
Python.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:irie/blender sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install blenderAccess it through Applications → Graphics → Blender (windowed).
Microsoft Visio
Windows equivalent : Microsoft Visio
Ubuntu equivalent : Dia
Dia
Dia can be used to draw many different kinds of diagrams and flowcharts. It has special objects to help draw entity-relationship models (tedia2sql can be used to create the SQL DDL), Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and simple electrical circuits. It is also possible to add support for new shapes by writing simple XML files, using a subset of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to draw the shape.
sudo apt-get install diaAccess it through Applications → Graphics → Dia Diagram Editor
Google Picasa is an image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, plus an integrated photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time may have resided at Idealab) in 2002 and owned by Google since 2004. “Picasa” is a blend of the name of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, the phrase mi casa for “my house”, and “pic” for pictures (personalized art). For Linux, Google has bundled Wine with the Windows version to create an installation package rather than write a native Linux version, but this version is severely out of date (the latest Windows version, however, can be run with Wine; see the Linux section).
http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/package/mint_import/maya/import/base/picasa
You will need to either select the 32-bit or 64-bit version according to the version of Ubuntu you have installed on your computer.
Screenlets is the name of both a set of independently-developed widget applications and the widget engine which runs them. The engine runs primarily on X11-based compositing window managers, most notably with Compiz on Linux. Like Google Gadgets for windows.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:screenlets/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install screenletsP2P Clients & Servers, File Sharing
Windows equivalent : Limewire, utorrent, Azureus, Emule, PeerGuardian
Ubuntu equivalent : Frostwire, Deluge, Azureus, Amule, Moblock/Mobloquer
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data over the Internet. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and it has been estimated that it accounted for roughly 43% to 70% of all Internet traffic (depending on geographical location) as of February 2009.
Frostwire
Windows equivalent: Limewire
FrostWire is a free, open source BitTorrent client, first released in September, 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in appearance and functionality, but developers added more features, such as BitTorrent support. In version Five, Gnutella support was dropped entirely, and now FrostWire only uses the BitTorrent network. Development of the program has been active since the program was first released in September 2004.
Install Frostwire:
http://www.frostwire.com/download/?os=ubuntu&
Bittorrent Add-ons for Ubuntu:
Windows Equivalent: PeerGuardian (highly recommended for Bittorent users)
Ubuntu equivalent : PGL and PGLGUI
PeerGuardian Linux (pgl) is a privacy oriented firewall application. It blocks connections to and from hosts specified in huge blocklists (thousands or millions of IP ranges). Its origins lie in targeting aggressive IPs while you use P2P.
While you are installing PGL just accept the default settings for now. You can change them with PGLGUI after you are done installing everything.
To install PGL and PGLGUI in terminal (select the default settings by using the TAB key and pressing enter – there will be several prompts – just accept default settings and afterwards you can configure the blocklists):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jre-phoenix/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install pgld pglcmd pglguiMake sure to enable your blocklists you want and update PGLGUI after you get it completely installed:
The first thing most users will notice after installing PGL and have it running is that their Pidgin/Empathy/IMclientOfChoice/WebBrowser stops working. PGLGUI log will list the IP’s and info about the IP’s, so just whitelist them if need be with one mouse click.
It is really a very strong utility and will block pretty much everything until you tell it to do otherwise. But you only need to run this when you are seeding or downloading torrent files.
Deluge Client is a full-featured BitTorrent client for Linux, OS X, Unix and Windows. It uses libtorrent in it’s backend and features multiple user-interfaces including: GTK+, web and console. It has been designed using the client server model with a daemon process that handles all the bittorrent activity.
The Deluge daemon is able to run on headless machines with the user-interfaces being able to connect remotely from any platform.
sudo apt-get install deluge-torrentAccess it through Applications → Internet → Deluge Torrent.
Azureus Client: Uses Java to run, very complete but a bit heavy. And has a wide variety of add-ons to choose from too.
Vuze (formerly Azureus) is a P2P file sharing client using the bittorrent protocol. Search and download torrent files. Play, convert and transcode videos and music for playing on many devices such as PSP, TiVo, XBox, PS3, iTunes (iPhone, iPod, Apple TV).
sudo apt-get install azureusAccess it through Applications → Internet → Azureus.
µTorrent Server is a very tiny BitTorrent server, super fast and ultra light. µTorrent’s built for speed. That means ultra-efficient downloads of mega-sized files.
Go to µTorrent official site and download the Ubuntu installation package and use the following instructions to install µTorrent at:
http://ubuntuguide.net/install-lightweight-fast-%C2%B5torrent-on-ubuntu-12-04-lts/
Amule
aMule is an eMule-like client for the eD2k and Kademlia networks, supporting multiple platforms.
Add the launchpad repository :
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:happyaron/amule-dlp && sudo apt-get updateThen install it with the following command :
sudo apt-get install amule-dlp amule-dlp-gnome-support amule-dlp-utils-gui amule-dlp-daemonAccess it through Applications → Internet → aMule.
Music / MP3 / OGG Players
Windows equivalent : iTunes, Winamp
Ubuntu equivalent : Amarok, Nuvola Player, Spotify
Amarok 2.5 “Earth Moving” was released on December 2011.
New features:
- GPodder.net podcast synchronization.
- Re-written USB Mass Storage support.
- The Windows version of Amarok is now officially declared stable.
- Many bugfixes to the iPod plugin, thanks to Matěj Laitl.
- An integrated Amazon MP3 store. This major feature is the work of our web-entrepreneurs Sven and Justus.
sudo apt-get install amarok
Nuvola Player
is an application that integrates cloud music services like Google
Music, Grooveshark, Hype Machine, 8tracks, Pandora, Rdio and Amazon
Cloud Player with your desktop. Using it, you’ll get desktop
notifications, multimedia keys support, Mpris v2 (integration with
Ubuntu Sound Menu or GNOME Shell Media Player extension) integration,
Unity quicklists and more.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nuvola-player-builders/stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install nuvolaplayer
Great Little Radio Player is a robust internet radio station streamer for various Linux distributions. It connects to web sites offering radio streaming and lets you play radio stations directly from that locations. With Great Little Radio Player, you will have collection of more then 500 radio stations worldwide. Best part, it’s free of charge.
You can download it here:
Spotify is a Swedish-founded, UK-headquartered DRM-based music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal.
Launched
in October 2008 by Swedish startup Spotify AB, the service had
approximately ten million users as of 15 September 2010; about 2.5
million of whom were paying members.The service is, as of November 2011,
available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France,
the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
and the United States.sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 94558F59then
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list'then
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install spotify-client-qtAudacity is a cross-platform multitrack audio editor. It allows you to record sounds directly or to import files in various formats and convert audio files into many different audio file formats too. It features a few simple effects, all of the editing features you should need, and unlimited undo. This is the first and last GUI audio editor you will ever need on Ubuntu.
The GUI was built with wxWidgets and the audio I/O supports PulseAudio, OSS and ALSA under Linux.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:audacity-team/daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install audacity lame libmp3lame0
Jack Audio Connection Kit (Recommended if you do audio editting)For more specific information: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/What%20is%20JACK
sudo apt-get install jack jackd jackeqMixxx is a DJ tool that allows for the playback and mixing of digital music (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and Wave). Mixxx will run on the Linux, Mac OS X and Windows operating systems.
Mixxx has the ability to provide comprehensive support for any MIDI controller due to its scripting engine, and it ships with mappings for a number of popular controllers, a complete list of which can be found on the Hardware Compatibility page.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mixxx/mixxx sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install mixxx libportaudio2
Airtime
an award-winning open source radio management software, has reached
version 2.1, getting real-time show editing and live stream
rebroadcasting.Airtime 2.1 allows connecting remotely via tools such as Mixxx or Virtual DJ and the application will rebroadcast the stream either at a time you set or in the middle of the broadcast, using a nice transition.
Download Airtime (officially supports Ubuntu and Debian, but works on other Linux distributions too)
Ardour
is a hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation application. It
runs on Linux, Mac OS X and FreeBSD. Its primary author is Paul Davis,
who is also responsible for the JACK Audio Connection Kit. Ardour’s
intention is to provide digital audio workstation software suitable for
professional use.sudo apt-get install ardour
Traverso DAW
(digital audio workstation) is an easy to use, open source multitrack
audio recording and editing suite with a great user interface. You’ll
find yourself doing more work in half the time thanks to the unique
interface geared toward both the home user and profession musician;
instead of endless menus and submenus, Traverso uses both the mouse and
the keyboard together for precision and speed.sudo apt-get install traverso
Linux Multimedia Studio (LMMS)
is a free DAW (digital audio workstation) created for Linux &
Windows. Although it has a rather steep learning curve, there are many
tutorials and it includes several sample songs that you can learn from.
Users learn the functions pretty quickly once they go through a few of
the examples. LMMS come equipped with four different synthesizers. There
is one that allows manipulation of samples by adding filters and a
BitInvader plugin that is a wavetable synthesizer, allowing you to
create a waveform for your sound. There is a guitar synthesizer and one
with three oscillators.sudo apt-get install lmms
Jokosher
is a multi-track music editor. The interface uses familiar concepts to
musicians rather than relying on their knowledge of multi-track
recorders. Guitarists and other players who don’t want to spend the
funds or the time to learn the ins and outs of multi-tracking will
appreciate this software. The idea of Jokosher is to be able to ignore
the software and be able to concentrate on your music.sudo apt-get install jokosher
bristol
is a vintage synthesiser software emulator suite. The application
consists of an engine itself called bristol and a graphical user
interface called brighton. The graphical interface is a bitmap
manipulation library to present the diverse synth devices such as
potentiometers, buttons, sliders, patch cables and which generates the
messages to configure the synth emulator.
The
engine is an infrastructure that hosts the emulator code that couples
together the different audio operators required to generate the audio.
The engine and GUI are started together with the start Bristol script
which sets up the required environment for the two to connect together.
It is not generally envisaged that bristol and brighton be started
outside of the script however there are options to the script to only
start one or the other. Bristol also has a command line interface that
can be used rather than the GUI. Audio drivers are PCM/PCM plug or Jack.
Midi drivers are either OSS/ALSA rawmidi interface, or ALSA SEQ.
Multple GUIs can connect to the single audio engine, which then operates
multitimbrally.Currently the following synthesizers are emulated:
http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/precise/man1/bristol.1.html
In Terminal copy and paste to install the GUI:
sudo apt-get install bristol monobristolSpecial Note: You may need to type monobristol in terminal to start the GUI or you may need to create a launcher for it manually. Sometimes it is better to run it entirely from the command line too.
Amarok
Amarok’s tagline is “Rediscover Your Music”, and its development is based around this ideology. Amarok’s core features such as the unique “context browser”, integrated Wikipedia lookup and lyrics download help users to find new music, and to learn more about the music they have.
Windows equivalent : iTunes
Amarok
also features integration with last.fm, giving users suggestions about
what to listen to next and which artists may fit their mood, as well as
with Magnatune integration, allowing no-cost full listening of all the
music in their catalog, and DRM-free purchasing.sudo apt-get install amarok amarok-commonAccess it through Applications → Sound & Video → Amarok.
gtkpod
gtkpod is a graphical user interface for the Apple iPod for Unix-like systems, written using the GTK+ toolkit.
Windows equivalent : iTunes
This
application allow you to connect to your ipod, shuffle,
idohickeythingamabob so you can access your music, mp4s, and tranfer
them, copy them, rename them, with Ubuntu or Debian systems. It’s all
kinds of good stuff for apple media users.sudo apt-get install gtkpodPrograms for CD/DVD burning with GUI
Windows equivalent : Nero, Roxio Easy CD Creator
Ubuntu equivalent : K3b, Brasero
K3b (from KDE Burn Baby Burn)
is a CD and DVD authoring application for the KDE desktop environment
for Unix-like computer operating systems. It provides a graphical user
interface to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD
from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced
tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct
disc-to-disc copies.sudo apt-get install k3b k3b-data libk3b6Access it through Applications → Sound & Video → K3B.
Brasero is a application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop. It is designed to be as simple as possible and has some unique features to enable users to create their discs easily and quickly.
sudo apt-get install braseroAccess it through Applications → Sound & Video → Brasero Disc Burning .
Gnac is an easy-to-use audio conversion program for the GNOME desktop. It is designed to be powerful but simple. It provides easy audio file conversion between all GStreamer supported audio formats. This and WinFF I have found to be very handy.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnac-team/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gnacKdenlive, Kino, Openshot, Pitivi Video Editors
Kdenlive, Kino, Openshot, Avidemux, and Pitivi are intuitive and powerful multi-track video editors, including some of the most recent video technologies. Winff is a video/audio converter. With WinFF you can convert a video from youtube into an MP3 audio file, for example. Avidemux is good general purpose video editor as well.
sudo apt-get install kdenlive kino pitivi sudo apt-get install avidemux avidemux-common avidemux-plugins-common avidemux-plugins-gtk
WinFF is a GUI for the FFmpeg command line video converter. It will convert any video file that is supported by FFmpeg. WinFF processes multiple files in multiple formats at once. You can, for example, convert mpeg, flv, and mov files into avi videos, all at once. To install the most recent updated version:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:paul-climbing/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install winff libavcodec-extra-53OpenShot Video Editor is a free, open-source video editor for Linux licensed under the GPL version 3.0.OpenShot can take your videos, photos, and music files and help you create the film you have always dreamed of. Easily add sub-titles, transitions, and effects, and then export your film to DVD, YouTube, Vimeo, Xbox 360, and many other common formats.
OpenShot provides extensive editing and compositing features, and has been designed as a practical tool for working with high-definition video including HDV and AVCHD.
Copy and paste in Terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openshot.developers/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install openshot frei0r-plugins sudo apt-get install ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev libavcodec-extra-53 libavformat-extra-53 libavutil-extra-51
Flowblade
is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux designed to “provide a
fast, precise and as-simple-as-possible editing experience”. The
application can be used to join or cut videos, create movies from video
clips, audio clips and images, add filters and more.Download Flowblade (.deb and source files available)
HandBrake is an open-source program designed to convert MPEG video (including DVD-Video) into an MPEG-4 video file in MPEG-4 Part 14 (.mp4) or Matroska (.mkv) containers.
The program is used to convert DVDs into other forms so they can be viewed on iPods, iPhones and with the Apple QuickTime Player and most media players.
Originally developed for BeOS, HandBrake is now available for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-snapshots sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk handbrake-cli
Kazam is a simple screen recording program that will capture the content of your screen and record a video file that can be played by any video player that supports VP8/WebM video format. You are able to have a mic enabled and background soundtrack too.
Optionally you can record sound from any sound input device that is supported and visible by PulseAudio.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kazam-team/unstable-series sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install kazamVideoLAN Movie Creator (VLMC) is a cross-platform, non-linear, video editing software application based on the VLC Media Player.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/vlmc sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install vlmc frei0r-pluginsAcidRip is an automated front end for MPlayer/Mencoder (ripping and encoding DVD tool using mplayer and mencoder) written in Perl, using Gtk2::Perl for a graphical interface. Makes encoding a DVD just one button click!
You can install it as follows under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:sudo apt-get install acidripdvd::rip is a full featured DVD copy program written in Perl i.e. fron end for transcode and ffmpeg. It provides an easy to use but feature-rich Gtk+ GUI to control almost all aspects of the ripping and transcoding process.
It
uses the widely known video processing swissknife transcode and many
other Open Source tools. dvd::rip itself is licensed under GPL / Perl
Artistic License. You can install dvd::rip as follows under Debian /
Ubuntu Linux:sudo apt-get install dvdripK9copy is a KDE DVD Backup tool. It allows the copy of a DVD9 to a DVD5. It is also known as a Linux DVD shrink. It supports the following features: The video stream is compressed to make the video fiton a 4.7GB recordable DVD. DVD Burning. Creation of ISO images. Choosing which audio and subtitle tracks are copied. Title preview (video only). The ability to preserve the original menus.
sudo apt-get install k9copy
Hulu Desktop is a lean-back viewing experience for your personal computer. It features a sleek new look that’s optimized for use with standard Windows Media Center remote controls or Apple remote controls, allowing you to navigate Hulu’s entire library with just six buttons. For users without remotes, the application is keyboard and mouse-enabled. Hulu Desktop is a downloadable application and will work on PCs and Macs. It will initially launch as a beta product during which we plan to gather and incorporate user feedback to improve the service. The new version includes both bug fixes and also support for the new Hulu Plus subscription service.
You can download the deb installation package for your 32-bit or 64-bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 here:
We start by downloading the Ubuntu deb package:
- 64-bit Systems
wget http://download.hulu.com/huludesktop_amd64.deb
- 32-bit Systems
wget http://download.hulu.com/huludesktop_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i huludesktop_*.deb
Copy and paste in Terminal:
gedit .huludesktopAnd change this:
[display] fullscreen = FALSE width = 1024 height = 576 pos_x = 164 pos v = 95and change FALSE to TRUE for fullscreen and update width and height to your actual display resolution sizes. You can find your current monitor display resolution sizes in your System Settings under Hardware.
[display] fullscreen = TRUE width = 1280 height = 720 pos_x = 164 pos v = 95And if someone would be nice enough to drop a message to the HuluDesktop support people to let them know they need to find a solution to this issue eventually, and you can post that over this way. Maybe a nice GUI monitor resolution configuration option within Huludesktop itself or even an auto detect function?:
http://www.hulu.com/discussions
TV-MAXE
is an application which provides the ability to watch TV stations and
listen radio via different streams, such is SopCast. Currently it has a
large number of channels, both romanian and international. I tested this
in 12.04 and it is working very good.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:venerix/blug sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install tv-maxe
FreetuxTV is a Web TV player for Linux that lets you watch and record free Web TV Channels and listen to Radio. Unlike Sopcast this works with direct asf/wmv connections/downloads for streaming media. And the programming lists appear to not be quite as updated as Sopcast at the moment. The application that runs on VLC as backend comes with several pre-added channels for many languages. You will need to open up the required ports on your firewall if it is enabled.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freetuxtv/freetuxtv sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install freetuxtvFor support contact: https://code.google.com/p/freetuxtv/
Netflix is an American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. It started its subscription-based digital distribution service in 1999 and by 2009 it was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers. On February 25, 2007, Netflix announced the billionth DVD delivery. In April 2011, Netflix announced 23.6 million subscribers in the United States and over 26 million worldwide. By 2011, the total digital revenue for Netflix reached $1.5 billion. The new Netflix streaming media player takes advantage of Play Ready DRM, which is built into Silverlight codec, for the playback of protected content. According to Netflix, this had not been possible with previous technologies. The company also said that it has expanded the number of movies and television programs available through the “Watch Instantly” service. The paid service is roughly around $7.99 per month. Currently, you are allowed a 30-day trial to test the services.
If you have questions or need support please visit:
https://launchpad.net/netflix-desktop
Download and install Netflix:
XBMC
is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player
and entertainment hub for digital media. XBMC is available for Linux,
OSX, and Windows. Created in 2003 by a group of like minded programmers,
XBMC is a non-profit project run and developed by volunteers located
around the world. More than 50 software developers have contributed to
XBMC, and 100-plus translators have worked to expand its reach, making
it available in more than 30 languages. While XBMC functions very well
as a standard media player application for your computer, it has been
designed to be the perfect companion for your HTPC. Supporting an almost
endless range of remote controls, and combined with its beautiful
interface and powerful skinning engine, XBMC feels very natural to use
from the couch and is the ideal solution for your home theater.
sudo dpkg-recondigure lirc
For more information: http://lirc.org/
Calibre is a free and open source e-book computer software that organizes, saves and manages e-books, supporting a variety of formats. It also supports e-book syncing with a variety of popular e-book readers. calibre is cross-platform (programmed in Python and C) and is intended for the three main operating systems, Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
Windows: “Kindle for PC” software
Calibre was originally called libprs500, but was renamed calibre (lower case ‘C’) in mid-2008. calibre is primarily an e-book cataloging program. It is designed around the concept of the logical book, where a single database entry corresponds with the same book in a variety of formats. calibre supports the following formats for cataloging: AZW, AZW1, CBR, CBZ, CHM, EPUB, FB2, HTML, IMP, LIT, LRF, LRX, MOBI, ODT, OEBZIP, OPF, PDB, PDF, PML, PMLZ, PRC, RAR, RB, RTF, SNB, TPZ, TXT and ZIP.
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/957788-installing-calibri-font/
Google Earth allows you to travel the world through a virtual globe and view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, and much more. With Google Earth’s rich, geographical content, you are able to experience a more realistic view of the world.
For 32-bit Ubuntu:
VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software package from VMware, Inc. (a company which was formerly a division of and whose majority shareholder remains EMC Corporation). VMware Player can run existing virtual appliances and create its own virtual machines (which require a operating system to be installed to be functional). It uses the same virtualization core as VMware Workstation, a similar program with more features, and not free of charge. VMware Player is available for personal non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement. No support is provided by VMWare, but there is an active community website for discussing and resolving issues.
How to install VMware Player:
https://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/how-to-install-vmware-player-in-ubuntu-12-04/
Oracle VM VirtualBox
(formerly Sun VirtualBox, Sun xVM VirtualBox and innotek VirtualBox) is
an x86 virtualization software package, created by software company
Innotek GmbH, purchased in 2008 by Sun Microsystems, and now developed
by Oracle Corporation as part of its family of virtualization products.
Oracle VM VirtualBox is installed on Ubuntu as an application; this host
application allows additional guest operating systems, each known as a
Guest OS, to be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.
For example, here we have installed Andriod 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS
virtually inside of Virtualbox for App development purposes.
To install Oracle VM VirtualBox copy and paste into Terminal:
Special Note: And if you are wondering if I could get Netflix app to actually install in the virtual andriod OS the answer is no. The DRM included with the android Netflix app will not work on android OS unless it is installed with matching hardware specifications (or?) installed physically on a real android device. Maybe you can figure out how to emulate those hardware specifications in virtualbox configuration settings? I don’t know, but that is a hint if you are bored with nothing better to do and want to figure that out for yourselves.
RemoteBox
is a graphical tool which lets you administer guests or virtual
machines running under VirtualBox on a remote server or even your local
machine if desired. VirtualBox, it’s virtualization software primarily
intended for desktop machines, similar to VMWare Workstation, Parallels
or Virtual PC. You may, for example, have a root server on the Internet,
a server at home, or a server at work running VirtualBox but want to
have the convenience of managing the guests easily from your local
machine. The virtual machines run in headless mode, which means you
don’t need an active graphical display on the server but you can still
connect and view the displays of the guests. The goal of RemoteBox is to
provide a GUI that should be familiar to VirtualBox users while
allowing them to administer a remote installation of VirtualBox. It does
this via the VirtualBox API and SOAP interface, which are exposed when
running the VirtualBox Web service. You can also use RemoteBox simply as
an alternative interface for managing VirtualBox on your local machine.
You can also interact with the displays of the guests. This allows you
to treat VirtualBox much more like an installation of Xen, KVM or VMware ESX.
Updated: June 10th 2012 (patch for 64-bit Ubuntu systems)
Citrix Systems Reciever ICAClient (w/Firefox Plug-in):
Citrix Receiver is a lightweight software client that allows access to virtual desktops and apps including Windows, Web or SaaS apps on any PC, Mac, netbook, tablet or smartphone. Works for both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Ubuntu. You need to download two deb packages to have it working correctly. You need the installation package for either 32-bit or 64-bit, and the supporting usb deb package, and then you will need to also install the USB support deb package as well. You will find both on the Linux download page on the following link:
http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/lp/lp_2309126.asp
And then copy the certificates to the proper directory:
Special Note: There is a error in the deb installation package that you download from Citrix. If you are running 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 and trying to install Citrix the installation will FAIL. Here is how to resolve this problem with the installation package for 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
1. Install the .deb and let it fail
2. Edit /var/lib/dpkg/info/icaclient.postinst
I really hope Citrix fixes this problem with their 64-bit installation deb package for Ubuntu 12.04 soon. And the other thing that is missing from the installation package is the certificates. Copy the certificates to the proper directory so Citrix can connect properly with your Citrix host:
TeamViewer
is a free for non-commercial use, software application for remote
control, desktop sharing, and file transfer between computers, great for
meetings, presentations, tech support and more. It runs on Windows, Mac
OSX, Linux (even though it comes in a .deb or .rpm, it uses Wine which
comes bundled with it) as well as Android or iPhone.
Windows: LogMeIn, GoToMeeting, MS RDC
http://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/linux.aspx
Splashtop Remote
allows a user to remotely connect to a main computer from another
computer or mobile device to access content or run applications.
Splashtop Remote Desktop is based on technology that “encodes” the
screen pixels of a main computer, transmits them via the Internet,
Wi-Fi, or other network protocol to a client device, where it “decodes”
the transmitted data and displays it on the screen of a client device.
This affords users an experience similar to sitting in front of the
remote computer and controlling it. The Remote Desktop iOS client
provides two connection modes. One is “sharp mode” for better
resolution. The other one is “smooth mode” for better frame
rate/latency. A higher fps (frames per second) rate leads to a smoother
video watching experience. For latency, a lower value is better because
this is the lag between the time an image on the source device shows up
on the client device. Splashtop has undertaken technical cooperation
with Freescale, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and other
chip manufacturers to optimize its software to use graphics processing
units (GPUs) for encoding and client specific processors for decoding.
These techniques enable the software to stream video at up to 30 frames
per second when running in Smooth mode, and lead to low latency
performance (quick response), which is at the same level as playing
video on a local machine directly.
http://www.splashtop.com/streamer/linux#download
If you are using GUFW Firewall you will need to enable the following ports for Splashtop services:
Windows: AutoCAD
Free CAD software* available for Windows®, Mac® and Linux®. A new CAD product that provides professional CAD users, students and educators with a better way to create, edit and view DWG files.
Prerequisite installation packages:
If you need to install this on a 64-bit Ubuntu system here are instructions:
http://www.ggsalas.com.ar/instalar-draftsight-en-ubuntu-11-04-x64/
Adobe AIR (no longer officially supported for Linux OS) internally uses Adobe Flash Player as the runtime environment, and ActionScript 3 as the sole programming language. Flash applications must specifically be built for the Adobe AIR runtime in order to utilize additional features provided, such as file system integration, native client extensions, native window/screen integration, taskbar/dock integration, and hardware integration with connected Accelerometer and GPS devices. AIR enables applications to work with data in multiple different ways, including local files, local SQLite databases for which AIR has inbuilt support, a database server via web services, or the encrypted local store included with AIR.
Special Note: Beginning June 14 2011, Adobe AIR is no longer supported for desktop Linux distributions. Users can install and run AIR 2.6 and earlier applications but can’t install or update to AIR 2.7. The last version to support desktop Linux distributions is AIR 2.6. AIR 2.6 is available from the AIR Archive.
If you are running a 32-bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
http://ubuntuguide.net/install-adobe-air64-bit-ubuntu-12-04-precise/
Create your own custom distribution based on your installed Ubuntu OS
Windows Equivalent: Norton Ghost (well kind-of)
Ubuntu Equivalent: Remastersys, Clonezilla
Ubuntu Builder
is a simple tool to build your own distribution. I just tested it
today, and it works great. It allows to download, extract, customize in
many ways and rebuild your ubuntu images. You can customize i386 and
amd64 images.
So far it supports Ubuntu 12.10, 12.04, 11.10, and 10.04.
Redo Backup and Recovery
is so simple that anyone can use it. It is the easiest, most complete
disaster recovery solution available. It allows bare-metal restore. Bare
metal restore is not only the best solution for hardware failure, it is
also the ultimate antivirus: Even if your hard drive melts or gets
completely erased by a virus, you can have a completely-functional
system back up and running in as little as 10 minutes.
http://redobackup.org/
Clonezilla is a free disaster recovery, disk cloning, disk imaging and deployment solution. Clonezilla is designed by Steven Shiau and developed by the NCHC Free Software Labs in Taiwan. Clonezilla SE provides multicast support similar to Norton Ghost Corporate Edition.
http://clonezilla.org/downloads.php
Hard Disk Partitions ManagerWindows equivalent : Norton Partition Magic
Ubuntu equivalent : GParted
GParted is a GTK+ front-end to GNU Parted and the official GNOME Partition Editor application.
It
is used for creating, deleting, resizing, moving, checking and copying
partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating
space for new operating systems (works with Vista / Windows 7 System
& Data partitions), reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing
on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging).
It is useful for tasks such as: creating space for new operating
systems, restructuring disk space to separate user and operating system
data, and copying partitions to enable upgrading to a larger hard disk
drive. Your hard disk drive or USB flash drive can be subdivided into
one or more partitions. GParted enables you to reorganize your disk
partitions while preserving the contents of these partitions.
Steam
is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and
communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to
distribute games and related media online, from small independent
developers to larger software houses; in October 2012, Valve expanded
the service to include non-gaming software. Steam provides the user with
installation and automatic management of software across multiple
computers, community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud
saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality. The software provides a
freely available application programming interface, Steamworks, that
developers can take advantage of to integrate many of Steam’s functions
within their software products, including copy protection, networking
and matchmaking, in-game achievements and micro-transactions, and
support for user-created content through Steam Workshop. Though
initially developed for use on Microsoft Windows, the client has
expanded to include a Mac OS X version and a pending port to Linux, and
clients with limited functionality on the PlayStation 3 console and for
both iOS and Android mobile devices.
http://store.steampowered.com/about/
You can then click on the download tab and use Software Center to automatically install the *.deb package or you can use Gdebi to install it from your download folder.
It is always recommended that you try to locate a native Linux application in the Ubuntu Software Center that is the equivalent to whatever Windows App or Windows program you need to run. And only use PlayOnLinux if no Linux equivalent exists already in the Ubuntu software repositories for free. That is always the best way to go. If you are looking for an Ubuntu app to replace a old Windows app you still need, post your question in the comment box below and I will try to find out what might work in your situation.
To install Wine in Ubuntu copy and paste into Terminal:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop redbox-desktop lovefilm-desktop
XBMC
is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player
and entertainment hub for digital media. XBMC is available for Linux,
OSX, and Windows. Created in 2003 by a group of like minded programmers,
XBMC is a non-profit project run and developed by volunteers located
around the world. More than 50 software developers have contributed to
XBMC, and 100-plus translators have worked to expand its reach, making
it available in more than 30 languages. While XBMC functions very well
as a standard media player application for your computer, it has been
designed to be the perfect companion for your HTPC. Supporting an almost
endless range of remote controls, and combined with its beautiful
interface and powerful skinning engine, XBMC feels very natural to use
from the couch and is the ideal solution for your home theater.sudo apt-add-repository ppa:nathan-renniewaldock/xbmc-stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install xbmcInfra-red remote control support “lirc” can be reconfigured with this command:
sudo dpkg-recondigure lirc
For more information: http://lirc.org/
Calibre is a free and open source e-book computer software that organizes, saves and manages e-books, supporting a variety of formats. It also supports e-book syncing with a variety of popular e-book readers. calibre is cross-platform (programmed in Python and C) and is intended for the three main operating systems, Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
Windows: “Kindle for PC” software
Calibre was originally called libprs500, but was renamed calibre (lower case ‘C’) in mid-2008. calibre is primarily an e-book cataloging program. It is designed around the concept of the logical book, where a single database entry corresponds with the same book in a variety of formats. calibre supports the following formats for cataloging: AZW, AZW1, CBR, CBZ, CHM, EPUB, FB2, HTML, IMP, LIT, LRF, LRX, MOBI, ODT, OEBZIP, OPF, PDB, PDF, PML, PMLZ, PRC, RAR, RB, RTF, SNB, TPZ, TXT and ZIP.
sudo apt-get install calibreAlso make sure to install better smaller fonts:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/957788-installing-calibri-font/
Google Earth allows you to travel the world through a virtual globe and view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, and much more. With Google Earth’s rich, geographical content, you are able to experience a more realistic view of the world.
For 32-bit Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install lsb-core wget -c http://dl.google.com/dl/earth/client/current/google-earth-stable_current_i386.deb sudo dpkg -i google-earth-stable_current_i386.deb sudo apt-get -f installFor 64-bit Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs sudo apt-get install lsb-core wget -c http://dl.google.com/dl/earth/client/current/google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb sudo apt-get -f install
VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software package from VMware, Inc. (a company which was formerly a division of and whose majority shareholder remains EMC Corporation). VMware Player can run existing virtual appliances and create its own virtual machines (which require a operating system to be installed to be functional). It uses the same virtualization core as VMware Workstation, a similar program with more features, and not free of charge. VMware Player is available for personal non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement. No support is provided by VMWare, but there is an active community website for discussing and resolving issues.
How to install VMware Player:
https://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/how-to-install-vmware-player-in-ubuntu-12-04/
Oracle VM VirtualBox
(formerly Sun VirtualBox, Sun xVM VirtualBox and innotek VirtualBox) is
an x86 virtualization software package, created by software company
Innotek GmbH, purchased in 2008 by Sun Microsystems, and now developed
by Oracle Corporation as part of its family of virtualization products.
Oracle VM VirtualBox is installed on Ubuntu as an application; this host
application allows additional guest operating systems, each known as a
Guest OS, to be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.
For example, here we have installed Andriod 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS
virtually inside of Virtualbox for App development purposes.
To install Oracle VM VirtualBox copy and paste into Terminal:
sudo echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -sc) contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.2* Android 4 “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS installation *.ISO as shown in above Virtualbox.
Special Note: And if you are wondering if I could get Netflix app to actually install in the virtual andriod OS the answer is no. The DRM included with the android Netflix app will not work on android OS unless it is installed with matching hardware specifications (or?) installed physically on a real android device. Maybe you can figure out how to emulate those hardware specifications in virtualbox configuration settings? I don’t know, but that is a hint if you are bored with nothing better to do and want to figure that out for yourselves.
RemoteBox
is a graphical tool which lets you administer guests or virtual
machines running under VirtualBox on a remote server or even your local
machine if desired. VirtualBox, it’s virtualization software primarily
intended for desktop machines, similar to VMWare Workstation, Parallels
or Virtual PC. You may, for example, have a root server on the Internet,
a server at home, or a server at work running VirtualBox but want to
have the convenience of managing the guests easily from your local
machine. The virtual machines run in headless mode, which means you
don’t need an active graphical display on the server but you can still
connect and view the displays of the guests. The goal of RemoteBox is to
provide a GUI that should be familiar to VirtualBox users while
allowing them to administer a remote installation of VirtualBox. It does
this via the VirtualBox API and SOAP interface, which are exposed when
running the VirtualBox Web service. You can also use RemoteBox simply as
an alternative interface for managing VirtualBox on your local machine.
You can also interact with the displays of the guests. This allows you
to treat VirtualBox much more like an installation of Xen, KVM or VMware ESX.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:upubuntu-com/virtual sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install remotebox
Updated: June 10th 2012 (patch for 64-bit Ubuntu systems)
Citrix Systems Reciever ICAClient (w/Firefox Plug-in):
Citrix Receiver is a lightweight software client that allows access to virtual desktops and apps including Windows, Web or SaaS apps on any PC, Mac, netbook, tablet or smartphone. Works for both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Ubuntu. You need to download two deb packages to have it working correctly. You need the installation package for either 32-bit or 64-bit, and the supporting usb deb package, and then you will need to also install the USB support deb package as well. You will find both on the Linux download page on the following link:
http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/lp/lp_2309126.asp
And then copy the certificates to the proper directory:
sudo cp /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacertsTutorial on how to install Citrix Receiver in Ubuntu:
Special Note: There is a error in the deb installation package that you download from Citrix. If you are running 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 and trying to install Citrix the installation will FAIL. Here is how to resolve this problem with the installation package for 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
1. Install the .deb and let it fail
2. Edit /var/lib/dpkg/info/icaclient.postinst
sudo gedit /var/lib/dpkg/info/icaclient.postinst3. Replace the line that says
echo $Arch|grep "i[0-9]86" >/dev/nullwith
echo $Arch|grep -E "i[0-9]86|x86_64" >/dev/null4. Run dpkg –configure icaclient
sudo dpkg --configure icaclientRestart Firefox so the plugin is installed correctly.
I really hope Citrix fixes this problem with their 64-bit installation deb package for Ubuntu 12.04 soon. And the other thing that is missing from the installation package is the certificates. Copy the certificates to the proper directory so Citrix can connect properly with your Citrix host:
sudo cp /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts
TeamViewer
is a free for non-commercial use, software application for remote
control, desktop sharing, and file transfer between computers, great for
meetings, presentations, tech support and more. It runs on Windows, Mac
OSX, Linux (even though it comes in a .deb or .rpm, it uses Wine which
comes bundled with it) as well as Android or iPhone.Windows: LogMeIn, GoToMeeting, MS RDC
http://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/linux.aspx
Splashtop Remote
allows a user to remotely connect to a main computer from another
computer or mobile device to access content or run applications.
Splashtop Remote Desktop is based on technology that “encodes” the
screen pixels of a main computer, transmits them via the Internet,
Wi-Fi, or other network protocol to a client device, where it “decodes”
the transmitted data and displays it on the screen of a client device.
This affords users an experience similar to sitting in front of the
remote computer and controlling it. The Remote Desktop iOS client
provides two connection modes. One is “sharp mode” for better
resolution. The other one is “smooth mode” for better frame
rate/latency. A higher fps (frames per second) rate leads to a smoother
video watching experience. For latency, a lower value is better because
this is the lag between the time an image on the source device shows up
on the client device. Splashtop has undertaken technical cooperation
with Freescale, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and other
chip manufacturers to optimize its software to use graphics processing
units (GPUs) for encoding and client specific processors for decoding.
These techniques enable the software to stream video at up to 30 frames
per second when running in Smooth mode, and lead to low latency
performance (quick response), which is at the same level as playing
video on a local machine directly.http://www.splashtop.com/streamer/linux#download
If you are using GUFW Firewall you will need to enable the following ports for Splashtop services:
sudo ufw allow 6783 sudo ufw allow 6784 sudo ufw allow 6785DraftSight
Windows: AutoCAD
Free CAD software* available for Windows®, Mac® and Linux®. A new CAD product that provides professional CAD users, students and educators with a better way to create, edit and view DWG files.
Prerequisite installation packages:
sudo apt-get install libxcb-render-util0 sudo apt-get install libdirectfb-extra(Download Draftsight) http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/
If you need to install this on a 64-bit Ubuntu system here are instructions:
http://www.ggsalas.com.ar/instalar-draftsight-en-ubuntu-11-04-x64/
Adobe AIR (no longer officially supported for Linux OS) internally uses Adobe Flash Player as the runtime environment, and ActionScript 3 as the sole programming language. Flash applications must specifically be built for the Adobe AIR runtime in order to utilize additional features provided, such as file system integration, native client extensions, native window/screen integration, taskbar/dock integration, and hardware integration with connected Accelerometer and GPS devices. AIR enables applications to work with data in multiple different ways, including local files, local SQLite databases for which AIR has inbuilt support, a database server via web services, or the encrypted local store included with AIR.
Special Note: Beginning June 14 2011, Adobe AIR is no longer supported for desktop Linux distributions. Users can install and run AIR 2.6 and earlier applications but can’t install or update to AIR 2.7. The last version to support desktop Linux distributions is AIR 2.6. AIR 2.6 is available from the AIR Archive.
If you are running a 32-bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0 sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0If you are running a 64-bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0 sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0Download and isntall Adobe Air:
wget http://airdownload.adobe.com/air/lin/download/latest/AdobeAIRInstaller.bin -O AdobeAIRInstaller.bin sudo chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin sudo ./AdobeAIRInstaller.binPost-installation clean up:
sudo rm /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0 sudo rm /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0If you are having trouble installing Adobe Air on Ubuntu 64-bit you can also try these alternative instructions:
http://ubuntuguide.net/install-adobe-air64-bit-ubuntu-12-04-precise/
Create your own custom distribution based on your installed Ubuntu OS
Windows Equivalent: Norton Ghost (well kind-of)
Ubuntu Equivalent: Remastersys, Clonezilla
Ubuntu Builder
is a simple tool to build your own distribution. I just tested it
today, and it works great. It allows to download, extract, customize in
many ways and rebuild your ubuntu images. You can customize i386 and
amd64 images.
So far it supports Ubuntu 12.10, 12.04, 11.10, and 10.04.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:f-muriana/ubuntu-builder sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ubuntu-builderFor other releases, download and install the .deb package from this page.
Redo Backup and Recovery
is so simple that anyone can use it. It is the easiest, most complete
disaster recovery solution available. It allows bare-metal restore. Bare
metal restore is not only the best solution for hardware failure, it is
also the ultimate antivirus: Even if your hard drive melts or gets
completely erased by a virus, you can have a completely-functional
system back up and running in as little as 10 minutes.http://redobackup.org/
Clonezilla is a free disaster recovery, disk cloning, disk imaging and deployment solution. Clonezilla is designed by Steven Shiau and developed by the NCHC Free Software Labs in Taiwan. Clonezilla SE provides multicast support similar to Norton Ghost Corporate Edition.
http://clonezilla.org/downloads.php
Hard Disk Partitions ManagerWindows equivalent : Norton Partition Magic
Ubuntu equivalent : GParted
GParted is a GTK+ front-end to GNU Parted and the official GNOME Partition Editor application.
It
is used for creating, deleting, resizing, moving, checking and copying
partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating
space for new operating systems (works with Vista / Windows 7 System
& Data partitions), reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing
on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging).
It is useful for tasks such as: creating space for new operating
systems, restructuring disk space to separate user and operating system
data, and copying partitions to enable upgrading to a larger hard disk
drive. Your hard disk drive or USB flash drive can be subdivided into
one or more partitions. GParted enables you to reorganize your disk
partitions while preserving the contents of these partitions.sudo apt-get install gparted
Steam
is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and
communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to
distribute games and related media online, from small independent
developers to larger software houses; in October 2012, Valve expanded
the service to include non-gaming software. Steam provides the user with
installation and automatic management of software across multiple
computers, community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud
saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality. The software provides a
freely available application programming interface, Steamworks, that
developers can take advantage of to integrate many of Steam’s functions
within their software products, including copy protection, networking
and matchmaking, in-game achievements and micro-transactions, and
support for user-created content through Steam Workshop. Though
initially developed for use on Microsoft Windows, the client has
expanded to include a Mac OS X version and a pending port to Linux, and
clients with limited functionality on the PlayStation 3 console and for
both iOS and Android mobile devices.http://store.steampowered.com/about/
You can then click on the download tab and use Software Center to automatically install the *.deb package or you can use Gdebi to install it from your download folder.
wget -c http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/archive/precise/steam_latest.deb sudo dpkg -i steam_latest.deb sudo apt-get -f installPlayOnLinux is Linux software which allows you to easily install and use numerous games and applications designed to run with Microsoft Windows OS. PlayOnLinux brings a cost-free, accessible and efficient solution to running Windows software in Ubuntu Linux. It is recommend that new users check with the Wine App Database first to see if whatever Windows application or Windows program has been tested to work and perform well with Wine on Linux before attempting to use Wine to run whatever Windows software you are interested in running.
It is always recommended that you try to locate a native Linux application in the Ubuntu Software Center that is the equivalent to whatever Windows App or Windows program you need to run. And only use PlayOnLinux if no Linux equivalent exists already in the Ubuntu software repositories for free. That is always the best way to go. If you are looking for an Ubuntu app to replace a old Windows app you still need, post your question in the comment box below and I will try to find out what might work in your situation.
To install Wine in Ubuntu copy and paste into Terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wine1.5To install PlayOnLinux in Ubuntu copy and paste into Terminal:
sudo wget http://deb.playonlinux.com/playonlinux_precise.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys E0F72778C4676186 sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install playonlinux
MultiSystem
is for creating a multiboot live USB flash drives or thumb-drives.
Instead of carrying around a bunch of different flash drives for all of
your different live operating systems, and restoration images, now can
move them all onto one large USB flash drive. Simply drag and drop your
.iso files. It is very similar to Xboot in WinOS.sudo apt-add-repository 'deb http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot all main' wget -q http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot/multisystem.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install multisystemBleachBit quickly frees disk space and tirelessly guards your privacy. Free cache, delete cookies, clear Internet history, shred temporary files, delete logs, and discard junk you didn’t know was there. Designed for Linux and Windows systems, it wipes clean 90 applications including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, and more. I highly recommend installing this on your system at some point, and making sure to have it automatically run at system login as a reminder.Windows equivalent : CCleaner
Beyond
simply deleting files, BleachBit includes advanced features such as
shredding files to prevent recovery, wiping free disk space to hide
traces of files deleted by other applications, and vacuuming Firefox to
make it faster. Better than free, BleachBit is open source. If you have a
system that seems to be running slower than normal, it’s always a good
idea to try running Bleachbit to see if it may resolve your performance
issues that you may be experiencing. I personally recommend that heavy
internet users run this at least once or twice a month.sudo apt-get install bleachbit sudo bleachbitBleachbit Tutorial: