The 12 Linux Apps Everyone Should Know About

This is a top 12 list of Linux apps that I think everyone should know about, and probably should be using. Most of the programs I list are cross-platform, so you could use them on Windows/Mac as well. All of the programs I list will be free and open source software.

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[FoxMaccloud]

1:13 Mozilla Firefox (Browser)
4:09 VLC (Media player)
5:27 Libre Office (Microsoft office alternative)
6:24 JITSI (Confrence call, Zoom alternative)
7:30 GIMP (Image manipulation, Photoshop alternative)
8:24 Stacer (System Monitor)
9:24 Htop (System Monitor)
11:03 Notepadqq (Text editor)
12:13 App outlet (App store)
14:07 Deadbeef (Music player)
15:23 Virtualbox (Virtual Machine)
16:54 Vim (Highly configurable text editor)

[micleh]

BTW: In Germany, in one of its 16 states called North Rhine-Westphalia, Jitsi is the standard for video conferencing at schools.

[TechHut]

Love it! Notepadqq was one of the first things that I used daily when I moved over to Linux. Perfect for editing YML files.

[drishalballaney]

15:45 "What is a virtual machine?"
"It not a physical machine, it is a virtual machine"
LOL

[MaxDad]

Thanks for the heads up on App Outlet. I didn't know it existed. I like how it categorizes the different installers much more clearly compared to others.

[GeoTechLand]

It's amazing that these community funded opensource alternatives can be better than their proprietary counterparts in many ways. The opensource world does a lot more with less!

[finnk]

What's fantastic about cross-platform FOSS is not only making your transition to Linux easy, but it improves your experience on proprietary systems.

[tmfzqxs]

I saw SuperTuxKart in the thumbnail and now I just played it for a whole 7 hours. Dang it man!

[reilly]

Addressing video calling apps was really cool, maybe you can explore it more in a later ad. I feel like video calling has to be one of the most dangerous things to use privacy wise.

[UToobSteak]

Gimp and VLC are amazing. I used them even back in my Windows days. I also really like glabel for label printing. It's so versatile, and I don't think Windows has anything even close to it, definitely not for free.

[majoraslayer]

As a Linux n00b, thanks for explaining what VIM is. I learned the hard way to use nano if I just need to make a simple edit to a config file. People who post step-by-step guides on edits to config files in Linux and assume everyone is advanced enough to know vim are the type of Linux users that discourage n00bs from learning it.

[kychemclass]

Hey DT. I watched this video v.recently where you introduced me to FOSS "Jitsi Meet". I broke my ankle so cannot go to school to teach. Some of my classes are >40 mins so Googul Meet, Zoom etc would have caused me 'financial stress'. So I tried Jitsi Meet with my class today. I was able to do a continuous 90mins session and the students reported the session was fine. So a BIG THANKS :) for recommending this, and thanks to the Jitsi team.

[davidlewisjohnson]

I still don't understand why folks don't ship htop de facto with every linux distro.

[KasperSOlesen]

Apps I think ought to be on the list because they are free and open source, and the best at what they do:

Blender 3D : 3D editing software that is free and open source.

Godot Engine: As a game developer, I also think Godot deserves a place on the list... it could of course quickly turn into a top 20 then, but I do not see a problem with that. So much great free open source software out there that people should now about I think.

Midnight Commander: Personally I would also put Midnight Commander on the list. Its just a great file manager program that can run in a shell and reminds me of Norton Commander for DOS, but there are alternatives and some prefer a pure command prompt / shell. It can be configured so that left and right arrow goes in and out of directories, but also you can click ctrl-o to just hide Midnight Commander and use the shell again, and then click ctrl-o again to bring up Midnight Commander. Its just such a time saver, especially if you are wanting to delete, copy or move a lot of files around. Especially with its left and right view.

OBS Studio. Free and open source video recording / streaming software. I had to check but it is for Linux, Windows and MacOS. I do not think there is any free and open source alternative that comes close to this... unless maybe you want something that does not have as many features as OBS Studio.

OpenShot: Free and open source video editing software. I have been using DaVinci Resolve but it is not open source. I might switch to OpenShot because I do not need advanced features much, its pretty simple video editing I do, mainly to just take a few things out of videos and maybe do voice hours or adjust the audio if its out of sync. But I guessing fixing some out of sync audio might be too advanced for OpenShot, so I would have to test to see how that works. But there are also Kdenlive and Shotcut, both have more features than OpenShot and are closer to DaVinci Resolve, while still being open source.

I guess 7zip is also worth listing. Its free and open source and... not sure what alternatives there are since I think they are mainly not open source.

[tcholly]

What's the difference between flatpack, appimage and snap?

[Dee-Ell]

Nice to hear that both my main browsers (Firefox and Brave) are recommended. By the way, Stacer ditched Electron in 2019; it's been rewritten in C++.

[Speykious]

I switched to Linux 2 years ago because I wanted more control over my computer. I guess its open-source nature is playing some part in that, but I feel like it's less relevant than privacy and security issues.
I came to embrace the open-source philosophy anyway after 2 years of experience with Linux. :)

[QHPRN]

Another outstanding video!
I watched on LBRY but came here to like & comment.

[philippeheyvaert]

Hello Derek,
Greetings from Belgium!
I've ditched VLC and went for mpv, a month or 7 ago. I'm forced to use Windows at work and I've noticed many VLC updates on my work pc. Most probably bloath, I think. I don't think that is secure software anymore.
I use Debian for my personal computers.
Fan of your channel, btw!
Best regards,
Philippe

[enkiimuto]

The App Outlet is the one thing i have been looking for and criticizing Linux distros for not doing, thank you for showing me