DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

New to Linux? Need a program?

26 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/new-to-linux-need-a-program.30806/

gary4gar
gary4gar Original post #1
Jun 24, 2006 at 7:41 PM
One thing that I noticed Ubuntu really needed was a place for newer users to be able to find out what apps to use. I know when I first started Linux less than a year ago, my biggest questions were "where is the Linux winamp" or "what is the Linux version of _______ program." So the purpose of this thread it to make a conversion chart. This will be a work in progress for a long time, so please chime in with good ideas for conversions. Only open source stuff please, and only the most developed programs in each category so as to not confuse. And nothing that isn't in the main/universe also please. I will also list programs that have Window's or OSX ports since a new user might not have any experiance with OSS).

Windows to Linux Conversion:

In Windows --------- In Ubuntu

Internet Explorer --------- Firefox

Microsoft Office --------- OpenOffice.org

Winamp -------- Xmms

Photoshop --------- Gimp

AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, IRC instant messaging --------- pidgin

Word Pad (or notepad) --------- Gedit

Windows Media Player --------- Totem

iTunes --------- -for playing music:
-----------------------------Rhythmbox
----------------------for iPod Syncing
--------------------------------Gtkpod

ID3 tag editor ----------------------- easytag




MIRC -------- Xchat

Premiere (Movie Editing) --------- kino

Bittorado --------- Bittorado
(don't you love
native ports)

Dreamweaver --------- Nvu

CDex ---------- Sound Juicer

Nero -------- Gnomebaker

Outlook Express --------- Evolution, Thunderbird

Snood ---------- Frozen-bubble

Partition Magic --------- Gparted

eMule ----------- aMule
Soulseek ------------- Nicotine
DC++ -------------- Valknut
any multitorrent client ------------ Azureus
any download manager --------------- D4X or Gwget
regedit -------------------- gconf

Adobe Illustrator ------------ Inkscape

Remote Desktop Connection ------------ Terminal Server Client

Windows Explorer ------------- Nautilus

Windows Picture and Fax Viewer ------------ Image Viewer (Eye of GNOME)

Paint ------------- Jdraw

Kubuntu:

Internet Explorer --------- Konqueror

Microsoft Office --------- OpenOffice.org/KOffice

Winamp -------- Amarok (with the small view)

Photoshop --------- Gimp

Aol Instant Messenger --------- Kopete

Word Pad (or notepad) --------- Kwrite

Windows Media Player --------- Kaffeine

iTunes --------- -for playing music:
-----------------------------Amarok
-----------------------------Juk
----------------------for iPod Syncing
--------------------------------Gtkpod

MIRC -------- Xchat

Premiere (Movie Editing) --------- kino

Bittorado --------- Azureus QT/Qtorrent
(don't you love
native ports)

Dreamweaver --------- Nvu

CDex ---------- Kaudiocreator

Nero -------- K3B

Outlook Express --------- KMail

Snood ---------- Frozen-bubble

Partition Magic --------- Qparted

EDIT: Here is a much bigger list on another site for those that don't see what they need here:

*www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html

Source
JGuru
JGuru #2
Jun 24, 2006 at 7:50 PM
Good job Gray. I hope it will be helpful to all users migrating from Windows to Ubuntu
or Kubuntu. Actually there are a plethora of applications that can be downloaded
from the Repositories!! Including Chess game. AbiWord, and lots & lots of apps.
M
Jun 24, 2006 at 8:22 PM
Some more here
*wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software
*forums.linuxiso.org/viewtopic.php?t=27875&
vignesh
vignesh #4
Jun 24, 2006 at 9:20 PM
Nice... make it a sticky...
Desmond
Desmond #5
Jun 24, 2006 at 9:35 PM
Great Job,

Quite Simplified my hunt for these tools.
QwertyManiac
Jun 25, 2006 at 8:59 AM
Nice links, bookmarked them. Also, add this to the major topic lists. Its really good for Windows shifters IMO
GNUrag
GNUrag #7
Jun 25, 2006 at 7:36 PM
IMO,
Nero ------ K3B
Satissh S
Jun 25, 2006 at 8:40 PM
@anurag : Just now i burned a dvd+rw with growisofs, was painless, to say the least.. I just had to put the necessary files to be burned, within a dir and execute growisofs within it, it executes mkisofs automatically and burns the iso created. 8) ;)

I personally wud put cmd line tools up-front, because the REAL dependencies for burning cd's or dvd's in gnu/linux is not kdelibs for k3b or gtk stuffs for gnomebaker or whatever :| , i encourage all of u to start using cmd line tools.

IMHO They r the real alternatives, not their bloated front ends. Sometimes a few things are bare necessary GUI tools like Image Manipulation Software like THE GIMP and the browser (optional, but i prefer firefox to lynx). Other than that its easier to and efficient to use cmd line software for work.
mayanksharma
Jun 25, 2006 at 8:42 PM
Nice info there.
Just trying Kubuntu now a days :p
nitish_mythology
Jun 25, 2006 at 8:49 PM
Is there any alternative of 3dsMax or Maya...
I hv never used these soft,Are these soft availaible for Linux platform too...

Alternative?
GNUrag
GNUrag #11
Jun 25, 2006 at 8:55 PM
Satissh S said:
I personally wud put cmd line tools up-front, because the REAL dependencies for burning cd's or dvd's in gnu/linux is not kdelibs for k3b or gtk stuffs for gnomebaker or whatever :| , i encourage all of u to start using cmd line tools.

In my small experience as a teacher, i've realised that not everyone is comfortable using command line tools.. i myself encourage them to use GUI utilities.. as long as it FreeSoftware it doesnt matter..

After sometime i noticed, the smarter ones started using mkisofs on the server over ssh link since that server had a writer..
M
mehulved #12
Jun 25, 2006 at 9:09 PM
@nitish Maya is available for linux platform too. I have no idea of 3ds Max or other available alternatives.
@ satissh What GNU says is completely true. It's difficult to go to command line mode right from the start, specially for most of us who come from Windows background. But, slowly and surely people who get interested will start learning from command line. Those who just need linux for basic work will work from GUI only. It doesn't matter for them how powerful command line is. For them it's a big hurdle to climb. For them computer and linux aren't something to learn and master, for them computers are just tools to get their work done. IMO, it just doesn't make sense for them to invest so much time into learning all that.
R
Jun 26, 2006 at 11:56 PM
Great ! Definitely Sticky Material !
gary4gar
gary4gar #14
Jul 3, 2006 at 2:03 PM
i want u all to post ur favraoite app.i am giving mine for example

Distrobution:
ubuntu bezzey
Desktop envirment: GNOME
Office suite: open office org
Graphics viewer & editor: gThumb & gimp
Broswer: Firefox
Bittorrent client azureus
Download manager: downloader for X
Instant messenger: Gaim
Mail client: Thunder bird
FTP client: gFTP
IRC client: Xchat
Audio player: XMMS
Vedio player: Mplayer
All in one multimedia player: totem


if i forgot any other categoary pls add it yourself as i am one day old in linux

regards
gary
M
mehulved #15
Jul 3, 2006 at 2:58 PM
OK here are a few of mine commonly used/preferred softwares

Distrobution: slackware,ubuntu
Desktop Envirment/Window Manager/CLI: Anything as long as it's not CLI all the time. CLI can't play multimedia :-(
Office suite: Openoffice org 2
Broswer: Opera (Non-OSS)
Bittorrent client: Azureus
Download manager: wget (nothing comes close)
Instant messenger: Gaim
Mail client & RSS Feed Aggregator: Thunderbird
FTP client: FireFTP(plugin for firefox. very convinient for those who rarely use ftp, like me)
IRC client: XChat
Audio player: Amarok
Vedio player: MPlayer
All in one multimedia player: VLC - no competition
Text Editor: joe, vi
Server: apache2triad
security: chkrootkit and rkhunter
vignesh
vignesh #16
Jul 3, 2006 at 9:25 PM
Also blender - > 3d app
Satissh S
Satissh S #17
Jul 4, 2006 at 8:53 AM
Desktop Envirment/Window Manager/CLI: Anything as long as it's not CLI all the time. CLI can't play multimedia
Hmm ..u shud definitely check out madplay. using mplayer from cmdline is the easiesst. just mplayer file.avi. :p
cool_dude_prav
Jul 6, 2006 at 8:22 AM
Distribution: KUbuntu Dapper Drake
Desktop envirment: KDE
Office suite: Oo_O
Graphics viewer & editor: k-something :p
Broswer: Firefox
Bittorrent client dont use any.. will prefer BitTorrent anyday though...
Download manager: DownThemAll for Firefox
Instant messenger: Gaim
Mail client: Thunder bird
FTP client: gFTP
IRC client: kirc
Audio player: amaroK
Vedio player: Kaffeine
All in one multimedia player: Kaffeine

New: Add them as well ;)
Widgets: SuperKaramba
CD/DVD Burning S/W: K3B - the best GUI version there is...
Start panel aka Kicker: KBFX for the coolezzzt kicker buttons...

Other stuff include KGoldMiner which is a mod of LodeRunner of yesteryears and is really addictive...

Cheers,
Praveen.
M
mehulved #19
Jul 6, 2006 at 9:28 AM
Aah how did I forget them
links2 and lynx - the command line browsers.
Real handy when you need to access some online documentation when in CLI mode. I had found them very useful while attempting to install gentoo from CLI.
gary4gar
gary4gar #20
Jul 7, 2006 at 1:49 PM
any screen shot app??
M
mehulved #21
Jul 7, 2006 at 2:04 PM
Just press printscreen key.
gary4gar
gary4gar #22
Jul 17, 2006 at 9:51 PM
ya it works but what if i want screen shot of a a selected area on the screen
cool_dude_prav
Jul 17, 2006 at 10:10 PM
there is something on KDE...
just forgot the name... wait for someone to reply...
kalpik
kalpik #24
Jul 18, 2006 at 7:45 AM
Thats KScreenshot :p It allows you to take a screenshot of a selected area.
JGuru
JGuru #25
Jul 18, 2006 at 11:15 AM
@Kalpik, it's not KScreenshot, it's KSnapshot!!
Also using GIMP you can take a screenshot of the screen, go to menu File-> 'Acquire'-> 'Screen Shot'.
Ubuntu 6.06 ( Dapper Drake) ships with a application called 'Take Screenshot' you can use that if you
want.
gary4gar
gary4gar #26
Jul 18, 2006 at 2:02 PM
will try the ksnapshot ant report back
thanx for repling