I'm reinstalling everything on my PC again, soon. I figure this is also a good time to finally install Ubuntu as a second OS. I've been meaning to do it for a few years now...

Are there any free Linux-based programs you'd recommend? What do/would you use if you do/did use Ubuntu? Any tips you'd offer a newcomer?

It depends on what you're looking for and what you're working with. Most of the stock programs will suit your needs, but as for programming and other more specialized things, you need to tell us what you plan on doing.

There's a linux thread thread around here somewhere...

I make use of sound editing and image manipulation programs pretty often. I'm modding, too, so any modding-related programs are a plus. I do need a good organisation tool, something with to-do lists, calendars, etc. Beyond that, I just want some new toys to play with, really.

Anything that doesn't involve programming. I know nothing about programming, and I don't intend to start learning.

Ah, sorry. /sheepish

First time I installed linux and let my PC boot into it, I was like, "OMG DID I LOSE WIN7 AND ALL MY [censored]??!!!!!"

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1165205-unofficial-linux-thread/

I don't use Ubuntu and haven't for any significant amount of time but I have played around with it before, now I used Arch. If you are into gaming the Humble Indie Bundles are nice collections of games that run on Linux. If you do any sort of coding I woul dlook into SCiTE as it has syntax hilighting and autoindentation.

I use Ubuntu 11.04 as my only OS (of of necessity). It's good, not great. It gets the job done for web-surfing, word processing, and listening to music. But other things can be unbearable. Like getting the sound drivers to work, for me, was very difficult. And I followed meticulously the directions on the Ubuntu forums, and they weren't very helpful. Then, of course, not all wireless adapters have drivers for Linux, so I've ended up using an ethernet cable. I've had NO success with Wine at all and I've given up on the idea of ever using it.

But it's free, how can you go wrong?

Thanks. This thread's already started. No need to make more work for the mods or unnecessarily clutter the Community threads -- let's just finish what was started here. I'll keep it in mind for next time.


Ubuntu is supposed to be the best/most user friendly out of them all...


Did you/do you like using Linux? For things other than programming, that is.

All I can suggest is trying a different distribution, such as http://www.linuxmint.com/ (which I'm actually kinda inclined to suggest over Ubuntu, despite having little direct experience with either ).

Sound editing I'm really not sure, but GIMP comes with the distribution, right? As for modding, I'm not sure what you mean. If you're talking about video game modding then you're kinda SOL. You can do it through Wine or something, and I guess you could do it without Wine, but what's the point if you can't test what you just modded?
I think I gave more questions than answers, but hopefully that helps a bit.

Moding depends on the games. Some run flawlessly through Wine, some require a little tweaking, aaannnd some don't work at all. For example, Oblivion's CS http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=17259 it works okay (check all the test results for a clearer picture), with some people having to solve an issue or two (in other words, same as with Windows ). If a 3d tool is wanted, Blender 3d should be dead easy to install.

For audio editing, it depends what you want to do. If Audacity is sufficient, problem solved. If you need top-notch professional software for full on engineering, you probably have a better idea where to start than I do (you'd likely need to buy it, and you may find some of the big names are available for GNU/Linux).

http://www.playonlinux.com/ can simplify a lot of game installations. It's basically an interface for Wine that automates a bunch of stuff.

What is Wine? If I gave the impression I know even a moderate amount about Linux, that's not the case.


Blender works with Linux? Great!


I know it's free and I shouldn't moan about it, so I won't. I'll just say Audacity's not sufficient. I was hoping there was something else for Linux that was better but still free. Oh well.

All of your post was informative and solid. Thanks.

Originally, the name was "WINE Is Not an Emulator" ("WINE" for short), though a while back they switched to simply calling "Wine". It's a layer of software that essentially translates Windows stuff into GNU/Linux stuff as a piece of software asks for this or that to be done (for example, DirectX functions get remapped to OpenGL, if that example makes any sense to you). In other words, it allows you to run Windows software in Linux with a minimal performance hit.

What software do you currently use, and what do you need it for? If we have a better idea of what boxes it has to tick, the hive mind may be able to come up with something.

No worries, happy to help .

Sony's Sonic Foundry (or is it Sound Forge? I've never quite figured that out). It's not quite totally top-of-the-line professional stuff... I'd say it's halfway between completely professional software and Audacity. I use it to record voice acting and produce/remix music. I'd buy Linux software, but as I've already got Windows software that does what I need it to do, I don't see the point in spending more money, since I am going to be dual-... forgot the word. I'll have both OSs installed.

As an aside, have you got a preference between Ubuntu and Mint?

Dual-booting, I think is the word you were looking for

Yes, yes it was.

Looks like it actually work with Wine... more or less. May need some fiddling, may not work for you no matter what you do, but it's worth giving a try . Check out other people's experiences on http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=529.

Depending on your hardware, technical knowledge, and some other factors, you might be able to get away with running it in a virtual machine. Downside would be a greater loss in performance and potentially more messing around to get it set up, but the upside would be running it native in Windows (this is also dependant on you having a spare Windows licence you can use for it, if you're still dual-booting). However, virtualisation is probably as big a new thing to you as GNU/Linux, so I don't expect it'll be a viable option just yet .

As someone who has been using Fedora exclusively for the past several years, I'm probably not the best person to judge them. But I like what I've seen of the attitudes Mint's developers seem to have, and my largely gut-based preference goes to it .

EDIT: A quick search came up with http://www.wikivs.com/wiki/Linux_Mint_vs_Ubuntu, which may help. Wikipedia also has a http://www.wikivs.com/wiki/Linux_Mint_vs_Ubuntu.

Trivia: The term "boot" (as in "Boot up that computer, will you?") comes from the idiom "To pull oneself up by one's bootstraps", which means (figuratively) lifting oneself up without help -- which a computer does by loading a simple piece of software that loads a more complex piece of software that starts loading the OS which then loads all the bits and pieces it needs to run.

Okay, thanks, 1Samildanach! I'll stop bugging you now. My most pressing questions have been answered. I'm sure I'll have more questions when I finally install the thing (and I saw Mint earlier and it looked sleek, which has me leaning toward it, too, now), but for now I'm done. You're released!

Unfortunately, I've started reading up on Linux Mint Debian Edition. I would say it's a step above your level, but for me it looks like it might be worth trying out. Arch appeals to me, but the couple of installs I did but... well, I installed it a couple of times . I'm sure I could figure it all out, but I'm not sure I can commit the mental resources to it at present, so something that is rolling release, up to date with software releases, yet relatively simple has some appeal too.

[/selling distro to self]

For audio editing/creation, maybe http://lmms.sourceforge.net/home.php or http://www.jokosher.org/? Assuming you can't get your current software to work in Wine.

I'm not a fan of FruityLoops, so I don't think LMMS is for me. Jokosher, however, looks very interesting. Thanks, Defron!