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Top 10 Killer Apps For Linux
everythingelse.wordpress.com — Everybody moans the lack of killer apps for linux. Well, they do exist. Here's a list of ten of the best.
psilanthropist- 1283 diggs
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- noamsml, on 10/12/2007, -3/+48My personal take:
1. Apache - Great app, but it isn't usually used by home/desktop users. Also, it can run on Windows.
2. Synaptic - True, package managers are awesome
3. Konqueror - Meh. I like nautilus. Still, I get why people enjoy the "swiss army knife" approach.
4. Beryl - Been there, done that, back with Metacity.
5. AmaroK - never tried it, but I've heared some serious praise about it.
6. K3B - Great app. I'm too gnomified to use it on a regular basis, but it comes in handy when some serious burning needs to be done.
8. Mplayer + Mencode - They run on Windows (along with Media Player Classic and Windows Media Player).
9. Deskbar - cool, but a serious resource hog.
10. Screem - Quite a nice editor if you are using only HTML/XML in your document. If you are using PHP, ASP, or JSP, I suggest you stick to Vim.
Now, let me add some of my own:
1. Vim - Greatest. Editor. Ever.
2. GNU+Bash - It's often much more comfortable to use a CLI than to mess around in the GUI.
3. Bash scripting - It's easy and useful!
4. Liferea - Very good RSS reader.- schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14> 3. Konqueror - Meh. I like nautilus. Still, I get why people enjoy the "swiss army knife" approach.
It's big, it's heavy, but it's a good toolkit (atop a filemanager).
> 4. Beryl - Been there, done that, back with Metacity.
Same with shadows and translucency (Composite)... Lo and behold, then disable. Just like with Aero Glass or the Teletubby/lipstick theme in XP...
> 5. AmaroK - never tried it, but I've heared some serious praise about it.
It's great. Better than commercial products for sure. - dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Agreed, I find nautilus to be a lot cleaner... more in line with the UNIX philosophy of "do one thing well instead of trying to 20 things poorly".
I noticed a few KDE apps in there... I think it's been true for a while now that GNOME needs more killer apps, a CD burner like K3B, a DVD creator and stuff like that.
While it's true you can run these apps outside of KDE it tends to bloat your system a bit, with extra library packages needed to support their install that you wouldn't use otherwise and extra processes (like dcop) that you don't need. The cosmetic effect is a tad annoying to.
/rant off
Anyhow, good article. - Seer, on 10/12/2007, -28/+10I'm not sure the guy understands what a killer app is.
Apache aside, the list is crap!
Package management as a whole is nice... but it has to work first! Something YUM certainly doesnt half the time and to be frank all of them have left me in dependency hell at one point or another in this month alone!
I honestly enjoy Vista's explorer far more than konqueror from an ease of use and presentation viewpoint, bery/compiz are barely stable on any platform, Amarok is 'Yet another media player' of which breed I wouldnt rank it even in the top 5, Mplayer like wise but wouldnt even rank it in any list! Deskbar is done better in so many other ways, Apollon...... WTF??? and k3b is burning software done better by ahead for sure and many others besides....
The list is guff. The only thing there that is unique and better than proprietary applications is apache.... and that can run on any version of Windows.
Marked as innacurate (to say the least!) - Seer, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2I actually meant to say 'done better by other proprietary OR OPEN SOURCE MULTI-PLATFORM' applications
- lagartoflojo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4@Seer
Everytime you say that something is "done better," I really missed you telling us who does it better! And more importantly, which Linux app does it better (since Linux users couldn't care less about Windows apps).
You dislike mplayer, for example. What's better? Totem? Xine? Mplayer is the only media player that has been able to playback everything I've thrown at it. It has hundreds of options, and it is anything but bloated, and if you use it without a gui, it is even faster. - TheOther1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ noamsml
2. GNU+Bash - It's often much more comfortable to use a CLI than to mess around in the GUI.
That's why I would have listed Perl and/or Python. - TheOther1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@ lagartoflojo
I like VLC. It handles everything pretty well, including DVDs. It's not like Amarok, but does play damn near anything. And it's ported to several platforms. - Seer, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4@lagartoflojo
Ummm the article states quite clearly it's purpose in 'Here’s a list of software that make Linux worth using.'
Thus here is a list that makes Linux the choice ahead of other operating systems whether they be OSX, Windows, or DOS for that matter!
But to keep you happy because I am that kind of guy....
1. Apache is the best I said
2. Vista's explorer presents information in a far more streamlined and pervasive manner. If I want a web browser I use a full featured one such as Firefox :) Also check out the file manager in e17 (I forget its name right now its been a while). That impressed from the start!
3. Synaptic good, Yum..... words cant describe the sorry state of that right now!
4. Amarok is OK. I much prefer songbird, VLC or mediamonkey. There is no media player on the market that counts as a 'Killer app' for linux. They are ten a penny and generally multi platform or Windows based, yet excellent projects
6. I dont need to argue that ahead's nero is way superior to k3b... its no contest
7. Noone even uses these networks! (unless you like free troja´ns with your movie of course!). Gimme utorrent, azereus, or any other torrent client any day..... guess what!? They are all multiplatform too!
8. Mplayer isnt even a good 'linux' media player.. see number 4 again for the rest of the argument
9. There are like a zillion projects, a zillion downloadable toolbars, then you have other implementations that can do this and way more such as Window Blinds, and even Vista's sidebar
10. Screem??!! Lol hand's up all you professional web designers that use screem... thought so! - AirRaven, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7I fail to see a single one of those which is truly Linux-exclusive.
Apache - Available for each and every major platform. Just because it's COMMONLY used with Linux doesn't mean it's necessarily a selling point.
Synaptic/Adept/YUM - And what if you find a piece of software that's *not* in the repos? You're in for hell. Windows installers are just easier to use.
Konqueror - Completely subjective. I can't stand the thing myself. If I'm going to do any serious file management I'll use bash. Nautilus is more than enough for my file management needs. Explorer "just works" absolutely flawlessly. Konqueror feels slow, ugly, and generally non-conductive to a smooth workflow from my viewpoint. It's trying too hard to be a jack of all trades- it's just not good enough in any of them.
Beryl/Compiz - The author obviously hasn't explored the possibilities of Stardock's WindowFX software for Windows, or seen OS X in action.
AmaroK - Again, completely subjective. I'll argue to the bitter end that MusikCube for Windows is the better music player in every possible respect.
K3b - I love the way that the author actually concedes that Nero is the better suite at the start of his argument. Sure- K3B's not bad at all. But it's not *as good* as its competition- which defeats the point of calling it a "killer app".
Apollon (frontend for giFT) - So you get to search on multiple networks? Welcome to Shareaza for Windows.
MPlayer + MEncoder - MPlayer's Cross Platform, and VLC excels at the vast majority of jobs anyway.
MEncoder's not bad, I'll admit. I've always just used a few Nautilus scripts to encode things, though.
Deskbar - Google Desktop.
Screem HTML/XML Editor - I fail to see how a glorified text editor qualifies as a "killer app". Vi? Perhaps, if you're feeling arcane. But this? You've got to be joking. There's already a plethora of Windows applications that support syntax highlighting.
The whole list's subjective at best. - Sairgem, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"a CD burner like K3B"
Gnomebaker. - DarkStalker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+146. I dont need to argue that ahead's nero is way superior to k3b... its no contest
Actually, yes, you do have to argue it because Nero is a usability/GUI nightmare. - dusanmal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I'd disagree about the Konqueror. It is very cumbersome, bloated “do-it-all”. No way should it belong in this (otherwise quite fair) list. Unfortunately so are most other Linux file managers (Nautilus is another bad example). I manage large group of Linux workstations at the major University. The main issue with users are these bloated file managers that do many things, all poorly. Application most of my users now use deserve the place in this list instead (and shows real power of the OpenSource). It is “ROX” file manager. It does exactly what file manager should, flawlessly in any environment and FAST.
- stmiller, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Digikam should be on everyone's list:
http://www.digikam.org/
Supports 16bit images, RAW importing, and has tons of plugins for touching up photos. Organizes everything. This is a monster program. I show my family/friends this program in particular when they ask about good programs in Linux. Check it out. - Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17. Apollon - Why? Bittorrent.
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@lagartoflojo
VLC is better than mplayer :P
I still use mplayer as VLC doesn't have easy skip back and forth via use of the left/right/up/down
- schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14> 3. Konqueror - Meh. I like nautilus. Still, I get why people enjoy the "swiss army knife" approach.
- mariux, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6IMHO Konqueror is the best FM available. I love how i can easily change between viewing files, websites and pdf. Its not at all "big" if you run kde.
Its kioslaves are a killer and together will alot of handy solutions like quick filter, regexp-selection and alike, it truly allows you to accomplish what you need to do in a very efficiente way.
And also, mplayer is truly amazing- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12See, the ease of switching between viewing my local file system and web sites it's what makes me a tad bit nervous about konqueror... it's very IE like in that regard.
In fact there was a recent announcement about a vulnerability in konq related to that same feature.
Plus it just breaks the Unix philosophy, give me a file manager, give me a web browser. Don't give me one program trying to do both at once. I find web sites don't always look right in it and it's too cluttered as a file manager. KDE in general I find a bit cluttered and "all over the place" as an environment.
Please note in my responses, I'm not digging anyone down here... I'm just expressing my own opinions on the subject. - frodo1977, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6>>Plus it just breaks the Unix philosophy, give me a file manager, give me a web browser.
>>Don't give me one program trying to do both at once
Just to make it clear, it's not breaking the UNIX philosophy, in fact all of this functions come from different parts that are put together in Konqueror. That's exactly the philosophy of UNIX. There is a KParts technology, then the khtml engine and the ioslaves. All different parts of the system.
But i can imagine, how one can think it is bloated. For me it is a great help in my daily work.
greetings - int19h, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Konqueror does only one thing, and it does it well: it's a kio-viewer
- Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Imo the best File Manager is Thunar... it seriously kicks ass. Simple, fast, flexible, extendable, great selection filters, great file renaming capabilities... still in early stages of development.
I really like how XFCE is going, I love the applications; Thunar is great, Xarchiver is nice and simple, xfburn is simple though I wasn't able to get it burning (I can't do it at all - not xfburn's fault), in general the DE is just great, though I prefer ot use Openbox and only some applications from it. - HerbertScrunge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Konqueror does only one thing, and it does it well: it's a kio-viewer"
This and the comment previous to that hit the nail right on the head, in my opinion - Konqueror breaks the "Do one thing and do it well" rule in exactly the same way that Emacs does, which is "not at all": both are merely lightweight shells into which a variety of third-party apps/ plugins can be embedded. - Nebbie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I don't really like using Konqueror, but like what was mentioned, it's just a KIO viewer. I haven't really searched around much to see if these things do exist, but I'd rather have a standalone program that incorporates the KHTML KPart and is specialized for this (only shows webpage bookmarks, better support for firefox-like extensions). This is already done for KPDF and most other programs. I want it to work just like Kontact, where each KPart has it's own standalone program, but have one more tuned to web browsing. Being able to switch between KHTML and a good implementation of a KPart for gecko would be nice too.
Getting a bit off topic here, but I would rather more work was done in improving gecko (firefox/mozilla html renderer) in the areas of using different toolkits and having KHTML improvements being incorporated and doing away with KHTML. I don't see any need for more then 1 good HTML renderer as long as it is flexible enough to adapt to the environment it is placed in. Gecko just doesn't fit into KDE as well as it fits into Gnome and Windows (toolkit too different, separate bookmark list, no KPart). Maybe it needs to be broken up into smaller parts which can be pieced together differently for different systems, while keeping the main Firefox browser a standard across all platforms for people that want a familiar browser wherever they go.
Woah... got way off topic there. But to reiterate: I love KParts, it is great to see the ability to change your editor in programs like KDevelop and Kile to one that suites your needs, as well as being able to set the same editor options across the board as well. That is one of the goals of Unix systems, small programs doing one thing very well, and using them in other programs. It is something I miss in Gnome (which I use most of the time these days as I prefer nautilus and firefox) which sometimes tries to do the same but not nearly enough. I don't use evolution because I want to be able to use only 1 aspect of it at a time usually and don't need the whole outlook-like interface, although that should still be available much like kontact for KDE is available. - Cl1mh4224rd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1". . .both are merely lightweight shells into which a variety of third-party apps/ plugins can be embedded."
In that case, cue up the, "Yes, but does it run Linux," jokes for Konqueror. :-P
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12See, the ease of switching between viewing my local file system and web sites it's what makes me a tad bit nervous about konqueror... it's very IE like in that regard.
- philforhumanity, on 10/12/2007, -11/+81) Perl
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10phooey!
1) Python
:-) - AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -25/+1Pearl? Sorry, title says killer, not inbred, wrong meeting dude.
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10@AICkieran
Dude you didn't even spell it right... - AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -18/+1yeah i noticed that after i came back :( sorry!
The point still stands though, i hate perl :-) - simao, on 10/12/2007, -3/+41) ruby
- Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ruby + Rails?
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10phooey!
- ptaylor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15I triple booted my PC (MCE2K5, Vista RC2, Fedora Core 6) and Linux runs circles around the other two OSs. Only reasons why I still sometimes boot to Windows is to record shows (I can't get MythTV to install), for my wife (she's slowly crossing over), and some minor Windows Web compatibility issues. I have the NTFS read/write ability and I can enjoy my media, I'm good. Linux is killer already, to me anyway.
- Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If you need to visit some websites that require IE occasionally, I've found
http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page
to be a big help.
That, and it's also useful to make sure your freshly-coded CSS layout isn't completely broken in IE. :P
- Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If you need to visit some websites that require IE occasionally, I've found
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -26/+6This list is exactly why the common user will never use Linux in it's current form. I think maybe 1 or 2 of those apps would be relevant to people who are not networks ops.
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Sorry it's actually the opposite...
1) Sure, not everyone needs a web server.
2) EVERYONE installs software at one point or another.
3) EVERYONE browses files on their computer using tools like explorer.
4) OK, eye candy isn't for everyone but it's certainly not specific to sysadmins, Mac users have been enjoying this stuff for a little while now.
5) EVERYONE enjoys listening to multimedia or podcasts or SOMETHING on their computer from time to time for entertainment.
6) I doubt sysadmin/netadmin types are the only people that burn cd's....
7) P2P file sharing is another thing that is not JUST something that sysadmin types do.
8) Hello... a lot of people play movies on their computer, you know.
9) This is a bit like the google desktop app or what have you, again not really a sysadmin thing but I'll grant you, it's a bit geeky. I don't use it but I'm a geek.
10) Yes, certainly editing html/xml files IS in fact limited to the geek types, that's solid hit #2.
I have NO clue what you read, but you obviously understood very little of it. - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5Sorry, I meant "network ops types." Here's the problem - to get people to switch from anything they need a BETTER alternative - and by better I mean "same functionality, simpler to use." Linux is not, and never will be that. The number of distros/desktop environments is another reason people won't switch - confusion.
For me, the solution was simple in getting away from Windows - I bought a Mac. UNIX under the hood, infinitely more secure (for now), and it's something I can have my wife use without trying to explain to her how to compile a program. OSX is what the Linux community SHOULD strive for, unfortunately that will never happen because as soon as one distro starts making a lot of progress, the "elites" will no longer use it. - UncleRage, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3edit/
Took me awhile to write this over coffee... Saturday drinks make me soooo slow come Sunday morning.... good job dgh1973!
/edit
Uhm. Huh?
Since when are media players (amarok & Mplayer), Desktop search functions (Deskbar), a disc burner (K3b), GUI (beryl), and app installers (Synaptic, et al) dedicated to sys admins?
Let's be clear (with some generous oversimplification) about the list:
2: Synaptic/Adept/Yum = Fileplanet's downloader w/ serious search & install features
5: Amarok = iTunes
6: K3b = Nero
7: Apollon = *shudder* Kazaa (see below)
8: Mplayer = Windows Media Player (see below)
9: Deskbar = Google Search
10: Screem = Editplus / BBEdit
Granted, the new Linux user might not understand why the system looks nifty and sleak when Beryl/Compiz are running... but they like it. Or why the need a front to handle their CLI P2P & media player needs (a la: Apollon, GTKplayer, etc...), but they want it.
The only thing on said list that could remotely (heh) considered to be in the realm of the IT network guy is Apache.
Granted, from the neophyte's perspective, this list may come as a little lackluster. This is, however, mostly because the average Windows user does not consider the GUI to be an application, would think that encode2mpeg is the "application", not mplayer+MEncoder, and that Konqueror is as much part of the system as Explorer.
But that's just a lack of knowledge about their system.
All that being said... my development station is only home because of Windowmaker, Xinerama, gkrellm2, and a fileserver that holds all my music & flicks.... I mean all of my source files ;) and an electric burner/pyrex percolator combination. - Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Confusion? You download Ubuntu, you have no option... GNOME is all you're gonna get, you don't CHOOSE which packages to install, all the default packages are installed.
When you ask someone which distro would be best for a Linux n00b, I'm pretty sure they'd say Ubuntu... maybe Suse, but I don't think anyone likes that Distro anymore due to Novells crappy agreement. - dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Back @chriskzoo
Still the same holds true, and your comment was specific to the application selections, not the use of Linux in general. As I pointed out most of those apps are geared toward the standard, every day computer user.
I'll admit Linux is a bit fragmented, but the truth is with distros like Ubuntu you really don't have to compile anything anymore, if you do it's because the hardware on the computer you chose wasn't optimal or you need a unique application that isn't among the thousands of programs available by simply searching and/or pointing and clicking in killer app #2.
As far as your comment about "elites" not using whatever becomes popular or easy to use... I agree, despite the fact that it's quite irrelevant because Linux is getting to the point where all of the "elites" are moving to Free/OpenBSD, thus supporting the popularity of Linux (in general, not even specific distros) even more.
Bash it all you want, but I'll tell you right now as a long term (almost 10 years now) Linux user... you should have seen this ***** 5 years ago, we had no chance in hell of hitting the desktop then. Now there's enough to actually stand up and argue about. In another 5 years I'd be willing to bet you and people like you will know at least one or two people who use it as their primary desktop and you won't have much room to argue or say it sucks then.
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Sorry it's actually the opposite...
- Shirokun, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8That Guy is obviously a KDE User.
Konqueror, K3B, etc.. it's all from KDE.
Well, about Beryl... I tried it and switched back to Metacity.
Amarok is Top, but I got too much used to Banshee for Gnome. - edzieba, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Blackbox is still my favorite. And being cross-platform means I can have the same UI on XP and Ubuntu.
Beryl is hardly a killer app though. Ooh, look! Flashy effects and swirling windows! Neat! Now how do I turn it off and get back to work?- trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Beryl is visual feedback, it helps the user understand the system.... although that might not be neccesary for a linux user..
- captjc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Beryl has it's ups and downs. I find the transparency (especially for terminal windows) and the Expose-like functions to be useful. The desktop cube (desktop switcher) is neat (but unnecessary) as well.
Personally, I do not like the "wobbly windows" stuff. I find the useless eye candy to be a waste. Though the functional eye candy is pretty nice to have. - Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd classify Beryl as a "killer app"... Sure, at this point it's mostly just eye-candy, but who knows that the project might evolve into down the road ?
- Gideon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2what would be a killer app for linux is if someone would make a quicksilver clone.
http://www.harecoded.com/2006/03/21/quicksilver-for-linux
their site is down though..- Orbatos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Deskbar does essentailly the same thing as quicksilver, though there are a few less plugins so far.
- Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1It's a KDE app though :( I hate KDE, it sucks but it has great apps...
- loconet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Top killer up: rm
- dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Not killall ?
- Ben
- dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Not killall ?
- scabbers, on 10/12/2007, -11/+14"Killer app" refers to something that is so compelling it makes people switch to the platform to use it.
Fail.- walkerj, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7And that's what these apps are.
- dr-steve, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6...or are not.
Yes, agreed, a killer app is something that is new and sufficiently compelling to make the process of switching environments (the negative) a minor factor to the advantages to using the new product (the advantage).
Think VisiCalc, Bricklin's spreadsheet that made the Apple II (and the whole PC field) respectable. Before it, the personal computer was basically a toy. After it, it was a tool.
Listing packages that have equivalents (+/-) on other platforms.
Apache? Runs under Windows etc., no killer. Package managers? Install stuff on the Mac and PC without Synaptic, they run. A solution to a problem on platform A, where the problem doesn't exist on platform B, doesn't drive a need to move from platform B to platform A. Incremental improvements or variants over existing products just don't make them killers.
A more interesting article would be "Apps that WOULD be killer apps for Linux."
-Steve - Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"Install stuff on the Mac and PC without Synaptic, they run."
Well by the same logic why not just make a spreadsheet on a piece of paper with a pencil?
Synaptic (or Apt) is just an automation of software installation. Everyone has been whining about how hard it is to install stuff under Linux because you have to compile and bla bla bla... The Linux community (namely Debian) came up with a great solution - Package Managers. Now software installation is easy, faster and better on Linux than on any other OS.
Oh, and it's one of the things that keeps me with Linux. Mac OSX is comparable but it just sucks at installing apps... so I stay with Linux. - MoneyShot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The killer app that firmly got me back into Linux is Asterisk. It doesn't run under Windows (well, reliably) and there isn't another product out there that has both the level community support and flexibility. Asterisk is an amazing application.
- surgen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All this killer app stuff is starting to bug me, I keep hearing about it so much.
Name one killer app in windows OTHER than DirectX. Thats what linux vs windows usually boils down to when one is not locked into an OS (ie. my windows box for work-related shenanigans).
- etabb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27Linux killer app:
kill -9
eta - Threlly, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Konk' better than finder !
Excuse me while I have a hernia laughing my GUT out.
Linux is great, but its still too 'nerd' , sorry, but its true.
You're going to need Photoshop or Cubase or Reason or Gears of War
before people take it seriously.
Any of the above apps will take it to the edge of the general publics consciousness, then you might get penetration.
But while you're all still arguing about distro's and desktops, nobody could give a rats. - trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Deskbar is indeed a very nice application.. It functions well as an application launcher, much like Google Destop or Spotlight, which makes icons on the desktop/bars not neccesary.
- leszek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2deskbar is really wonderful.
If i want to mail someone, i enter the mail address and BAM i am in the evolution program
If I want to search something on wikipedia, i enter "wiki something" and BAM i see the wikipedia article.
If I want to search some file on my hard disk or some mails about a subject, i find it directly using the deskbar.
For me, it is clearly a killer app.
- leszek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2deskbar is really wonderful.
- Pestilence, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The author of the blog doesn't understand the definition of a killer app. Wikipedia defines a killer app as follows:
A killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is a computer program that is so useful that people will buy a particular computer hardware, gaming console, and/or an operating system simply to run that program.
So far, the only killer app I've encountered in Linux is MythTV. Since I've switched all my personal machines to Linux and only use Windows on my work laptop because I'm forced to, I've realized that if I'd known how much better Bash is than the windows command line, it would have accelerated my switch to Linux also. - archerx, on 10/12/2007, -20/+61. Apache - yea so many people use their computers as webservers.
2. Synaptic/Adept/YUM - a program to install other programs is a killer app?
3. Konqueror - a file manager? oh come on linux needs a seprate program for that?
4. Beryl/Compiz - I'm to busy working or using my pc to look a wobbly windows.
5. AmaroK - winamp 2.80, all i want is to listen to my music.
6. K3b - put in a blank cd in windows, copy files to the disk drive, burn and you're done.
7. Apollon - people still use p2p?
8. MPlayer + MEncoder - tons of other programs like this.
9. Deskbar - ummmm no thanks?
10. Screem HTML/XML Editor - real men use notepad.- trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Dude.. why do you stick with winamp 2?
Winamp 5 is not Winamp 3, and performs much better .. And yes, it comes with original skin :P - Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"Synaptic/Adept/YUM - a program to install other programs is a killer app?"
Yeah, it's one of the reasons why I love Linux (Debian) so much. Mac OSX would be a good alternative to Linux, especially since Photoshop works on there and with CS3 it will be native for my Macbook... but installing software is a pain in the ass. Even though it's as simple as dragging and dropping the .app, you still have to go out and search for that application. - archerx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ trylleklovn
If it ain't broke don't fix it :) - Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"3. Konqueror - a file manager? oh come on linux needs a seprate program for that?"
Yeah, tell me about it, it sucks so much. I mean instead of being FORCED to use whatever app Microsoft wants me to use, I have the ability to choose whatever app I want to use on Linux... How awful... :P
- trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Dude.. why do you stick with winamp 2?
- flag564, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3You know what a great killer app would be?
How about a program with a name that makes sense!
Konqueror? K3b?
Huh?!?- Doomhammer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why does the name of the program matter...?
- zynaps, on 10/12/2007, -13/+6As much as i like Linux (i've run several variants over the years, and i have ubuntu on my laptop) i would hardly call this a list of killer apps.
#1. Apache, sure a killer server but it runs on loads of other operating systems, not only Linux. I run a WAMP setup at home. It's much easier to run it on Windows than Linux by the way (sure not the same performance but for home it's good enough).
#2. Synaptic. Hardly a killer app, just a GUI for a package manager. Sure it's nice you don't have to Google for an app you are looking for but still not a standardized installer like MSI for windows.
#3. Konqueror; a mediokre filemanager at most. Sure it's much better than Finder but so is Exporer (Finder is really the devils spawn). When it comes to file managers nothing on any other OS can beat Total Commander and Directory Opus for Windows.
#4. Will be killer, in a few years. Right now it's just way to buggy.
#5. AmaroK, tried it, but stuck to VLC even though i hate it. On windows i run Foobar2000 and MPC with ffdshow. Blows any Linux alternative out of the water i am afraid.
#6. You don't have to install all the crap that comes with Nero. Nero Core is enough. After boot there are exactly zero Nero processes running on my computer. All i have is Nero Core which i lauch to burn dics.
#7. Please, who uses Kaazaa nowadays, or eMule or Gnutella? uTorrent plus DC++ is better than any Linux alternatives i've found.
#8. One word, Media Player Classic + ffdshow :)
#9. No comment, i don't use these kinds of apps. I too can search many sources with firefox and a personalized google homepage :)
#10. There are many many many HTML editors on Windows that . You don't have to use Dreamweaver or GoLive. Look at ACE HTML Pro for instance. It's freeware and much better than Screem.- Pestilence, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2ACCEHTML Pro is certainly not freeware.
- Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"#5. AmaroK, tried it, but stuck to VLC even though i hate it. On windows i run Foobar2000 and MPC with ffdshow. Blows any Linux alternative out of the water i am afraid."
Well I come from the same background, I just loved foobar2000, and I found a similar player. I am currently running xmms2 which has the potential to be like foobar2000, but if you want the GUI and everything like foobar2000 (though not so many plugins or such a big community) then LAMIP is definitely the player you want... though it's very buggy.
"#10. There are many many many HTML editors on Windows that . You don't have to use Dreamweaver or GoLive. Look at ACE HTML Pro for instance. It's freeware and much better than Screem."
Yeah... the best text editor I have found is TextMate for Mac OSX though. There's a clone being developed called "E" for Windows, unfortunately non for Linux. One that comes close is Scribes, but like Screem it has heaps of GNOME dependencies which I hate. I am running a minimal install of Openbox and can't seem to be able to install most software due to those dependencies... I don't want that much crap on my system :(
- javip, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4linux has 'killer apps'??
=)
yes i know i'll be dugg down.. lol- javip, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4people use linux??
lol!
i'm curious as to which of my 2 posts gets dugg down the most
even though i stand by both of them.. hahaha - javip, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3apple rules!!
(see above) =) - javip, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3windows rules!!
(see above) =) - flag564, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Ubuntu!
ftw - Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Windows sucks
- javip, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4people use linux??
- daftman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Yea! Like Excel for spreadsheet, and Access for DB, XP, Vista, etc all make sense.
- repruhsent, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8This guy's list (of "killer" apps) is sorely missing ReiserFS.
- Pestilence, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3I take it you've never lost data due to the bugs in ReiserFS before...
- repruhsent, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3@Pestilence:
Don't worry. You won't be the only one to not "get" this. - repruhsent, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3For those without a clue:
Hans Reiser, who works on ReiserFS (obviously), is suspected of killing his wife. If he did this, it would make him a KILLER. Therefore, something he wrote would be a KILLER APP. Get it? - Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Since when is a file system considered an application?
- arachnist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1whoops, too late
- Pestilence, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ahh - good point :o)
- btdown, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Konqueror is the worst...it does nothing well that I can see.
And you can see that this guy is kde biased....And while I am a fan of NEITHER kde or gnome, gnome seems to be settling in as the wm of the masses.- frodo1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you look into the comments on the blog you can see that he is not kde biased, but there are some apps under KDE, who the guy thinks are worth to mention.
I would like to know, what Konqueror doesn't do well in your opinion. For me it works in all ways i need. - frodo1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Funny, you posted nearly the same comment on the blog, but again without any reason for that...
- frodo1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you look into the comments on the blog you can see that he is not kde biased, but there are some apps under KDE, who the guy thinks are worth to mention.
- leileilol, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Where's VLC? :(
- Pestilence, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Anything (like VLC) that runs on other platforms in addition to Linux can not, by definition, be a Linux killer app.
- Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1It's a uhh... PC (Mac inclusive)... killer app though.
- fjc8, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3This article is full of non-sequiturs, cherry picking, and other fallacious arguments.
1] Apache runs on platforms other than Linux. So do MySQL and PHP. Most PHP software will run on OSes other than Linux; many PHP programs will run on web servers other than Apache, and some PHP software will work with databases other than MySQL. Those already using Windows probably use ASP.NET, which is a very different product than PHP (and is best compared to Java).
2] You only need to install a program once. After that, it's on your computer until you remove it.
3] I have been getting by just fine with Explorer and the Finder. If I wanted more advanced functionality for managing files, I could download one of the many third-party file managers for Windows.
4] Fancy graphics to me are distracting -- and they are definitely a waste of power. This is important when running on a laptop. No Windows user has to stare at Luna every day -- they can simply turn on Windows Classic, problem solved.
5] I like how the author chose iTunes as a shining example of a music player. There are many other music players for Windows that provide tons of functionality. Personally, I just use iTunes.
6] Except that you DON'T don't need to install all that extra software with Nero Burning Rom. The user can deselect it at installation. Some of it (like Nero Recode) can be useful. Nero Burning Rom (the main component of Nero) definitely has more features.
7] You completely disregarded all of the adware-free Windows P2P programs, such as OTHER FRONTENDS FOR giFT for Windows... as well as apps like Shareaza.
8] Media Player Classic, Zoom Player, even WMP (or any other DirectShow player) and a set of codecs like the Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP) works great; it's got a familiar interface, there are no GUIs that need to be downloaded -- just a single pack that will play most formats. Not only that, but MPlayer/MEncoder also work on Windows...
9] This sounds a lot like Google Desktop or MSN Desktop Search...
10] I can't completely agree that "if you want to really become a good web designer, you need to get rid of the WYSISWYG and actually look at the code that you put in". While it's a very good thing to understand what you're doing, it's possible to do things right with a GUI, and with Dreamweaver, you can also use it AS A HTML (text) EDITOR. Plus, there are tons of editors that do a good job of editing HTML for Windows as well... - uzytkownik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I don't know how a KDE (It's high probably that as well) but Gnome is definitely killer app. Why?
- "Always on top" function. In background I have a browser opened on documentation etc and on top I have a fragment of my program. On top I have movie player and in background web browser...
- Deskbar
- I don't know name of feature. If I move/resize window it stops a while it it touch another window of screen
- Devilspie/brightside
For me Desktops line of development is something like that:
Mac OS X-Gnome (KDE?) --------------------------------Windows ;)
Only problem which I met with GNU/Linux systems is the third-party drivers (producents not publish specification).- repruhsent, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I suggest learning English before you attempt to write it. It helps A LOT.
- Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"- "Always on top" function. In background I have a browser opened on documentation etc and on top I have a fragment of my program. On top I have movie player and in background web browser..."
This is available in most window managers. I am currently using Openbox and I also have this feature (which I don't really use). Imo Openbox is much better than Metacity.
"- Deskbar"
Not a killer app, Mac OSX has Spotlight/Quicksilver, Windows has Google Desktop and something like it in Vista
"- I don't know name of feature. If I move/resize window it stops a while it it touch another window of screen"
Again, most WMs have this feature, Openbox for one.
"- Devilspie/brightside"
These programs seperate to Gnome, I run Openbox (sry) and am using Devilspie (without Gnome).
Conclusion: Gnome is not a killer app. It has very few killer apps, KDE actually beats GNOME in this respect :(
ps. I prefer Gnome over KDE. - gfnw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Always on top" function. In background I have a browser opened on documentation etc and on top I have a fragment of my program. On top I have movie player and in background web browser..."
Yeah, shame they removed the ability to have your windows "always on top" of your panels as well. Something that practically every other DE/WM can do, even windows.
So now I can't maximise my windows properly because some GNOME guy decided that a simple feature that is in every other desktop is too complicated and confusing.
- teknotant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The list is pretty good but it is also common. I was expecting to see applications that were a little unknown and deserved some attention.
- Izacus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3It seems to me that the problem with this list is that those applications are mostly ones that do "almost" as much as windows ones (apache and synaptic excluded).
amaroK is hardly comparable to iTunes or even Windows Media Player 11, mplayer is beaten my Media Player Classic with simpler interface, new Vista Explorer does everything Konqueror can and more, etc.etc.
You can hardly call them "killer apps" if they just try to catch up with their Windows/OS X counterparts.- neko, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5YEAH!!! WMP11 RULES!!!
for example: http://www.bandddesigns.com/blogger/arch/002942.html
and then all you really need to do is update to latest WMP, download Real, download Quicktime, download that lovely DivX;) codec with the watermarks, get a few other codec packs while you're at it, don't you love all those strange programs messing with the DirectShow pipe, gets a bit leaky sometimes but you can just reinstall to fix it, you like reinstalling don't you? - BT-Wang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2media player classic uses directshow. directshow really doesn't work well compared to mplayer, media player classic does have a better interface, but mplayer really works better.
all of the projects have reached point where they are being developed to be faster and better than they currently are, they're really not trying to catch up. the developers have their own objectives.
- neko, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5YEAH!!! WMP11 RULES!!!
- condormcs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1vlc deserves more attention
such an awesome app that plays anything, doesnt need extra codecs and isnt slow and full of crap u dont want like other players.- BT-Wang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2mplayer and xine are just as good as vlc, they all swap code with each other. they are all excellent.
vlc tends to get ignored on linux in favor of mplayer or xine.
- BT-Wang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2mplayer and xine are just as good as vlc, they all swap code with each other. they are all excellent.
- johnstar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2#!/bin/bash
## This script installs a ton of *****
## sets ctrl alt del to bring up system monitor
## created by John Turney
##
i="sudo apt-get install"
r="apt-get remove"
sudo apt-get update
$i vlc vlc-plugin-esd -y
$i gparted -y
$i gtkpod-aac -y
$i abiword -y
$i k3b -y
$i audacity -y
$i sound converter -y
$i xmms-flac -y
$i xmms-mad -y
$i xmms-mp4 -y
$i frozen-bubble -y
$i nvu -y
$i blam -y -qq
$i inkscape -y
$i cplay -y
$i ogg123 -y
$i mpg123 -y
$i mpg321 -y
$i splay -y
$i madplay -y
$i mikmod -y
$i xmp -y
$i sox -y
$i testdisk -y
$i flac -y
$i mozilla-thunderbird -y
$i gnusound -y
$i azureus -y
$i audacity -y
$i abiword -y
$i xarchiver -y
$i inkscape -y
$i scribus -y
$i vlc -y
$i hydrogen -y
$i gnomebaker -y
$i k9copy -y
$i soundconverter -y
$i libdvdcss2 -y
clear
apt-get clean
gconftool-2 -t str --set /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/run_command_9 "Delete"
gconftool-2 -t str --set /apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/command_9 "gnome-system-monitor" - Fartag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Killer apps? There aren't any artificial boundaries forcing these applications to stay on Linux. The only thing standing in your way of running all of these on another capable platform is generally porting effort, not EULAs, not closed source software, not DRM, not other legal restrictions. There are too many incredibly useful "professional level" free (legal and cost) apps to list in 10, there are hundreds at least. The difficulty and b.s. people put up with under proprietary software and licenses becomes more mind boggling if people knew about these and thought it was worth switching for. Freedom is the killer reason to use GNU/Linux. huzzah!
- DigDuality, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Konqueror should be swapped out for Kontact.
- anmol2k4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31) Enlightenment e.17 (with gnome)
2) Thunar
3) Apt-get
4) Tvtime
5) kernel itself
6) Alternative to almost everything
7) Amarok is great but it is there to listen to music which almost every other player does, but if you need more than just audio player then it really is awesome.
but then we are forgetting that linux is for free and is under constant developent and feature addition with more flexibility than any other OS all that in my opinion is the biggest point to use linux. - Youssif, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am wondering why that list don't include them :
1 - Firefox
2 - Thunderbird
3 - OpenOffice - not yet ?!
4 - Google Earth - Really ?
5 - ALGIX/XGL
6 - Xen - mmm !
7 - Oracle - just kidding, well, not !
8 - SELinux
9 - Mplayer
10 - Java - if goes GPL3 - heffae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't know if these are really killer apps but what I miss most on windows are decent command line tools. Bash, Grep, Sed, Awk, etc... Windows might actually have a leg up with the new object oriented power shell but I haven't tried it much yet.
apt is a stroke of genius. Never have gotten yum to work well (at least fedora's implementation of it.) The ease of "apt-get install program" makes up for the one or two that you may need to compile your self (everything I use has been in the Debian repos so haven't had to compile something in a while)
Beryl/Compiz is not a killer apt but I do like it more than Vistas Aero. It does more usefull things besides jut looking good.
Mplayer is a must for windows or Linux if you deal with odd video files. It's not the best video player for everyday use (but as a last resort you will be hardpressed to find something it can't handle. It can even download wmv/asf streams if you wan to much about with the command line. - BT-Wang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13. Konqueror
it's really just like Explorer for windows, the better features are the result of kioslaves, which are available to any kde app that wants to use them. khtml is totally awesome though.
4. beryl/compiz
well. it's pretty good, but it doesn't work with any conventional desktop pager, which is a much more efficient than rotating a cube. window placement is terrible, the only really useful part is the expose style window switcher, which is somewhat countered by the desktop cube being less useful than conventional virtual desktops.
it's young, it locks up if you leave it alone, it sometimes just goes grey and chugs for a while, killer apps have to work and work well, beryl and compiz don't.
5. Amarok
amarok is on par with iTunes not better, it's more customizable, but doesn't work perfectly all the time, and the developers seem to hate fixing bugs when they could be adding new features.
8. Mplayer
mplayer is great, but it's as quirky as any other media player, the interface is bad. xine is the same way, the real killer media players are frontends to either mplayer or xine.- frodo1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"5. Amarok
amarok is on par with iTunes not better, it's more customizable, but doesn't work perfectly all the time, and the developers seem to hate fixing bugs when they could be adding new features."
Not true, if you look at the changelog there are actually more bugfixes than features added. Make a good bug report and it will get fixed. But don't forget, that are developers who spend their free time for this.
I tried iTunes some time with my iPod and it was a mess. Amarok (it's now spelled this way!) lets me upload whatever song i want and also delete it. The handling is much better than with apple's own program. - BT-Wang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"if you look at the changelog there are actually more bugfixes than features added."
of course, fixing code is also much easier (barring major issues) than writing new code.
I try to make bug reports but nearly all of them result in a crash, usually while amarok was doing something on its own, updating the collection or fetching podcasts. it occurs to me that some aspects of amarok should have been more carefully written.
to the developers credit I have been seeing a lot more error messages where amarok used to crash or say nothing.
- frodo1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"5. Amarok
- decoherence, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The real killer apps for Linux (and UNIX) are piping, assignment, redirection, and control structures (loops/conditionals/etc.)
That said, there are some pretty sweet GUI production programs out there. Here are a few.
Tomboy - possibly the PERFECT desktop notes tool since it generates links between notes automatically and on the fly. Very simple and useful (but uses mono... boo!)
Inkscape and Xara - god I wish Illustrator was this nice to use! While Xara isn't quite finished yet, Inkscape is already a production-ready pro-ball vector drawing program. Much easier to pick up than Illustrator.
Blender - this amazing 3D modeler/animator sports a physics engine, particle/fluid effects, function curve based animation, catmull clark surface subdivision and a complete set of tools for poking and prodding your models. Games can be created within Blender itself and Python can be used for logic. However, this is NOT a program you can just pick up and start using as the interface is tuned for maximum efficiency rather than accessibility. If you're seriously interested in 3D animation, this is an excellent program to invest in learning. Also available for Windows/Mac.
Bluefish - I personally like this better than Screem. It's got good support for different languages and a decent amount of built-in functionality. That said, I'm with the guy who said VIM for teh win!
deb/apt - the original article mentioned Synaptic/Adept/YUM. But the real stars here are DEB and APT, the meticulously documented package format and the tool that reads the documentation and figures out what packages work best with each other, respectively. The reason Synaptic and Adept are killer apps is because of the meticulous work that goes in to creating their software repositories. The reason YUM might be considered a killer app is because it's an RPM based package manager that doesn't completely suck. Sadly, RPMs do suck, so YUM can only get so far :P *prepares for burial*
well, i could go on but i think this is long enough. - dreimanis, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1if these are the killer aps for linux then.. how "killery "is linux itself?
- kidko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'm surprised at what this guy listed as a killer app. Synaptic/apt-get (it's just gui or non-gui versions of apt-get) is obvious, but some (such as konquer), are questionable for most people. Generally, only KDE users use it, while others prefer GNOME's browser or XCFE's Thunar (my choice). I'm also surprised that no Mozilla Project apps made the list. But I have to admit, looking over it from the perspective he seems to have, it's a pretty good list. Not great, but good.
- MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think that JAMin should be included on the list.
- kmgrant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Before you list too many of your own favorites...remember what makes a "killer app": it's something that gives you a reason to use one platform over another.
Some people have listed favorites like "vim" that I agree are great programs available for Linux, but they are not "killer apps" because they are portable. Unless the Linux *version* of "vim" is far better than ports of vim to other platforms, "vim" cannot be a "killer app" for Linux.- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I disagree with your definition, I think that Eve Online, World of Warcraft, and Half-Life 2 are all killer apps (or games) but I'm still not switching to windows to play them - and it's not because I'm using cedega or wine to play them either and wouldn't need to...
- sehzades, on 10/28/2007, -2/+0linux sux
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