Essential applications (Linux, Android, Windows)

A list of all the applications that I use, on various platforms.

Mac OS X Applications

Packaging Systems

• SoftwareUpdate

  Built-in (from Apple), will only update the OS and Apple applications. Very easy.

• Fink

  Large repository of UNIX open-source software.

• DarwinPorts

  Other package manager. The repository has a lot of server software. Easy to use.

Internet

• Mail

  Free as in beer (from Apple), good client except for the Spotlight search feature taking hours (and not returning anything useful, generally).

• Thunderbird

  Good open-source email client from Mozilla.

• Firefox

  The standard open-source browser that you can trust.

• Safari

  Probably the best browser available for OS X (very fast). Based on Konqueror so should be open.

• Cyberduck

  FTP client, open-source. I don't like it that much but it seems one of the best for the Mac.

• X-Chat Aqua

  Open-source IRC client. Not awesome, but ok.

• Fire

  Open-source multi-protocol IM client.

Development

• GCC

  Included in the system from Apple.

• X-Code

  Good IDE for C++/Objective-C/Java, unfortunately only available on the Mac. It manages its own build system, but this is not portable.

Multimedia

• iTunes

  Excellent audio player.

• MPlayer

  Best video player available on the Mac, but should be compiled from source. The binaries versions are not maintained it seems. Also, the GUI sucks.

• VLC

  It will play less files than MPlayer, but the Mac port is official and better.

• Adobe Photoshop

  Best image editing program.

• Roxio Toast

  Good CD/DVD-burning software, but not free.

Office

• Adobe Acrobat Reader

  Essential to read PDF files.

• Address Book

  Nice contact book manager.

Utilities

• Built-in Unarchiver

  It will decompress .tar, .zip, and other formats. Nice integration into the Finder.

• CDFinder

  Organizes a CD/DVD collection. Good but not multiplatform nor Open-Source.

• CDCat

  Organizes a CD/DVD collection. Free as in speech, multiplatform, uses Qt3. But you must compile it yourself.

• smartmontools

  Tool to monitor the SMART status of your hard drive. If you install using the Apple installer, the daemon will be automatically launched at startup (remove the StartupItem to prevent that).

Linux Applications

Packaging Systems (on Gentoo)

• emerge

  THE only one tool that you will ever need.

Internet

• Thunderbird

  Good open-source email client from Mozilla.

• Firefox

  The standard open-source browser that you can trust.

• gFTP

  FTP client, open-source. Although it seems old and not maintained it is fast and efficient.

• X-Chat

  Open-source IRC client. Not awesome, but ok.

• Gaim

  Open-source multi-protocol IM client. I don't like it that much, but it works - I hope version 2 will be better

• Skype

  Closed source, free as in beer phone application.

Development

• GCC

  The whole GNU tool chain will be of course included in the system.

• Eclipse

  Excellent, complex IDE for Java and other languages as well with plugins.

• KDevelop

  Very good IDE for C/C++ development.

Office

• Adobe Acrobat Reader

  To read PDF files.

• Kpdf

  Free PDF viewer. Lighter than Acrobat Reader.

Multimedia

• K3b

  Nice GUI to burn CDs/DVDs.

• Amarok

  iTunes like audio player and collection manager.

• Audacious

  Winamp like audio player, intended as an Xmms replacement. Light and efficient.

• MPlayer

  This is the player that will play almost all your media files. On Linux the built-in GUI is OK.

• VLC

  It will play less files than MPlayer, but is still good. Allows streaming over a network.

• Xine

  Best multimedia player.

• Picasa

  Photo organizer from Google. Not good for viewing single files.

• Showimg

  Excellent image viewer.

• Comix

  Really excellent viewer for reading comics.

Utilities

• Ark

  With the Konqueror plugin, it has a nice integration into your system.

• CDCat

  Organizes a CD/DVD collection. Free as in speech, multiplatform, uses Qt3. But you must compile it yourself (not in Portage).

• smartmontools

  Tool to monitor the SMART status of your hard drive.

Games

• GXMame

  Frontend for the XMame Linux version.

• Gens

  Sega Genesis emulator.

• Majesty

  Native port of the great fantasy kingdom simulation game.

• Return to Castle Wolfenstein

  Native port of the FPS game.

• Pingus

  Free clone of Lemmings, excellent.