Essential applications (Linux, Android, Windows)

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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.


Utilities

Built-in Unarchiver
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.