I am a big fan of wubi. No other distro but Ubuntu supports installing a linux OS inside windows. So I find myself shift+delete-ing Ubuntu installation once a new one arrives. Over the years, I’ve narrowed down a dozen apps I find installing immediately after the OS itself. This post introduces my favorite (and useful) dozen.
Hamster Time Tracker
A small utility to keep track of how much time you have spent on activities you choose to track.
Netspeed – Network speed monitor
Netspeed is just a little GNOME-applet that shows how much traffic occurs on a specified network device (for example eth0). Installation details are available here.
Vim
By default, Ubuntu comes with vi editor. But if you want to really enjoy the beast, you need VIM. “Vim is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing. It is an improved version of the vi editor distributed with most UNIX systems.”
Vimrc
If you are a programmer you will love VIM ( or you already do) . Adding a proper vimrc file is like dusting pepper on an omelet! Download this customized vimrc for your pleasure. (link) Installation instructions are available here.
rm alias mv
Wish you had an ‘undo’ for ‘rm’? You can alias ‘rm’ to move all your rm-ed files to Trash folder. Here is how.
VLC
The default media player that comes with Ubuntu is no good. Thats why you need VLC. Installation is about 20MB but its worth the effort. A detailed installation guide is available here.
Infinite scroll
Again for the keyboard savvy, making GNOME-Terminal remember everything pays off in the long run. Goto Edit->Profile Preferences->Scrolling and then tick Unlimited as shown in the picture.
Nautilus-open-terminal
An option to launch a GNOME-Terminal from inside nautilus is a bonus. Install nautilus-open-terminal package using Synaptic Manager to achieve this.
Network Time
I like to stay updated – at least to keep my system time up-to-date. Install NTPD as described here.
Chrome
This is a no-brainer. No description is needed as to why this is needed. Or is it?
Freemind – Mind map
A mind-mapping tool that helps to organize thoughts and ideas around a central concept. A handy tool to have at your disposal.
G2ipmsg
A popup style message communication tool for GNOME2. A detailed installation description is available here.
And
Let me know if there is anything I should add to my kitty.
Amazing and helpful. Thanks a ton 🙂
@anish – Glad to be of help. But tell me, is there not a single app you want to add to the list?
I saw VLC on the list. even though I am not an avid Ubuntu user (*read ‘don’t have the slightest idea about the OS’), I’d like to recommend the K-Media player; You can find it here (http://packages.ubuntu.com/dapper/kde/kmplayer). Its an amazingly maa-kasam software.
@pankaj – Looks like it is! I couldn’t find a single negative review about it. How come you use K-Media player and not VLC? 🙂
I was introduced to GOM Player by my friends in South Korea in 2006. ‘Gom’ in Korean language means ‘bear’ (that explains their logo of a bear’s paw).
At that time, I have never heard of inbuilt CODECs or the existence of VLC player and I thought: “Wow! This is better than Windows Media Player!”
Cut to 2008: When I showed GOM player to our dear friend Anjanakrishnan, he told me about KM Player. According to him the ‘K’ in K-Media Player stands for ‘Korea.’
PS: Wikipedia says that version 1.0 of VLC Player came in 2009 only.
PPS: Is GOM Player Ubuntu compatible? I don’t know — waiting for you experts to comment.
@antzfx – ‘K’ is for Korean alright. But as it turns out there are two players that goes by the name of KM Player. One is Konqueror Media Player for KDE (Linux) and the other K-Multimedia Player. The latter is not available for Linux.
Ans to PS : It took VLC years to reach 1.0. But when it did, it was celebrated by the media. (Ever heard of a celebration for K-Media player?)
Ans to PPS: GOM Player also is not available for Linux platform.