What are the most useful programs installed after setup of a vanilla Ubuntu? [closed]

Question

For me some of the following are a must have after I have installed Ubuntu.

Please add links. and a note if the program isn't free (as in freedom)

Update: Collecting all the packages listed below in the answers

Graphics
inkscape - vector based illustration tool
picasa - photo management (non-free)
Gimp - Raster based image editor
Alchemy - Funky little illustration tool
pinta - Paint program
ktoon - 2D animation tool
Dia - Draw diagrams
Fontforge - font editor

Office Tools
scribus - desktop publishing
Lyx - word-processor
Abiword - word processor
syncevolution - contacts * calendar syncing.

Media
guayadeque - music player with auto-playlists using last.fm
vlc - movie player
XBMC - media management
Exaile - media player
banshee - media player with ipod/android device support
spotify - needs wine. Internet media player (non-free)
foobnix - music player
clementine - music player based off Amarok
radio tray - applet to listen to online radio
bad/ugly gstreamer plugins
mplayer - media player
pithos - gnome applet for Pandora
pianobar - command line player for Pandora

Development
rapidSVN - GUI for subversion
ruby - scripting, fun!
python - scripting
subversion - version control
cscope - code browsing
ctags - code browsing
vim - my primary code editor
emacs - editor for some more nice tricks
ack - replacement for grep
geany - code editor
git - SCM
lamp-server - dev environment
build-essentials - Not worth compiling from source without this
rpm build - build rpms
MySQL Workbench
Meld - Diff & Merge
Eclipse/Eclipse CDL - IDE
JDK
gPHPedit
Code::Blocks - C++ IDE
Eric Python - Python IDE
smartsvn - subversion GUI frontend
netbeans - IDE
g++
powerpad
Qt designer - Designs GUIs using Qt
xCHM - Reads CHM help files.
Meld Diff Viewer - Compares differences in files
Gedit Plugins - Makes Gedit a great,stable programmer's editor

Internet
elinks - text based browsing
vpnc - connect to office over VPN
google chrome - web browser (non-free)
chromium - Web browser, free version of chrome
midori - web browser
pidgin - messenger/IRC client
multiget - download manager
filezilla - download manager
deluge - bittorent client
last.fm - client for last.fm website
skype - voice chat (non-free)
putty - terminal client
opera - web browser (non-free)
thunderbird - email client
epiphany - email client
zimbra desktop - email client
dropbox - free online storage and sync across desktop (non-free)
adobe air - internet application framework (non-free)
checkgmail - mail notification
davmail gateway - connect to MS Exchange using clients like thunderbird
Google Earth (non-free)
wireshark - network analysis tool
kismet - wireless analysis tool
gpodder - podcast downloader
gbittorrent - torrent client
GmailWatcher - notifications for gmail

Firefox plugins
vimperator - vim like shortcuts for firefox
tab mix plus - additional tab commands
colorful tabs - makes it easy to identify related tabs
fox clocks - world time
download statusbar - downloads in status bar
xmarks - sync bookmarks across PCs and browsers
ad block plus - block ads in web pages

Productivity
gnome-do - shortcuts for everything in ubuntu
docky - frontend for gnome-do
getting things gnome - task manager

System Configuration
Ubuntu tweak - install packages using this
Ubuntu restricted extras - restricted packages for ubuntu (non-free)

System Tools
wine - windows emulator
virtualbox - OS virtualization
remmina - remote desktop client
crash plan - system backup (local/online, personal/commercial)
burg - boot loader based off GRUB
htop - system resources viewer
AWN - Avant Window Manager
truecrypt - encryption
synergy - Share mouse & keyboard with another PC
ailurus - tweak Ubuntu for newcomers
unetbootin - create bootable USB drives
Bootup Manager - manage boot scripts and services

Accessories
screenlets - desktop plugins
recordmydesktop
terminator - terminal client supporting split windows
caffeine - prevent screensavers and sleep mode
easystroke - gesture recognition application
zotero - collect, manage, cite and share research sources online
byobu - makes GNU screen more useful
keepassx - password management
screen - keep sessions alive
guake - terminal
work rave - prevent RSI, take breaks
mousepad - an editor that loads faster than Gedit

A lot more of these are listed on one of my older blog post, however I am only listing the most frequently used ones here. What works for you? Please list the name and category for the program, as well as what you use it for. I have made this a community wiki.

Answer 1

Development

geany - My code editor of choice

git - My SCM of choice

lamp-server - My dev environment of choice

build-essential - Not worth compiling from source without this

rpm build - yes I build RPMs on my Ubuntu Installs from time to time.

MySQL Workbench - Love this tool

Productivity

gnome-do

Internets

Google Chrome

Midori

Cisco VPN Client

That's basically the Jist of it.

Answer 2

Development

• Devhelp (a viewer for programming documentation, very nice when there's no/slow internet)
• Quickly (even if it's just to make bzr a bit more rapid)

Office

• Abiword (not so great for enterprisy things, but perfect to print a great looking letter)
• Gnumeric (Spreadsheet that's fantastic for statistical calculations)

Science/Maths

• Genius (Rather excellent maths environment, does great plots)

Games

• Pychess (AI and Networked chess, look very unobtrusive)

Answer 3

Here's Mine:

Internet:

• Chrome
• Firefox (Used rarely as a backup)
• Transmission (Easy, simple torrent client)
• Dropbox

Graphics:

• GIMP
• Dia

Development:

• Arduino (For programming microcontrollers)
• MonoDevelop (C# development)
• gedit with the gedit-plugins pack (disabling the file browser pane makes gedit the lightest snappiest text editor I've used yet, the plugins make it great for coding)
• Wireshark (I do some low level network programming stuff)

Misc:

• Calculator
• Dictionary
• Cairo Dock

Note: uTorrent is coming to linux. So far they only have a command line interface but they're working on the GUI. Once it is released with the GUI I'll be switching to that for my torrent needs.

Answer 4

Programming:

Bluefish Editor

Sure beats the pants off of writing code with a text editor, no matter how many plugins you stack on top of it.

If someone has something better than this, please by all means correct me - I just discovered this today, and can't believe I've been doing HTML/PHP without it.

Answer 5

I won't add so many of the things here that are already covered, but ... Seriously? Irssi, anyone?

Irssi is the geek's choice IRC client. (In my humble.)

http://www.irssi.org/

Answer 6

Avidemux - Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks.

Answer 7

Zim Desktop Wiki (sudo apt-get install zim): I use it for taking notes. But there are a lot of things you can do with it.

Answer 8

Office:

Kile - LaTeX Editor
TeXLive-full - gives you all LaTeX packages there possibly are
KBibTeX - BibTeX editor

Answer 9

I see a lot of people here are giving the thumbs up for Gnome Do. Indeed, it's a nice program.

Personally, I've had problems with it though, and while searching for a replacement, found Kupfer. It's not as pretty as Gnome Do, but once I wrapped my head around the differences in the way it works, I'm much more productive with it.

I highly recommend Kupfer.

R.

Answer 10

I'd also add boxee (boxee.tv), in my opinion the best Media Center software available.
And I like joe (text editor).

Oh, and don't forget the StackApplet ;) (https://launchpad.net/stackapplet/+download)

Answer 11

Graphics

ghhumb - A bit more slick than the distro-default Eye of Gnome, which is really just a bare minimum for image viewing.

Accessories

gnome-commander - I always preferred the two-panel Norton Commander-alike file managers (Total Commander in Win, Midnight Commander in terminal etc.) against Windows Explorer-clones.

Firefox plugins

NoScript - For some added security and control.

Answer 12

Chromium/Chrome, GIMP, Python, Subversion, Skype, a Gmail Notifier thinger, VLC, Eclipse...

And compiz config, of course.

I'm missing a few. I still have to get my hands on a few things. And I still have to work on that neverending search to find a good music player. And put together just the right development environment. Ugh, I miss Dreamweaver. And Windows. You know, just for the software--it really is a lame operating system compared to Ubuntu.

Answer 13

Dropbox first and foremost

Then since I run Kubuntu:

choqoK -- mircoblogiing (Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook)

Blogilo -- Offline blog editing and creating

Chrome -- best web browser for me, still beats Firefox, Konqueror, reqonK, konquerorr

bzr -- to work on kubuntu-docs and other documents

Sure I am missing others

Answer 14

Unfortunately, this question doesn't really utilize this answer format very effectively, but here's my list

cryptsetup - use encrypted drives ttf-inconsolata - best monospaced font IMO ubuntu-restricted-extras nautilus-open-terminal - explained above kupfer - launcher parcellite - clipboard manager radiotray - internet radio ntp - atomic clock sync desktop-webmail - integrating with gmail p7zip-full - 7-zip

Answer 15

NVClock (NVClock is a small utility that allows users to overclock NVIDIA based video cards running on the Linux platform)

Answer 16

Stardict (StarDict is a Cross-Platform and international dictionary Software)

Answer 17

Here is what I use on my Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.04. Before being able to add/remove applets from the Gnome Panel, you'll need this fix.

Accessories

DockBarX - to replace the crappy window picker applet that comes with UNE. DockBarX is an amazing window switcher applet which works with the Gnome Panel and AWN, supports themes, window previews and much more (think of the Windows 7 taskbar) (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~dockbar-main/+archive/ppa)

Window Applets - also required to replace the window picker applet, Window Applets allows you to place the minimize, maximize and close buttons wherever you want on the GNOME panel. (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~tsbarnes/+archive/misc/)

Global Menu - for removing the menu from the application windows and placing it on the top panel (window title included) - more screen real-estate. (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~globalmenu-team/+archive/ppa)

GnoMenu - if you want to use a normal menu in the Ubuntu Netbook Edition, I suggest GnoMenu with the BlueSmall theme - you'll get a tiny menu, perfect for small screens. Alternatively, you can also try Cardapio.

Internet

Chromium - there's nothing like Chromium on a netbook, amazing speed and also great for gaining a few pixels in screen height. (Install it from the official repositories or for the latest bleeding edge version: https://launchpad.net/~chromium-daily/+archive/ppa)

Office

Zoho Webservice - online office suite that works in your browser (install: sudo apt-get install webservice-office-zoho)

Media

Deadbeef amazing lightweight ye powerful music player (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~alexey-smirnov/+archive/deadbeef)

Gnome Media Player - it can play anything and you can use different engines if you don't like how one is behaving. It supports the VLC, Xine and Gstreamer engines. (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~gnome-media-player-development/+archive/development)

Minitube - Youtube without Flash. (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/webupd8)

System tools

There are 2 great tools for getting the most out of the netbook battery life:

Jupiter - can be used to switch between maximum and high performance and power saving mode, change the resolution and orientation, enable or disable the bluetooth, touchpad, WiFi and so on. But most importantly it allows your Eeepc netbook to take advantage of SHE (Super Hybrid Engine). (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~webupd8team/+archive/jupiter)

Battery Status - shows information about laptop battery state. It comes with a lot of additional features as compared to Gnome Power Manager, so usual icon of GNOME Power Manager can be removed from Notification/Indicator Area. (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~iaz/+archive/battery-status)

Powertop - a must to get even more battery life (install: sudo apt-get install powertop )

Other

Nautilus Elementary can be tweaked to get a lot more screen real-estate and unclutter the default Nautilus. (PPA: https://launchpad.net/~am-monkeyd/+archive/nautilus-elementary-ppa)

Syndaemon - an utility which automatically disables the touchpad while typing. Start it with: syndaemon -i 4 -d (or use "man syndaemon" to see how to tweak it).

Answer 18

Furius Iso Mount, Viewnior (replaces eog), bpython, pino (twitter client), xchat (irc client), and Pithos (pandora with last.fm support) are all things that I find handy to have around. Also, it's great to have nautilus-elementary to customize nautilus.

Answer 19

I didn't notice either Smuxi or Xchat. Both are IRC clients and both are really good at what they do. Both are in the repos.

Answer 20

Media-Openshot: really easy to use video/effects editor

Accessories-Redshift: pretty good if you spend a lot of time in front of the monitor.

Programming-Medit: similar to gedit

Answer 21

Adding to the list: geany ailurus planner qbittorrent BootUp-Manager UNetBootin

Answer 22

Development:

Quickly: Awesome for Ubuntu app development.

Answer 23

Since everything is covered, I'll add my own app, GmailWatcher to it. ppa:loneowais/ppa

Answer 24

All the apps that come with Pinguy or Manhattan OS. They are like Ubuntu after a week of customizations.

Answer 25

Miro (http://www.getmiro.com). I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, but I love it to watch all kinds of media files, subscribe to audio/video podcasts, download torrents and content off YouTube. It's also available for other platforms (Win, Mac) so it's one of those pieces of software that you can suggest to non-Linux users.

Answer 26

For video conversion/ripping: Handbrake-gtk, but you have to add the repository for it first.

https://launchpad.net/~handbrake-ubuntu/+archive/ppa (or sudo add-apt-repository ppa:handbrake-ubuntu/ppa)

Excellent GUI based tool for converting/scaling videos for Android, Sony PSP, or others. It can also rip DVD's.

Answer 27

Work Rave is also helpful to those of us who have typing-related injuries. It helps prevent repetitive strain injuries (eg, carpal tunnel), by forcing the user to take short breaks every now and then.

Answer 28

My first install is always the awesome window manager.

Answer 29

I am completely amazed by Synergy.

I highly recommend installing that if you have another PC close by.

Answer 30

Gotta get Pithos if you're a Pandora Internet Radio lover. Unlimited song skips + GUI with no flash!

Edit:
Should look into F.lux. Articles can explain it better than I can.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/07/flux-natural-lighting-for-ubuntu-gets.html