10 cool Ubuntu applications to boost your productivity.
I have been using Ubuntu for quite some time now and am quite hooked onto it. I like Ubuntu for its simple yet clear looks, ease of software installation and ease of customization all at the same time. Here is a list of 10 cool Ubuntu applications which will boost your productivity.
Note that, this is a subjective list based on what I feel would be productive. Your opinion and mileage would vary based on your personal taste and priority of what you like to do with your Linux box. Also note, all these applications referred here are based on an ‘Intrepid Ibex’ installation.
1. Terminator:
Terminator is a replacement for the gnome-terminal. I personally used gnome-terminal but ever since I came across terminator, I have been using it, forgetting gnome-terminal in the process. The main difference between terminator and gnome-terminal is that terminator supports splitting the terminal window into horizontal and/or vertical sub-terminals AND tabbed terminals while gnome-terminal ONLY supports tabbed terminals.
Installation:
sudo apt-get install terminator
The way I use terminator is to create a permanent ‘root’ window so that all commands that need to be ’sudo-ed’ can be directly given here. Remaining windows are created on a need basis to work on non root stuff.
Usage:
Once installed, it would appear in Applications->Accessories->Terminator, in the gnome desktop environment.
Link:
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Terminals/GNOME-Terminator-29392.shtml
2. Gnome do:
Gnome do is a kind of keyboard based program launcher(similar to the popular launchy application in windows). You can summon Gnome do with Win+Space keyboard combination and type whatever application you want to fire up. Gnome do performs an intelligent match based on your application usage pattern and then you can ‘do’ it or in other words, execute it.
But the best reason to gnome do is its new docky interface that comes with version 0.8.0 onwards. In my opinion, this is the BEST gnome dock I have ever seen. Do not want to sound demeaning to the popular AWN and the Cairo dock, but gnome do docky is the best dock out there. First of all, docky is not as slow as AWN and the effects are much more slick than Cairo dock. Also configuration of docky is MUCH simpler than configuring the Cairo dock. And it runs fastest out of the three. Way to go, docky!! Below is Gnome do in ‘do’ mode where I summoned it by typing Win+Space and just typed A N J U. It matched that with the Anjuta IDE. Pressing ‘Enter’
key here launches Anjuta.
Installation:
sudo apt-get install gnome-do gnome-do-plugins
Usage:
Once installed, it would appear in Applications->Accessories->Gnome Do, in the gnome desktop environment.
After launching, a nice looking dock comes at the bottom of your screen with all the application icons.
You can press Win+Space to summon the ‘do’ interface and summon any program to execute. Please note however, by default Gnome do won’t come up in docky mode right after installation. You need to change its appearance from classic mode to docky mode in its ‘Preferences’ tab.
Link:
http://do.davebsd.com/
3. Screenlets:
Gnome screenlets is Linux’s answer to the popular desktop widgets that you occasionally see in Windows, whether from Konfabulator or the native ones in Vista. I tried many ’screenlet-esque’ packages like gDesklets, aDesklets etc. but screenlets stole the show. Main reason is it is MUCH more stable and usable than gDesklets or aDesklets. Besides, if you know python, writing new screenlet becomes a breeze.
In fact the package includes an ‘example’ screenlet that does not nothing but is a skeleton python screenlet script that you can modify to create your screenlet within minutes. It’s open source, dude! Enjoy!
Installation:
sudo apt-get install screenlets screenlets-doc
Usage:
Once installed, it would appear in Applications->Accessories->Screenlets in the gnome desktop
environment.This brings up the screenlet control center so to speak, from where you can centrally control the
activation/deactivation/configuration of all screenlets. There are a plethora of screenlets too, right from
weather, to calendar to CPU meter and what not.
Link:
http://screenlets.org/index.php/Home
4. Devhelp:
If you develop applications in the gnome environment, then chances are you must yearn for a centralized place for documentation. Nah, I am not speaking of man pages that can be viewed in the terminal , but specific documentation like glib APIs or LibGlade APIs. Then devhelp is the right application for you.
The best part is, as and when you keep installing different gnome libraries and their associated documentation using apt or synaptics paackage manager, it keeps on adding those documentation packages into the devhelp library. That way, you always have a centralized repository of information at your fingertips. Happy hacking with DevHelp!
Installation:
sudo apt-get install devhelp devhelp-common libdevhelp-1.o
Usage:
Once installed, it is accessible from Applications->Programming->Devhelp
Link:
http://live.gnome.org/devhelp
5. Tilda:
Ok, so you need to access the command line ever so often for doing some of your tasks through the command line. But you think that clicking on the minimised terminator icon or gnome-terminal for that matter, is time consuming and sucks. Never could have agreed more ! I agree for some time consuming tasks it might make sense to click on the minimised terminator icon, maximise it and do your work. But for giving simple one liner commands that becomes an overhead. That’s where I use Tilda. I summon tilda to do normal routine stuff like delete a particular folder, create symbolic link etc.. However, when I think that I would be using the terminal for some extended period of time, then I use terminator.
If you have played games like Quake or Doom then you would remember that pressing the ’tilde’ key would cause a game console to drop down where you could give in-game commands or chat with your teammates over the network. Tilda does exactly that. Press the ’tilde’ key and voila ! A terminal drops down where you can do all your neat stuff. Done? Press tilde again and there it vanishes leaving you to work with whatver you were doing. It is so non-intrusive and yet always there for you to summon it, whenever you need it. This happens to be one of my most often used program in Ubuntu. In case you are wondering why ’tilda’ is not called ’tilde’ and called ’tilda’ instead then as per the website, it seems ’tilde’ name was already taken in sourceforge when the author registered his software.
Installation:
sudo apt-get install tilda
Usage:
Tilda runs in the background by default pressing tilde(~) summons tilda. Presising tilde key again sends it back to the background.
Link:
http://tilda.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
6. Tomboy:
While on the gnome desktop, you may have needed to take notes on certain things. Well, use tomboy for that. Ah, you would say, whats so special about a note taking application. Well for one, in tomboy you can link your notes. You can have a main note, and then each link in your main note can be a hyperlink opening another sub-note and so on. Secondly, if you modify the link in the sub-note to correct a typo or any other reason for that matter, tomboy would automatically rename the link in the main note. Neat, eh? And if that’s not all, tomboy also enables you to synchronize your notes at a centralized web server ! Check it out for more details.
Installation:
sudo apt-get install tomboy
Usage:
Once installed, accessible from Applications->Accessories->Tomboy Notes
Link:
http://live.gnome.org/Tomboy
7. Nautilus scripts:
Nautilus is the default gnome file manager. If you install these scripts in nautilus, you can multiply your productivity a million times because you can achieve almost anything just by right-clicking and then selecting things like, open command prompt here, archive file, extract here etc. This greatly enhances productiviy as this screenshot will illustrate. There are literally a plethora of options available when you install these scripts and not just the three examples mentioned above.
Installation:
Download and follow the instructions mentioned in the below link.
Usage:
While in the file manager, right click and select the script you want to execute. Above screenshot will clarify better.
Link:
http://g-scripts.sourceforge.net/
8. Preload:
Preload is an adaptive read-ahead daemon that is designed to decrease the load time of software. It is adaptive because it analyzes your application access pattern and then caches those applications in RAM so as to decrease their load times. As per reports I have heard, it leads to as much as 30% decrease in load times. I have indeed observed faster load times for Firefox after installing preload.
Installation:
sudo apt-get install preload
Usage:
Nothing. Preload is a daemon which would run at startup once you install it. So, just install and enjoy faster load times !
Link:
http://www.techthrob.com/2009/03/02/drastically-speed-up-your-linux-system-with-preload/
9. ffmpeg:
Want to rip out the audio of a video file you have? Want to add an audio track to a video which does not have sound? Want to convert your AVIs into flv format before uploading them to youtube? Want to transcode from ogg video format to AVI? You just think of it, and ffmpeg does it! It’s a swiss army knife for all who want to transcode video files.
The only minus is that its plethora of options can scare away the casual user. But there are a host of sites which would give you a quickstart guide sort of thing to get started on ffmpeg the quick and dirty way. If you are curious, in the above screenshot, I am inserting an audio mp3 track(audio_track.mp3) into an ogg video file(out-9.ogv) and then encoding the resulting output directly into flv(audio_video.flv) format. Above, you can see ffmpeg at work as it outputs its progress.
Installation:
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
Usage:
Are you kidding? There are so many options for ffmpeg that I can’t even dare to put them here. Try out this link to get a feel of the power of ffmpeg. ffmpeg is a command line application accessible from the bash prompt once installed.
Link:
http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/
10. VLC Media player:
This is another must have application on Ubuntu. I have seen VLC player able to play almost any *damn* format on my Linux box. It supports so many formats that you would lose count if you try to remember each one of them. VLC player truly and undoubtedly remains the video media player of choice for me on Ubuntu. In my opinion, having VLC player is productive because you install it once and then forget it and any other codec-not-found woes 
Installation:
sudo apt-get install vlc
Usage:
Once installed, it is accessible from Applications->Sound and Video->VL Media Player
Link:
http://www.videolan.org/
So there, I have reached the end of my list. I hope installing these applications proves to be a real productivity booster for you just as it has been for me. If you enjoyed reading this post or it proved useful to you, then I would love to hear more from you. Leave a comment/question/suggestion/whatever for me to read on my blog.
So much for this time, see ya around!
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