So, I’m wondering which desktop application you REALLY like a lot. It doesn’t matter whether it’s CLI or GUI. I’m not looking for server software here, mind.
I’m just curious, what do people think? Have you added any plugins/scripts? Have you altered it’s default configuration?
Mine: NovelWriter, I use it to do my writing in… here’s for hoping I’ll ever actually finish my novel. It (at the moment) does not support plugins or scripting, but I changed its default theme to something which doesn’t burn my eyes.
I would have to say R.
I use it both as a language, and as a tool for data analysis. It has super graphics support. There is a library of over 3000 support modules. It can interface with most other tools … it can interfsce with databases, it can make tables for Latex, it can export graphics,…
MS Edge is something I use every single day on which ever device I happen to be using. Desktop, laptop, Windows, Linux, tablet, or smartphone.
Kedit from Mansfield software. It’s a DOS/Windows only application I’ve used for 30+ years now and similar to Edge I use it almost every day. I just had a thought that I haven’t had any luck running things using Wine. I haven’t really put much effort in though. Kedit would be an awesome use for that. Now I’m excited to try.
One more bonus app is Launchy for Windows. It’s similar to a few apps I’ve seen on Linux where a hotkey brings up a text box and you start typing. It autocompletes a command or application from start menu items and browser favorites. Then it remembers your choice so next time you may only have to type a couple characters and the autocomplete will be correct. I’m a keyboard oriented type of computer user and the less I take my hands off the keyboard the more productive I feel.
I asked Copilot about running Kedit for Windows on Linux using Wine and it is addressed on the Kedit website.
They even cite ItsFoss!
Certainly! KEDIT for Windows can indeed run on Linux using Wine. Let me guide you through the process:
What is Wine?
Wine stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It’s a compatibility layer that allows you to run Windows applications on UNIX-like, POSIX-compliant operating systems (such as Linux, Mac, and BSD).
Unlike virtual machines or emulators, Wine translates Windows logic to native UNIX/POSIX-compliant commands, making it efficient and lightweight.
Installing Wine:
Most Linux distributions include Wine in their package repositories.
To install Wine on Ubuntu, open a terminal and execute the following commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install wine
If you’re using a 64-bit installation of Ubuntu, add 32-bit architecture support with:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
Running Windows Applications with Wine:
Download the Windows installer for the application you want to run and save it in your Downloads directory.
Open the terminal and navigate to the Downloads directory:
cd ~/Downloads
Run the installer using the following command (replace npp.*.exe with the actual installer filename):
wine npp.*.exe
The Windows installation wizard will open, allowing you to proceed with the installation.
Advantages of Using Wine:
Performance: Wine avoids the performance loss associated with emulation.
Native Experience: You don’t need to open Wine before running a Windows application.
Remember that Wine enables over 25,000 Windows applications to work seamlessly on Linux, including complex software like Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud apps³[5]. So go ahead and enjoy KEDIT for Windows on your Linux system!
Hi Xander,
Well, I could mention a lot of programs, but I’ll just mention the ones I always have open, from the moment I turn on the PC until I turn it off:
Thunderbird;
Firefox;
KeypassXC;
Bitwarden.
I have to mention another that is becoming fundamental to my “day-to-day life”, both on the PC and on Android:
Obsidian.
There are other programs, commands and programming languages that I use on a daily basis, but the ones I’ve mentioned above are the ones at the top of the list at the moment.
A program I use the most and could not do without? Anydesk. RDP to my other computers and most importantly, oversee everything for my mom from her computer & phone. I even have her phone connected to the computer (browser tab) so that I can see every text, get phone #s of contacts. I manage paying her bills, replying to emails, setting dr appts, etc. from 3 states away. Currently, she has had a medical event that has me on that dern computer of hers 24/7, seeing the security cams in her home, checking the time logs for hired in home health care providers, shopping for her groceries and sending it to the parties to take care of it and so much more.
The other app that makes my life so much easier: the virtual KVM switch, Barrier. I cannot imagine doing all the things I do with multiple computers without using the same keyboard & mouse, copying/pasting from one to another, etc.
Crossover (by Codeweavers) is my absolute must for playing Windows games. Whether it is Steam or my casual games, this app integrates WINE without me having to set it up. And although it is not free, it is worth it to me.
My favorite terminal application I use in the terminal is Neovim. It does take a long time to get used to, but once you do it feels amazing to use.
My favorite GUI application would be KDE Plasma (which is actually multiple GUI and non-GUI applications, but from a user perspective feels like one thing). Its the best desktop environment I have ever used. If that isn’t a sufficient answer, I like to play games a lot, so then I would pick Steam.
That’s all I need besides a browser really - well a terminal (I just use Gnome Terminal) as well maybe…
I first read about Sayonara in an ItsFoss article 5+ years ago - thanks @abhishek !
One of it’s most powerful features, besides being an awesome music player (that supports just about every format under the sun) - it’s also stellar at managing metadata… I use it all the time to manage metatags on mp3 and FLAC files - and even does neat things like embed album cover art into music files (mp3 and flac).
I’m a bit concerned that it could get abandoned, it’s just one guy, I’ve thrown money his way in the past - but I think it was at version 1.4 five years ago, and still only at 1.7…
It sometimes crashes when I use it on my ThinkPad running Pop!_OS - but - that’s a BIG BUT - it only happens if I’m trying to play or browse stuff over NFS over WiFi on my main 1.1 TB collection of music (NEVER happens on my desktop with 1 gbit to my NFS NAS). Otherwise - I mostly just use it on my subset (about 160 GB) that I share across muliple computers via Resilio Sync…
Amazingly, there’s nothing that comes even close to Sayonara on MacOS (never mind Windows) - the one player, I paid for “Colibri” is okay - but no where near as many features as Sayonara - and Colibri too can be unstable or crash if I’m trying to play music from an NFS share
KDE Plasma is my DE of choice, so I’d have to go with kate in the GUI, and nano in the CLI, because I’m always needing to (re)configure/customize something. I always install the onedrive service on any GNU/Linux distribution I install. I can set it up as a systemd service to automate synchronization, or I can synchronize my local file store with the OneDrive server manually as needed (my usual behavior, because I multi-boot Windows with GNU/Linux).
When Windows 10 reaches EOL near the end of 2025, my older laptop PC’ll become a GNU/Linux-only device, so I’ll set up onedrive as a systemd service on those OSes then. For that older laptop, my DE of choice is xfce. It’s a lot of work to configure, and a lot of its configuration isn’t obvious/intuitive, but I can make it look and feel any way I want. In the end, that’s a big plus in my book, and well worth the effort.
Another app I like to keep on all my GNU/Linux installations is Mission Center. It’s available as a flatpak (from flathub), and it looks a lot like the Performance/Processes tabs in the Windows Task Manager.
I’ve learnt a lot from this community, so it’s my turn to share a few tips with you all…
I run a some CPU and disk intensive tasks on my Ubuntu servers and therefore I like to monitor Temperature of my CPU, HDD/SSD etc.
IMO the best tool for the job is pSensor with it very easy to use GUI.
It not only monitors temperatures, but can also trends over time Free Memory and CPU usage.
You can define the time monitoring duration (time range) and the update interval (frequency of each snapshot). The trend chart interface is very flexible in terms of color configuration etc.
You can even setup custom desktop alerts so if your CPU or HDD hits a particular temperature threshold (that you define) a desktop warning is issued.
BONUS: If my CPUs are constantly running too hot, I use this handy CLI tool called CPULimit.
This tool can be customised to throttle the CPU to prevent it from overheating. The throttle can be applied to a specific executable or PID.
I have been a long time user and fan of Microsoft SyncToy, but it requires .NET Framework and I believe it is no longer available from the Microsoft Store.
Hence, your recommendation is very timely. I will definitely have to check out FreeFileSync.
