CrunchBang - Code, Design & GNU/Linux

My Big Linux Software List

I'm currently running Ubuntu 7.04 [Feisty Fawn] on both my desktop and my laptop systems. Sometime in October [the 18th?] I'll be updating to Ubuntu 7.10 [Gutsy Gibbon]. I've been on the Ubuntu upgrade path ever since I first installed version 4.10 [Warty Warthog]. I've seen Ubuntu go from strength-to-strength and I'm pretty certain that Gutsy will be another successful release. However, seeing as there's only a few weeks to go before Gutsy is released I thought it might be good to experience a different Linux distribution.

Enter openSUSE 10.3 RC1. I first experienced using SUSE Linux back when it was at version 6.3. It'll be interesting to see how it has developed over the years. I'll be installing it on my desktop system either tomorrow or the day after and I'll use it until Gutsy is released. I don't think it's possible to get a good understanding of how a system operates until you have used it for at least a couple of weeks — so now is a prime opportunity to give openSUSE a try!

Anyhow, before I remove Ubuntu and install openSUSE I wanted to make a list of the software I'm currently using on a day-to-day basis. I can then refer back to the list once I've got the openSUSE base system installed. So with no more ado, here's the list:

• GNOME — I'm a GNOME user, so I'll be installing the openSUSE GNOME version. I'm currently running version 2.18.1
• gedit — GNOME's default text editor, should be installed by default. I use gedit for most [if not all] coding tasks
• Apache — I run a development environment on my systems and being a web developer it makes sense that I'm going to need a local web server
• MySQL — Again because of the reason given above
• phpMyAdmin — A web based client for MySQL database server
• PHP — My current web development language of choice
• OpenSSH — So I can control my desktop when I'm away from home
• Firefox — My web browser of choice, seems to be installed by default by most Linux distros
• Macromedia Flash — I'm not a big Flash fan but it's needed to watch web based movies and some screencasts
• gFTP — A graphical FTP client
• Gimp — For graphical work, again seems to be installed by default by most Linux distros. Currently running version 2.2.13
• OpenOffice — I don't actually use it much but I do occasionally crack open Writer to bash out the odd report
• KSnapshot — The only KDE based application that I have installed. Simply because it's better than GNOME's default screen capture effort
• Agave — A nice little application for selecting colour schemes
• GnomeBaker — For burning data to CD/DVD
• XChat — An IRC [internet relay chat] client
• Totem — For playing movies, should be installed by default
• Rhythmbox — For listening to my music collection, again should be installed by default
• Non Free Multimedia Codecs — For MP3 and DVD playback
• Audacity — I'm in the process of transferring my partners old vinyl records into digital format. Audacity has been working nicely for this.

And that completes my list for now. It's a fairly standard list and there is nothing out of the ordinary on it. Hopefully it shouldn't take me too long to get openSUSE up and running.