Since my first year of college, I've always wanted to make linux my primary operating system. Distros and Desktop managers were not really known to me, so these issues weren't currently present. This was even before I started programming. But, I was always tinkering with my computer. As I became more and more comfortable with the $750 computer issued to me by the school, I began exploring my boundaries. There's a sexual innuendo in there somewhere, but I'll leave it for now. My good friend Pete showed me the ropes of programming in C. I had never programmed before, but I picked it up quite quickly, and was soon off programming on my own, doing my own thing. I wanted to take my technical environment a step further, and so, as has been eluded by the opening sentence and the title of this blog entry, I installed linux for the first time, my distribution of choice being Ubuntu 7.10. Back then, of course as many readers will remember, was when you had to fix the touch pad. What fun for a new linux user.

I cannot count the number of times I had to revert back to windows or reinstall my operating system because something bad happened, or I needed windows for a course, or whatever. I can remember right before a final exam, reinstalling my operating system so as to have PSpice working properly, or have Maple or Matlab installed and good to go. I can remember my first experiance programming on linux, using just the command line, driving my entire section crazy with system beeps because I really had no clue what the hell I was doing. I realize this only now looking back. Looking now, I know what I am doing about 60-70% of the time. The other half of the time is google (most people will agree with me... don't lie, you know it's true...). This was all only in my first year of college. I'm not going to bore you with the next two, but briefly give an overview of my current system, and what open source apps have lead me into adopting Linux as my primary operating system for the last 6 months solid.

I will say that over those years, I have tried linux a number of times, and have usually gone back to windows. Especially after my school literally gave me a copy of windows 7. But I digress. My distribution of choice is currently Arch Linux. It's lightweight, fast, and I only install the apps I need, and can get them on the go when I need them. Also, it is rolling release, so there really is no upgrading the distribution, there is just updating the system normally. (As far as I am aware?).

So here are my open source apps, what I use them for, why I chose them, alternatives if I know any... etc...

General Computing
- Distro - Arch Linux x64 - Fast, lightweight, simple - Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora... and the list goes on
- Desktop Manager - KDE - Computer spec'd out enough to run it well, I like the way it looks - Alternatives: Gnome, XFCE, LXDE...
- Web Browser - Firefox - I've used it for years, very customizable, fast, efficient - Alternatives: Chrome, Konqueror, Midori
- Music Player - Amarok - Best player I've seen for KDE, works with my iPod - Alternatives: some are distro dependant, XMMS2, MPD, Banshee
- Video Player - VLC - Hands down best video player I've ever used. Supports everything - Alternatives: media player distributed with your distribution
- Monitor - Conky - Very customizable - Alternatives: I guess opening htop or whatever every time you want to see everything? No thanks.
- Text Editor - Vim - Extreamly powerful if you stfu and learn the keyboard commands - Alternatives: Emacs i guess.
- Image Editor - gimp - extreamly powerful. that is all - Alternatives: who needs one?
- Paint program - KolourPaint - first one I saw, works well enough. - Alternatives: This one's for KDE, look for one for your DE
----------------------
Work
- PCB Design - PCB and GSchem - Well known, standardized output files (gerber) - Alternatives: in linux? i don't know.
- Circuit Sim - Qucs - Well built, open source circuit simulator used in a few classes - Alternatives: PSpice in a virtual box
- Virtual Machine - Virtualbox - I use the PLUA version for usb support, Works awesome! Make sure you add yourself to vboxusers group so you can access usb devices! (you will need to log out and back in too) - Alternatives: Vmware...
- IDE - Eclipse - Does everything, and you can download different parts as it suits you - Alternatives: Netbeans, codeblocks (C or C++ only)
- Compilers - GNU Toolchain - this includes GCC, G++, ld, etc. Very well made, sticks with standards - Alternatives: tcc?
- Note taking - BasKet - Works like onenote, easy to keep everything organized - Alternatives: Distro dependant
- Office Suit - OpenOffice.org - Great features! better than KOffice - Alternatives - KOffice or mix and match with programs like AbiWord

Any questions, thoughts, comments, rants, suggestions, beratements, compliments, flirtations, frustrations, admirations, intimidations, or the like can be left in the comments section.

Peace,
Bodom