Some of the posts here, over the last few days, have raised some discussions about exactly what types of applications people feel are missing from the Linux desktop.
Sure, most types of software are readily available. But everyone I know seems to have one or two applications on Windows or OS X that keep them dual booting.
For me, I’ve been wanting a few key types of applications that I haven’t been able to find good Linux versions of. Namely:
- A great (pro quality) consumer level video editor (ala iMovie).
- A webcaster / video streamer with overlay and multiple video source support (ala Wirecast).
What about you?
October 15th, 2009 - 2:31 am
When I saw this post, the first thing I thought of was “Video Editor”. I see you already have that on the list, but if I had that, I think my Linux just might be complete.
October 15th, 2009 - 2:36 am
Easy. Pro creative apps of any kind. With a little work Linux can do everything but this. It’s got the solid core, great support and great configurability, but it needs serious help in graphics and media creation. Plain and simple Gimp, Krita, inkscape cannot compete.
October 15th, 2009 - 2:38 am
While I love, and I do mean love to have those two you mentioned, more urgently I would love to have for my day to day work Putty Connection Manager for Linux. I started to write one myself, and well, failed. I want that a way to run Dameware in Wine. I can dream can’t I. BTW, I’m a Windows Sysadmin with 30 WAN sites by day.
October 15th, 2009 - 2:38 am
1) Movie Editor ++
2) a Fireworks substitute, maybe I missed that but I havent seen anything quite a versitile. But not a major want
Other then that i think i am pretty happy with Linux. I believe overall usability or current apps will improve as we bring more people to Linux
October 15th, 2009 - 2:40 am
Honestly, I can’t think of anything I need that Linux doesn.t have (with the exception of some commercial games such as Oblivion/Fallout3, among others.). I know some things which friends and such have expressed for why they don’t feel Linux is suited for them are programs like AutoCAD & Photoshop. Basically, programs geared at professionals, and not to the average, every day user.
October 15th, 2009 - 2:45 am
Interesting, ssh from the Konsole works well for me
Not more than a minute after I commented remin on identi.ca posted: BRL-CAD, !free  alternative to AutoCAD for !Linux  http://brlcad.org/ #opensource  Download for !ubuntu  http://tinyurl.com/yjpx4z5
Haha, I wonder how good it is
October 15th, 2009 - 2:47 am
While more pro apps link Dreamweaver would nice, I’d like to see more “basic” apps. For instance, I’d love to see Digsby release a Linux client.
October 15th, 2009 - 3:00 am
I’m just still waiting on a vSphere client for linux =\
October 15th, 2009 - 3:41 am
3 Easier to use and even more to configure music station like software “A la Cubase!”
1 Pro level video editor! A combination of Premiere, After Effects, FinalCut and Avid Studio!! For now I just want something worthy to use, just slightly better than iMovies (I don’t like it very much). Avid is used by TV stations because it can operate interconnected through a private network. It’s also good for live streaming, only even more pro.
2 Last thing, Flash composing software. I don’t want to be switching to windows just to make simple flash fixes on my websites.
4 Also I think we really need image gallery software. Something like the “Print Artist” image organizer. It’s a long time since I last used it, but we lack of something similar. Tuxpaint is not enough!
+∞ I might not use this but we need better CAD software!!
#s = my priorities (the lower the higher)
Javier
October 15th, 2009 - 4:38 am
Yeah personally the only apps holding me back is 3ds max on win and final cut on mac. Once I can get apps very similar to those 2 the. I would be set. There are alternative 3d apps but when it comes to video editing I am stuck on win/osx.
October 15th, 2009 - 5:05 am
The author of open shot also agreed that there is no acceptable video editing linux software out there. So, that is why he decided to write one and share it:
http://www.openshotvideo.com/
As it is still heavy in development, now is the time to get your two cents in to him as far as what feature(s) you would like it to include (that it doesn’t already — please check it out, first.)
October 15th, 2009 - 5:38 am
DJ-ing software like OSxs Traktor.
October 15th, 2009 - 5:57 am
A good mechanical CAD program is the only thing that keeps me rebooting.
2D CAD programs exist like QCAD and I use that for quick things but 3D CAD programs don’t even exist
October 15th, 2009 - 6:25 am
Working Adobe Flash, Adobe AIR
The new Gimp Interface
Vector layers for Gimp
October 15th, 2009 - 6:40 am
An email client that REALLY works with Exchange. Evolution fails in this regards.
October 15th, 2009 - 8:40 am
I agree with Carl’s post. I would love to see more pro creative apps, on par with iLife in ease of use and overall dynamic usability. I think many youmg people and novice users would be drawn to a better-implemented version of Cheese as well as an imovie-type app which includes the ability to record via webcam. And as much as I enjoy Ardour and Audacity, an open source music app that rivals Garageband would be, as Sir Lunduke might put it, “the bee’s knees”.
I think Linux has some great things coming its way in the near future.
October 15th, 2009 - 10:57 am
Openshotvideo looks good for such a young product, nice find stlouisubntu…ok Computer Action Show I think we have a software to be looked at/reviewed in the near future! (of course I will probably have tried it by then myself, but it looks pretty promising)
October 15th, 2009 - 11:19 am
There are only two programs keeping me from using Linux on a constant (work-related) basis:
1. Adobe Creative Suite
2. Evernote
As for recreation, of course I want Steam, as all of the games I’ve purchased since 2004 have been through Steam.
October 15th, 2009 - 11:23 am
I’d like an idea organization tool like OmniOutliner which is mac only. If there is something like this please link to it!!
October 15th, 2009 - 12:27 pm
Hi Bryan,
I would like to recommend a tool to help consultants (like myself) keep track of their time that they work on clients and what tasks they have completed?
I think there is one already but its a KDE app…. kinda would like a GTK one
Simon
October 15th, 2009 - 2:14 pm
Hey Bryan,
For me it’s a professional level Visio type program and a professional Microsoft Project type. I haven’t looked lately, but I haven’t been able to find anything up to par.
How about an easy to use Theme builder with the ability to export (Gnome or KDE).
Darryl
October 15th, 2009 - 3:22 pm
@Simon
Have you tried any web-based applications? I use Ronin, and it would probably be great for use with Prism.
October 15th, 2009 - 3:45 pm
In short: I want to see Adobe make Lightroom for Ubuntu (or any & all Linux distros.) They already do a good job porting it for OSX and Windows, I’d love to see them step it up a little. Lightroom is one of the major reasons why I still dual boot Windows & Linux.
While we’re at it, anyone know of a good substitute that is already available?
October 15th, 2009 - 4:11 pm
What about a simple to use, but feature complete file backup program along the lines of SyncbackSE? It’d be nice to have a backup with an option that emails me on it’s completion with a list of the files that were backed up.
October 15th, 2009 - 4:45 pm
Linux filled the need for me.
Video Editor: KDENLive is really great. I would say it blew Sony Vegas of 2002 out of the water as well as Premier. I really think it would work for 98% of people. Much better then the horrid iMovie. I never really liked Final Cut EXCEPT for final editing.
I use Evernote via Wine for over a year and it works great. Would prefer a native app.
Mind Manager was really important to me until XMind. Miss a few small features MS Office integration was great. How about an Open Office Integration for XMind.
I liked Picasa but DigiKam minus a few editor issues is way better.
Want for Linux:
I really like Paint.net and would like a mono port. Simple photo program.
Audacity is great but I miss a few major features from Adobe Audition.
Using a scanning to be easier. I have a Optibook 3600 and have no Linux support
Easier printer setup. Its to diffecult for a 701 EEE PC. Thank God HPs are in my house.
Simple video cam support. I have Creative Lab Live Motion camera and I’m out of luck.
Linux to me is at its best when integrated together like most KDE apps are. I wish there was a more consistent integration within all the applications.
October 15th, 2009 - 6:51 pm
DVD-Shrink.
I know there are some equivalents in the Linux-World. But this one is so easy and user-freindly. 2 clics and I let the software do the rest.
I miss this under Linux, for sure.
October 15th, 2009 - 7:31 pm
Video Editor. I think that a Movie Make Substitute is very necessary in Linux. OpenShot very promissory
October 15th, 2009 - 7:59 pm
Is there a Paint like “MSPaint” for Linux? not everyone needs gimp, or photoshop. This should be there on install imo. Or a default sound recorder?
Windows xp has a “Tour windows” document/tutorial? which could perhaps be a lot better than it actually is. But what is the Linux equivilant, the best i can find is the help file. A tour would do better in teaching or telling the new user what to do and a help file is more for reference on advanced functions isn’t it.
Maybe not on the subject but Ubuntu lacks default desktop icons for standard applications like, browse home directory and browser launcher. Im not sure about the other distros. This is standard for other OS to have icons when you first install (Mac, Windows).
October 15th, 2009 - 8:58 pm
Just a little suggestion for people here who might not be used to this kind of mentality:
Don’t be afraid to contact the developers of apps you like and make suggestions/requests. (Same probably with WINE, if it doesn’t run an app you need)
Same goes for bugreports: as someone who was involved in distro development, I can tell you good bugreports and suggestions are _very_ important. The developers don’t have your HW to test on, so can’t know about bugs specific to it, plus different people have different ways of doing things — so the developer might not think of some features that are important to you.
For a good example of this, look at this thread, where a composer switched to Linux and went about tweaking his system and whenever he encountered a problem or wanted a feature, he reported it to the developers and they usually implemented it in a day or two…
http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=15238
@David: MtPaint is excellent and Dmitry (the developer) is very nice.
October 15th, 2009 - 9:54 pm
I want a simple easy to use firewall like ZoneAlarm. I want a little icon in the system tray that tells me when ANY program wants internet access. I know their are all kinds of GUIs and front ends for different utilities, but none of them are what I would consider user friendly, or as feature rich as ZoneAlarm.
October 16th, 2009 - 12:22 am
Interesting, ssh from the Konsole works well for me
This is ok for a few server and a few nodes, but when there is around a hundred different nodes, mostly all WAN connections, it gets a bit much just to remember the ip’s. what can i say, i’m just lazy and don’t want to remember them all.
October 16th, 2009 - 12:46 am
other than a decent video editing app some of the things i want are decent game support….. for example a Linux Lanucher for World of Warcraft.
October 16th, 2009 - 3:27 am
As windows gaming is dying because of the overwhelming console dominance and the pervasive piracy,
I think that NOW is the proper time to lobby and demand native linux games from companies like rockstar,ea,codemasters etc.
(id is following anyway!)
Times are changing and the continuous and rapid growth of desktop linux radically alters the current situation.
It is not so difficult to develop quality games on linux.
Playstation 3 is a much trickier platform and yet it has excellent games.
We have to bombard game companies with endless emails demanding the release of native linux games.
TIME IS NOW!
(btw,openshot is shaping nicely as the best video editor in linux and the smart people behind the wine do their best to provide us with the option of good gaming!)
October 16th, 2009 - 11:59 am
Just in case you forgot to check http://www.osalt.com , there are 3 great video-editing solutions:
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php
http://www.kinodv.org/
My personal favourite is Kino. You should try Ubuntustudio if you like video/audio, which has loads of media-oriented packages pre-installed. http://ubuntustudio.org/home
October 16th, 2009 - 3:00 pm
A pro graphics and video editor would be awesome. Also an email client that works with Exchange would be nice. Mostly though, just general improvements in overall usability would be nice. I am tired of having issues with X every time I upgrade my video card.
October 16th, 2009 - 7:19 pm
MS OneNote
Visual Studio
Dreamweaver
working Flash
Photoshop
GAMES
hardware support
October 16th, 2009 - 9:44 pm
Just a good video editor.
October 17th, 2009 - 5:19 pm
I need a GarageBand replacement, iMovie replacement, and F-Spot to have all the features that iPhoto ‘09 has.. Picasa 3.5 is getting there, but its WINE wrapped…
October 17th, 2009 - 9:34 pm
Steam.
October 17th, 2009 - 10:54 pm
The games available on Steam. :/
October 18th, 2009 - 1:27 am
Hi Bryan:
I’m a Biologist and I have a masters degree en population genetics, I’ve been using Ubuntu since 4.04 and I honestly thinks that Linux has all the tools we need, I don’t get the fuzz about video editing, Kdenlive & Cinelerra do a good job, I also don’t get the fuzz with Photoshop, GIMP is super, the thing is that people don’t learn how to use it properly but it does a great job, some thing even better than photoshop I specially LOVE the way it integrates with F-Spot, haven’t seen that in others OS. Maybe some statistical analysis software like SAS, Statistix or SPSS, etc, but I did the search and I found http://www.knime.org and it integrates with R, so there we go… it’s all here !!!!… I could make a list of specific population genetics software I need but… Lets be hones… What we need to do is to learn how to be productive with what we have, and I think we have all we need, we just nag to much…. lets give LINUX some love…..
October 18th, 2009 - 2:03 am
GarageBand = Rosegarden
imovie = Kdenlive (very good), Cinelerra, avidemux. And more….
iphoto = F-Spot (best app ever).. can do much more than iphoto or picassa for example ( http://tinyurl.com/yh6lvtf )
Photoshop = GIMP (learn how to use it people!!!!!).
CorelDraw = Inkscape great app!!!
There are things that can be better… but that doesn’t mean “we just cant do it” it mean we are lazy and don’t wanna do it unless it’s with the pro-software
ISAAC NUETON figured out the laws of gravity and he had no Hadron Colider…
ALBERT EINSTEIN figured out the theory of relativity with no quantum physics computers to help…
come on….
October 18th, 2009 - 9:47 am
Where do I start? Although having said that, I much prefer linux to windows (been using Ubuntu for about 18months now).
+ Second the ZoneAlarm firewall thing - although not sure to what extent this is needed for linux.
+ Graphical backup / sync software like allwaysync would be brilliant
+ AutoCAD! Obviously not a free version.
+ A decent programming IDE (HTML, PHP, Perl, C++, Javascript, etc etc)
+ GUI software to enable 5 button mice, where is my back button?! I have yet to faff around with the xorg conf files for fear of breaking things.
+ easily extend to 3+ monitors. Gave up trying to have my 3 monitors setup (for programming) so stuck with 2. This is less of a software/application thing, and will be fixed in time - just thinking aloud as it were.
Hmmm - not as much as I thought.
~R
PS - like the blog.
October 18th, 2009 - 1:33 pm
I want Netflix Streaming. That’s all. I have Hulu. I want Netflix.
and games. Although I’m shifting more to the PS3 these days as I think many people are, but it’s still a priority for me.
I would imagine that once I get a Roku box, Netflix won’t be a problem, but siphoning off these applications to dedicated boxes won’t change the fact that I want to have the option of having these applications available on my desktop and laptop, and they’re still stuck on Windows.
October 19th, 2009 - 3:21 am
non crashing or freezing IM messenger. I used kopete and gaim which is named as pidgin now. both they crash regularly or have some freezing times. actually this freezing issue happens with live messenger in windows time to time maybe changing the protocol would be better solution
October 19th, 2009 - 12:12 pm
pro video editor
dvd designer like sony arch
postage software (endicia)
gtk media manager that lets me choose how my files are organized and supports video (fspot, digikam and gthumb)
also a non-pro good automated dvd creator would be nice (like cyberlink’s power director) - basic editing, theme choices, effect choices, but basically drag your files to the timeline and click a button and it auto gereates the video and burns a dvd
gtk totally customizable (transparency, stay on top, font, color, etc) digital clock and timer
pro label design and printing package
keep up the good work and thanks
October 19th, 2009 - 7:07 pm
I would like an application to punch people in the face over the internet, who don’t support projects, and then complain when they don’t work.
October 20th, 2009 - 6:01 pm
I’d like stable, working audio, stable window compositing and tear-free video.
October 20th, 2009 - 9:22 pm
Times are changing and the continuous and rapid growth of desktop linux radically alters the current situation.
It is not so difficult to develop quality games on linux.
Linux has had 1% of the market for over a decade. Game developers could give a shit about Linux. A lot of them don’t even care about Windows anymore.
Developing quality games on any platform is difficult. Linux isn’t even a platform, it’s group of competing operating systems that share the same kernel but can’t even agree on something as simple as where program files should go. Building a proprietary business application is bad enough in Linux but a game? That involves sound and video which in Linux is a minefield for programmers.
October 21st, 2009 - 4:11 am
1. Easy to use NLE for video (ala iMovie)
2. A way to annotate .pdfs. That we don’t have this is ridiculous.
3. Google SketchUp
4. Internet Explorer (it kills me, but it’s handy for crappy intranet sites. Using a VM is a viable solution, but a total hack).
October 22nd, 2009 - 2:17 pm
I can NOT believe all the M$ $hill$ who came here to POI$ON this blog wif their M$ FUD! I agree with Gherkin Camarillo Martini’s posts above: we have ENOUGH to do WHATEVER WE NEED TO DO! You people need to learn how to do PRODUCTIVE WORK - and if you didn’t know, “whining” is NOT productive! Need a Garageband substitute? Either learn to make REAL music and use Rosebud or Ardour, or write a suitable app yourself! You are getting this wonderful advanced superior operating system for FREE and all some people do is bellyache because they are not being sufficiently catered to! We have ALL the video editors we need - if you can’t do your work on Linux NOW, with the apps we have NOW, then you either need to get yourself some TALENT, or find a new line of work - preferably one in which the use of a REAL COMPUTER running a real, FREE OS, is not required!
(And to that guy who wants to run INTERNET EXPLORER on Linux: are you getting paid EXTRA for that, you $HILL?)
Disgustedly,
R. Rizzo
October 22nd, 2009 - 8:16 pm
I’ve been running Linux as my primary OS since 2002, but even today there are there are still two gaps for me that I’ve been unable to fill:
1. A good visual, interactive diff/merge utility like WinMerge. I’ve checked out all similar utilities under Linux that I could find, but none of them are as easy, capable, and powerful as WinMerge.
2. A full-featured audio CD ripping utility w/ complete support for reading and writing CUE sheets, like Exact Audio Copy (EAC). Again, I’ve tested all of the Linux rippers I could find, and CD ripping is as basic as it gets, “secure” (accurate) ripping w/ CUE sheet support for being able to recreate exact duplicates from backup seems to be a very rare thing. This page describes many of the important features I’m looking for: http://legroom.net/software/autoflac#technical.
Other than WinMerge and EAC (and a couple of odd apps at work), I don’t have any need leave my Linux environment anymore. Fortunately, both WinMerge and EAC work under VMware as well, so I don’t need to bother dual-booting, either. Any suitable alternatives these apps would go a long way to eliminating my use of Windows altogether.
October 26th, 2009 - 6:56 am
Ableton and Splinter Cell. That’s all I need on linux. Everything else I have already.
October 30th, 2009 - 11:17 pm
Think I’ve written this before somewhere else on the web, but here goes again:
It would be nice to be able to buy and run more of the applications that you are running in Windows. I am thinking mostly of Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. And not in Wine, but in native Linux.
I want to be able to have more choices than we have now.
Companies should step up and start making commercial software for Linux, and we as Linux users, should step up and spend money on software.
The situation we have now are software that “sprint” into version 1, then momentum more or less stops because version one does most of what the developer(s) wants.
Also in professional software you get things that are restricted by copyrights and patents. Like pantone colors in drawing programs. And so on.
Linux/Ubuntu/Fedora/Redhat is awesome, but with professional and real commercial software it will take another step up the awesome ladder.
-t-
October 30th, 2009 - 11:23 pm
iphoto = F-Spot (best app ever).. can do much more than iphoto or picassa for example /// then try Fotostation and F-spot is out. Fotostation is developed by photographers for over 13 years and has become more and more the standard for photographers in newspapers and magazines around the world.
Photoshop = GIMP (learn how to use it people!!!!!). //// GIMP is probably great, but try and save an image in CMYK and send it to the printers. GIMP is not there. Which is not so weird considering Photoshop has been around since the 1990s.
CorelDraw = Inkscape great app!!! //// Comparing it against the second best is always a good thing. Try Illustrator and you’ll see that Inkscape is a bit behind. But among the open source graphic applications, Inkscape is the best in the class.
Also: The development on Inkscape isn’t really moving quickly or steadily. The Open Source applications need more motivation than just “reaching version 1.0″ or “Need to do what I need”.
October 31st, 2009 - 9:32 am
A decent time tracking app (for tracking time for freelancing and stuff like that) would be really nice. What’s out there is too basic.
November 4th, 2009 - 1:34 pm
I would like to see just two simple to install applications:
- one that allows me to use my iPod touch with Ubuntu, and another that allows myGarmin Forerunner to upload data and interface with any program (web or machine based).
I know there are some Garmin interface solutions but none of them seem to work without a great deal of meddling which is fine for those with the skill or inclination. Please can I have an app that is finished and ready to install !!
November 7th, 2009 - 6:00 am
@ Ratzo_R
Hey, what’s up F$F shill? Has $tallman given you your payoff yet? What does he pay you with, whatever he picks from his feet and hasn’t eaten?
You exemplify what is wrong with the Linux “community”. Do you honestly think that anyone who points out Linux’s foibles is paid my teh ebil Microsoft?
Grow up, move beyond the confines of your basement lair, and realize that there is a world full of people who don’t have to share your warped worldview.
Rather than fixing what is wrong with Linux, and turning it into a viable alternative, characters like you just want to cover your ears and shout out the same inane ramblings.
December 2nd, 2009 - 3:18 am
I just want a solid bug-reporting system that any user can use. On Ubuntu, there seems to be this secret code of conduct that goes on at the bug reports, yet nobody ever bothers to tell people what should be posted there, how often posting should occur, etc… Apport is a great program, but it’s still a little too complicated for the ‘average user’ to use. The mentality of Linux users is often that your ‘average user’ is too dumb to understand Linux, which is completely true. It is also true that while they don’t understand it, you don’t need to understand a bug to be able to recognize it and report it to let the “hardcore Linux users” look it over. This would require more development on Canonical’s part, but an included and organized commercial app store would more than make up the difference.