smallest app that helped you make the switch?

[%hMa@?b<C]

When I was first trying out linux, back in '02-'01 although I knew very little about linux (I was in 5th or 6th grade), windows had become overrun with viruses from KaZaA, Gnome + slackware on my celeron powered compaq with 128 mb of RAM ran ok. My brothers gave me gripes, but I had no real qualms due to one upcomming program, mupen64, (Zelda OoT is my favorite game ever made, I have beaten it at least 20 times and at least 5 were on sub 10 hour speedruns) Just the idea that I would be able to play the same game that I enjoyed so much on n64 and the only game I played on windows (ultraHLE :)) was enough to keep my interest in linux. It didnt run full speed or anything bujt that app really kept me from going back to Windows. Any for you?

[theicyj]

Many of the more mainstream apps (like openoffice, firefox, ect) all helped me move over to Linux. If I had to pinpoint just one, it would be a good backup program. One thing that did hold me back for a few months or so was a good backup utility. I just can't stand doing anything on a computer in which I can't back all my office documents, photos, music, and other personal docs on a regular basis with an easy to use app. I just cannot afford to lose my documents. When using windows, I had got hooked on Syncback. I finally found an very simular replacement in linux, grsync (GUI frontend for rsync), this is one of those little apps that keeps me addicted to Linux.

[diatribe]

this is not really a program but I liked the fact that I could make my desktop nice in linux without using windowblinds ;p

[b1nary_w01f]

wow, just about every app and aspect of Linux helped. But i would have to say Wine is what sold me, being able to play my favorite games without rebooting into windows every time made a world of difference for me.

[Adamant1988]

Hrmm.. I think the application that really locked me into Linux in general was Tom Boy, but now I can't leave because of basKet, and Amarok...

[AndyCooll]

Can't think of anything specific, however XDMCP has been one of my best Linux discoveries.

:cool:

[diskotek]

coffeetalk was my first favorite app in linux. i installed at my laptop and it's still ovely linux box :)

[timpino]

hmm, my favourite all time linux app is xterm and all the derivatives.

[mrgnash]

I started using BB4Win (Black Box for Windows) and preferred it greatly to XP's hideous mess of a WM, and then decided to go the whole way.

[yabbadabbadont]

The "app" that helped to convert me to Linux was Unix. ;) I had been using, programming for, and supporting Unix systems from 1993 to 1996 when I started using Linux at home. Linux was pretty easy to figure out after having had to support SCO 3.2v4.2 and HPUX. :)

[starcraft.man]

Actually it was a small app or maybe not so small, called Devede. Great program for transcoding movies into standard DVD format and VCD the odd time. I do quite a bit of video conversion and was using Nero for that before (was so excruciating, every time I had to leave my PC alone because it would slow down my entire PC). When I started using Devede, I could get it done in a bit less time and I could keep working, like use GIMP watch a movie, and no slow down!!! Btw, this was all on an old p4 cpu that made me sooooo happy :D.

[kragen]

I think it was probably rTorrent. It was great to find a torrent app that was extremely lightweight and extremely fast :)

[konsole]

I think it was probably rTorrent. It was great to find a torrent app that was extremely lightweight and extremely fast :)

Agree about rtorrent. It made the bloody Internet useful again.

[dspari1]

A small virus that wiped my entire hard drive helped me make the switch.

[Morbett]

Although I only discovered it recently, the torrent client Transmission is my favorite small app.

[rjmdomingo2003]

My main worry prior to THE switch is torrent downloading. I was amazed at how rtorrent performed with such minimal (almost negligible) CPU-hog.

Another app that I was glad I discovered was conky. Very powerful yet very simple.

[bobbocanfly]

Probably is would be BASH, Apt and Beryl. Also a LAMP server in 6 minutes (Including downloading and installing time) is brilliance.

[happysmileman]

No small program helped me make the switch, it was just a combination of all the good programs I used, When I used GNOME I could go days without using Windows because GNOME had much better programs than Windows.

But once I switched to KDE I started to go months without using WIndows, Amarok, KDevelop, Kate, Konqueror, K3B, Yakuake aqnd of course Compiz-fusion all helped me switch, as well as the small things like the KGames and the speed increase and better stability