Outstanding programs?

[Fzang]

Are there any... very outstanding programs for linux, that are absolutely amazing, but just not available to windows in any way (apart from beryl)?

[yothisbalec]

I would say that Amarok is a pretty excellent music player/media library, give it a try if you haven't yet.

[herbster]

Amarok has been ported to Windows, though I don't think it's available yet.

Off the bat I'd say K3b and MythTV (there is a WinMyth frontend on sourceforge I've seen, though I'm unsure of its functionality and how comparable it is to the native mythfrontend). I used Windows MCE for some time and Myth is much better IMO.

[libertas]

id have to say that all the stuff that comes with Ubuntu studio is absolutely for the musically inclined, a lot of the programs that come with you would have to pay alot of money for to get it for windows (sound mixers Synthesizers used in making techno music etc.) anything that has to do with music that you think could be made into a program has. its pretty amazing you can write your own music with notes chords different tempos etc. you can write things for the guitar, drums, piano etc. its pretty cool

other than that id have to say that Open office is pretty exception, i have been able to open up anything that my windows friends throw at me, it even comes with a free text>PDF conversion which if gotten in windows will cost you. this is also available for windows though but comes preinstalled in linux.

as for programming geany is pretty exceptional it is a single program that you can write java, C, C++,D,Pascal,PHP,Ruby and HTML in. All in one program. usually all these things are written with different programs.

Synfig is like Flash (the program for creating flash movies) but better because you don't have to fill in every frame, it has auto completion, i don't know if you have ever tried to make something in flash but this is a miracle!

[Therion]

Are there any... very outstanding programs for linux, that are absolutely amazing, but just not available to windows in any way (apart from beryl)?
Let me guess... You need some linux-based "Killer App" to win an argument with a die-hard Windows user?

I might suggest you ask what exactly can Windows do that Linux can't do just as well, if not better. With half the hardware and for free no less.

[lackofcreativity]

Just about everything is great on Linux. I love the package manager-you never have to boot up Firefox or screw around with a stupid installer that takes forever. Just choose a package that has all the data you'll need and it installs itself-it's as simple as that. Take a look at the Add/Remove programs menu. It populates itself in a fraction of the time as Winblows, and it allows you to find the things you need, want, or didn't even know you needed or wanted. I love the selection of games myself-Nexuiz and AlienArena are top-notch and run even on this junky old computer I'm using.

[aeiah]

to be honest, i cant think of really any apps that kick *** on linux but which there is no windows alternative, but that's just the nature of free software. if its that good, someone is going to port it to windows.

having said that, its nice to have apps that work as good as or better that are free and only take up about 400kb as opposed to 25mb, thanks to the way linux shares libraries.

[retrow]

DVDRIP is an app that rips your DVDs to avi files with out of the box settings. Most of the DVD rippers I've used in windows had issues with A/V synchronization and not being able to have a good filesize/quality ratio. Thats one app that I can't live without.

[mrgnash]

I don't think there's much under Linux that you couldn't get running under Linux in some form... whether it be through Cygwin, VMWare, or what-have-you. That said, some outstanding apps are:

GIMP
Inkscape
Gedit -- Add Latex plugin and produce the most beautiful documents you have ever seen :popcorn:
Rhythmbox
Gnumeric
Gthumb
Elisa
.. and numerous others.

[beercz]

rsync

Fantastic tool for backing up!

My professional life depends on it.

Excellent when used with rsnapshot (http://rsnapshot.org)

[heartburnkid]

Amarok is made of win and love. And yes, there's a Windows version coming soon, but it's not out yet.

[aimran]

I'm mainly on windows nowadays, but I use the ported xchat over mirc. Goes to show how outstanding it is :D

[SomeGuyDude]

to be honest, i cant think of really any apps that kick *** on linux but which there is no windows alternative, but that's just the nature of free software. if its that good, someone is going to port it to windows.

having said that, its nice to have apps that work as good as or better that are free and only take up about 400kb as opposed to 25mb, thanks to the way linux shares libraries.

+1

Although I really do think Sonata is my favorite music software of all time. So simple, so elegant.

[bruce89]

Parts of programs:

Epiphany's URL bar and bookmarks
Pidgin's automatic resizing input box
Gnumeric