software recommendations?

[hmiersch]

hi. i recently decided to switch from OSX to Ubuntu. So now i'm looking for some software recommendations in the following categories: - firewall. i want something that gives me a lot of control. i tried gufw, but i didn't like that. on the mac i use little snitch. - anti-malware. on OSX i use clamXAV. is there a version (or something similar) for Ubuntu? - email. i tried thunderbird, but that doesn't give me all the functionality i want, like automatically sorting incoming mail into folders or mailboxes. or does it? - podcasts. i want something that gives me functionality like itunes on OSX, with the ability to sync podcasts to ios (i still have an iphone and an ipad) as well as android (for the future) - calendar and address book. so, any recommendations? thanx. and what the hell happened to my formatting?

[TheFu]

The UNIX/Linux philosophy is very different from that of OSX. Looking for 1-for-1 replacements will be disappointing.
Here's an attempted explanation of the thought shift needed to get the most from Linux systems. OTOH, if you are a point-n-click user only, it doesn't matter, but will let you understand why we tend to use tiny applications that do 1 thing well. It is part of the system architecture.

There is only 1 firewall for Linux, iptables. Everything else is just a GUI over it. I don't understand what you don't like about gufw - an explanation could help.

I use thunderbird, but let my email server (zimbra) handle all the filters and message organization on the server-side. For 20+ yrs, (may be 30), UNIX people have used procmail to manage their email folders on arrival. This method is broken by most email systems today because you actually don't have any account ON the email server to manage this stuff. I vaguely recall the years when my workstation was also the machine that received email. Procmail was/is very powerful, if that is the case. Doubt that helps you today. ;(

iTunes - Bleh. Miro, gpodder. I prefer a perl script, fetchpods.pl. Simple, effective. To sync to devices is a different tool - which is the Linux way. I like rsync. Works on every platform, easy to automate and it is secured via ssh, so safe when I'm away from my home network. Some other alternatives http://askubuntu.com/questions/41473...unes-on-ubuntu

Calendars ... I use a CalDAV connection with Thunderbird and Lightning to the Zimbra server. There's a free CalDAV tool for Android that works well too. Sorry, don't recall the name, since it is a service and runs in the background, so I don't see it very often. It just works.

There are lots of "best linux software" lists on the web. Search "best linux software" to find them. I've been using almost all the same stuff since 1995 ported from UNIX. Yes, it still works. If you stay away from the point-n-click stuff, things don't change too much. If you insist on GUIs, be prepared for major changes (often for no reason) every 2-3 years. New is the most powerful marketing term, though it doesn't really say anything.

If you aren't adverse towards Google, their stuff works well. I am adverse to them and try to avoid anything from them whenever possible. If you want to control things yourself, take a look at openVPN, then AFTER THAT IS WORKING, load seafile or owncloud. These replace cloud file sharing services where you don't really have any control and even less security and zero privacy. Seafile and owncloud don't have much security either, so a strong VPN is required BEFORE using them.

IMHO.

[stalkingwolf]

clam tk is in the repositories. As i recall there is a firewall installed but someone else will have to help there ive never needed to change the default settings.

[Quarkrad]

Unless I'm mistaken you will have to sitck with the mac if you want to sync with your iphone/ipad with something like itunes. All your other requirements can be achieved, to a degree, but I know of nothing that will sync your apple kit as easily as itunes. Ubuntu is not Apple and does not attempt to be so - hence, there is nothing re sync'ing to iphone/ipod/ipad as eaily as itunes. This is really an Apple platform environment requirement - itunes is superb at what it does, but it is proprietary Apple and best placed on their kit. (I have itunes working in Windows, in a virtual machine, on my Ubuntu install because of this very fact).

[entropy1]

You can use thunderbird to sort incoming mail and automatically put it into appropriate folders. In the menu bar, click on Tools > Message Filters (or just Message Filters, if you access the menu from the right-hand corner). From there, click the New button, and it should be pretty self-explanatory. For more details, see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Filters_%28Thunderbird%29

[buzzingrobot]

hi. i recently decided to switch from OSX to Ubuntu. So now i'm looking for some software recommendations in the following categories: - firewall. i want something that gives me a lot of control. i tried gufw, but i didn't like that. on the mac i use little snitch. - anti-malware. on OSX i use clamXAV. is there a version (or something similar) for Ubuntu? - email. i tried thunderbird, but that doesn't give me all the functionality i want, like automatically sorting incoming mail into folders or mailboxes. or does it? - podcasts. i want something that gives me functionality like itunes on OSX, with the ability to sync podcasts to ios (i still have an iphone and an ipad) as well as android (for the future) - calendar and address book. so, any recommendations? thanx. and what the hell happened to my formatting?

GUFW is one of several GUI front-ends to the iptables firewall used in most Linux distributions. Ports in Ubuntu and other distros are typically closed by default, so the primary use of a firewall is often to open a port.

Don't believe an app like Little Snitch is available. But, I imagine there are GUI apps that provide similar functionality: See what's generating outgoing traffic.

ClamX is traditional virus scanner. I.e., you download virus signatures and it scans for them. It's available. Use of a virus scanner on Linux is widely debated since it is very infrequently targeted. Doesn't hurt to run a scanner, though.

Believe Thunderbird can create filters to move mail into specified mailboxes. If you use an IMAP mail provider and use its filtering to segregate mail, then any IMAP mail client, like Thunderbird, will mirror that structure.

Clueless about iTunes, calendars, and such.

[Sef]

what the hell happened to my formatting?

What changed on your formatting?

[mastablasta]

What changed on your formatting?

the OP meant to have bullet points it seems.

ClamX is traditional virus scanner. I.e., you download virus signatures and it scans for them. It's available. Use of a virus scanner on Linux is widely debated since it is very infrequently targeted. Doesn't hurt to run a scanner, though.

And it mostly scans for windows malware anyway.

Believe Thunderbird can create filters to move mail into specified mailboxes.

thunderbird has a long history so I am sure it can do basic features like that. I would just like to add that thunderbird and Mozilla both have plenty of plugins available though I only use lightning for calendar in thunderbird.

[Gordonbp531]

I can confirm that Thunderbird will indeed sort messages into different folders on receipt, using Filters as mentioned above.
The main reason for using an anti virus application is if you exchange a lot of files with Windows users - don't want to infect them any more than they are already!

[hmiersch]

ok, now that i can boot from my external HD, it's time to revive this thread. ok, i checked out the following software: Miro: last time i tried to use it, it kept crashing. not good. firestarter: can't install. on the website it says i can install it using sudo apt-get install firestarter, but that only gives me an error message telling me it couldn't find the package. So i tried to download it from the website, and compile it myself. another error message, this time something about perl. rsync: as i understand it, it syncs one foldr to another. so how does that help me sync playlists that keep changing? in itunes i have some smart paylists that change every time an item is played. that item disappears from the playlist, and another one appears. how can i sync something like that to an android? gpodder: gonna give it a try. hope it crashes less than miro...

this forum keeps removing my blank lines. WTF?