Deep Pandya's Blog
Ethical Computing >> When we have enough free/libre software!When we have enough free/libre software!
*Note: This article was originally published on my Wordpress blog and copied here without any modification to avoid unnecessary redirects.
This article is written with the aim of maintaining the list of my favorite software packages which I do use and recommends to others who are dependent on proprietary software.
(If you're not getting what I am talking about, please visit https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html and https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html to know the issue.)
Typical / Essential Desktop Applications:
| Name | Function | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Debian GNU/Linux | A robust operating system | Though it’s not endorsed by GNU due to not explicitly nullifying the proprietary software, however it is different than other distros who readily include proprietary software. Btw, I am interested in trying GNU Guix if time favors! |
| XFCE | Desktop environment | Desktop environment which perfectly balances customization, appearance, and smoothness |
| Libre Office | Office suite | The most reliable and advanced office applications in the world of Libre software |
| VLC | Media player | Established and enduring |
| Audacity | Audio editing | Multi-track editing and exporting |
| qpdfview, sumatrapdf | PDF viewer | Lightweight |
| Firefox | Web browser | Richest and most principled development journeys |
| Handbrake | Video trans-coder | Versatile and easy/simple to use tool that supports most formats |
| HardInfo | System Information & Benchmark | Know your machine, inside and out. |
Technical / Specialized Tools:
| Name | Function | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| GIMP | Raster graphics editor | |
| InkScape | Vector graphics editor | |
| DWSIM | Process simulator | |
| FreeCAD | Parametric modeller | |
| GNU Octave | Numerical computation | |
| Free File Sync | File Synchronization Software |
CLI Utilities:
In addition to GNU/Linux’s powerful built-in or pre-installed command line tools like ls, find, grep, cut, du, dd, df, awk, sed, top, fdisk, cat, chown, chmod, lsusb, lscpu, lspci, dmidecode etc. which are essential for file management, text processing and system administration, following are the list of some tools I found that can enhance our capabilities for extra-ordinary tasks!
| Name | Function | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| ncdu | Disk usage analysis | |
| gs | Interpreter for the PostScript language / PDF | GNU package and independent development also |
| convert | Convert between image formats and PDF | by ImageMagick |
| ffmpeg | Multimedia framework for decode, encode, and trans-code between various formats | |
| gpg | GNU Privacy Guard, asymmetric encryption, decryption and signing tool | Highly engineered tool trusted by privacy advocates and security professionals |
| pass | Password manager | Integrated with GPG |
| zenity | Create GUI dialogue box | GNOME application |
| xdotool | X-11 automation tool for simulating keyboard input and mouse activity | |
| wmctrl | Interacting with window manager | |
| inxi | Script for extracting system and hardware information | |
| Lynx | Text-based web browser (The minimalist’s web browser) | Very useful for visualizing, extracting and processing webpages. |
More of Interest:
List of applications which I have not used yet however worth trying whenever you need to carry out function/task mentioned
| Name | Function | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Blender | 3D graphics, animation | |
| Scribus | Desktop publishing software | |
| OpenFOAM | CFD & numerical solver | Can be integrated with ParaView for visualization and analysis |
| QGIS | Mapping & Spatial |
Next Steps:
- The title of this article was smartly chosen from Richard Stallman’s “Free Software Song”. Today we need to work on liberating the hardware also because most of devices we use today are locked by proprietary firmware which often runs at lowest level, beyond the reach of user inspection.
- In 2022, Debian made a difficult compromise a bit of freedom by including the non-free firmware in their official installation image for the shake of user accessibility and hardware support. This decision even lead to revision of its social contract for this adjustment!
- Efforts like H-Node or GNU Boot should be supported in reclaiming control over devices and “When we have enough free hardware,….”