help with some programs for linux

[minofifa]

hello everybody.

I'm gonna go ahead and get linux up and running on my computer this wwkend, i decided to go with fedora core 3 as i've herd its good for new users of linux.

I was browsing the linux.org application database and there are a lot of programs. I'm hoping to get yoru opinions on your commonly used apps in linux. For example there are probably 30+ mediaplyers but i'm sure some suck and some are old and stuff. I'm hoping to learn soemthign from other people's bad and good choices with the software they have evaluated. thanks guys.

basically right now i'm looking for:

1. media player (as many video and audiotypes as possible, divx, mnv, quicktime, mpg).
2. office package (openoffice i guess, i dont really like it but if there is nothing better...)
3. TV / PVR software for my hauppauge pvr-150 (right now i have beyond tv, i love how it has the guide from the web so i can see what is coming on and can schedule recordings and stuff, any like this for lnux?).
4. Programs for browsing the net, checking email, contacts and calendar.
5. any other software that you guys swear by.

thanks a lot,

 

[minofifa]

hmm i just noticed fedora core 4 is out, maybe i'll try that insted.

 

[shud]

As far as 3 goes, www.mythtv.org.

And there's a Firefox version for linux.

 

[nweaver]

mplayer is a good media player.

 

[minofifa]

thanks for the suggestions guys, i have actually heard of both. i looked at myth and it has a mp3 and video modules so that is cool, that's probably what i'll use for media.

i found this at linux.com, can anybody using fedora core comment?
"The Fedora Project
This is a community-developed, freely downloadable distribution that replaces the old no-charge version of Red Hat Linux but is still sponsored and supported by Red Hat. It is generally targeted more toward hobbyists and experimenters than desktop computer users."

I'm definately a desktop/noob user. is this something to be concerned about? I prefer graphic interfaces to lines of code.

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

1) Check out mplayer. Do a google search and you'll find it. There are three rpm's (since you're using FC) you'll want to go for. They are the standard version, the GUI, version and the Mozilla/Firefox browser plugin. Install all of these and dont forget to add the softlink to the plugin in your /etc/install/mozilla/plugins (I think that's the path) directory. I've tested this player with "Windows" media and "Real" media formats and it works good. It also claims to support Quicktime and an host of other formats too.

2) OpenOffice is about as good as it gets for free and it's quite functional. It even supports Microsoft Office formats as long as you don't get too fancy with graphics and that sort of thing. Easy to use too. The look and feel is much like MS Office. As an alternative you can download the latest WINE (Windows API for Linux) package and try you hand at that. Many have claimed to successfully install and run MS Office from it.

3) Don't have a clue

4) FC comes with a host of browsers including FireFox & Konquerer (Netscape Derivatives). Also I believe you can run IE6 under WINE if you're lucky.

5)Must have software: The latest Java SDE and web plugin, the mplayer web plugin (requires mplayer standard), and the Flash plugin for Mozilla/FF. Also you'll want to check out madwifi for wireless (if you have an aerthos chip set card) and you'll want to update your yum repository to include atrpms.

Perhaps the most useful tool you can have if you're going with Fedora Core is this:
www.fedoraforum.org - Know it, Love it!

 

[silverpig]

1. mplayer (although xine is good too)
2. openoffice
3. mythtv
4. firefox (net), thunderbird (email), sunbird (calendar etc)
5. GAIM is good for instant messaging

 

[minofifa]

i'm wondering, why do you guys use mythtv and mplayer if mythtv also plays audio and video files?

thanks for the suggestions. it seems like fedora core 4 comes with a lot of software (open office and whatnot).

 

[n0cmonkey]

1. vlc
2. koffice
3. mythtv
4. mozilla suite
5. gaim, openssh, blackbox

 

[Vadatajs]

1) xine
2) openoffice (or abiword for just text files)
3) tvtime (viewing tv only)
4) mozilla suite (evolution or kmail for email as an alternative)
5) xfce4.2 for eye candy, and cedega for games.

 

[Nothinman]

I would recommend Ubuntu. The install is simple and fast and you have access to nearly all of Debians 16,000+ packages.

 

[minofifa]

thanks for all of the suggestions.

how about a nero-like program? Like i said, i'm gonna use fedora core 4 (hopefully i'll have it up tonight) but i'm not sure of the complete program line up that comes with it. I want something to burn CDs, DVDs and whatnot. Does anybody know if a program like this comes with fedora 4, or will i need to get one?

 

[n0cmonkey]

I think nero works on Linux. There's also cdrtools or something like that.

 

[phisrow]

K3B is a rather nice CD/DVD burning program. Probably comes with Fedora, if it doesn't, grab it.

 

[sourceninja]

Check out this link. It has suggestions of windows and mac apps and their linux replacements.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=33183

My favorites

Media player = MPlayer (dont forget libdvdcss so you can watch dvd's)
CD/dvd burning - k3B or graveman
Web Browser - firefox
Email/scheduling - Evolution
IM - GAIM
Office software - Scribus for serious work, AbiWord (for MS word stuff) and then OpenOffice for the rest of it.
Partion Magic replacement - QTparted or GParted
Scripting/Web development - Bluefish
DVD ripping - DVD:RIP
Windows game emulation - Cedega

I also use synaptic, but thats a debian/ubuntu thing. I'm sure fedora has their own drop in gui package managment.

 

[OffTopic1]

Linux software equivalent to Windows software -- LinuxQuestions.org

 

[Zelmo3]

Second vote for vlc as a media player. It's lightweight and easy to use.
OpenOffice is good, but over the last couple of semesters I've found that their spreadsheet doesn't do the statistical analyses I need for my math classes. Gnumeric is more complete that way; my only gripe is that their charts aren't as tweakable as those in OpenOffice.
The standard file managers for KDE and GNOME (Konqueror and Nautilus, respectively) have disc-burning capability built in. I haven't tried it with DVDs, but CD-R and CD-RW have worked for me without any problems.
KDE and GNOME also have their own web browsers (KDE actually uses its Swiss-army-tool Konqueror for that as well--it's a very impressive file manager), but you can get the Mozilla suite (or Firefox and Thunderbird separately) and Opera as well. I'm using Firefox for the extensions and Evolution e-mail/calendar for the Palm connectivity. KDE PIM also offers Palm connectivity, if that's a concern.