Linux has long been known primarily as a server operating system, which is why many people still associate it exclusively with developers or hackers. However, over the past few years, Linux has gained significant popularity among regular desktop users as well as gamers.
Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell once said that he considers “Linux and open-source software the future of the gaming industry.”
While Linux still lacks full-featured alternatives to some highly specialized software, the overall situation has improved dramatically. Today, most essential applications are widely available, which can be overwhelming for beginners who don’t know where to start.
Here is a list of applications that I personally use and believe are worth your attention. This selection may be useful not only for newcomers or those considering switching to Linux, but also for experienced users who might discover something new.
mpv
mpv is a lightweight yet powerful free video player. I previously used VLC for a long time, but for simple video playback VLC consumed too much RAM. mpv is far more minimalistic, yet in my opinion everything that truly matters in a video player works better here — high-quality playback, easy subtitle switching, and convenient audio track control. And if you’re familiar with more advanced Linux tools, mpv can even play videos from YouTube or SoundCloud using youtube-dl.
Polarr Photo Editor
Polarr Photo Editor is a powerful image editing tool available on all major platforms and operating systems. I first discovered it as an online service long before I started using Linux. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Polarr also works perfectly on Linux.
According to the company, as of August 2017, more than 10 million photographers used Polarr for photo editing.
Corebird
Corebird is a modern, lightweight, and pleasant Twitter client. On Linux, messaging apps like Viber and Telegram are no surprise anymore, but Twitter clients still offer certain benefits over the web interface — mainly security and convenience. If you’ve deleted your Instagram profile (like Musk) and want to tweet about it, Corebird is the perfect tool.
Psensor
Psensor is a graphical temperature monitoring program. It allows you to view CPU, GPU, HDD, and other component temperatures on Linux. Psensor works via lm-sensors and hddtemp, which perform the actual measurements. Psensor then displays this data in a simple, dynamic, and easy-to-understand graph.
Wine
Wine is a free implementation of the Windows API that allows Windows applications to run on UNIX-like operating systems. As mentioned earlier, Linux still lacks full-featured alternatives to some specialized software. Wine helps bridge that gap by allowing many Windows apps — and even games — to run on Linux. For full functionality, additional tools such as Winetricks or Q4Wine may be needed.
