Productivity Applications for Xfce

Purpose
This article aims at helping you to choose applications when setting up a lightweight desktop environment under Linux. Under the Xfce philosophy, applications are lightweight when they are low on memory usage and do not require heavy dependencies (such as KDE or Gnome). Most applications suggested in this article will conform to this philosophy, but in case there is no lightweight reliable feature-equivalent application, Gnome depending programs may be added here. Otherwise, all useful applications are welcome: GTK+, QT, tcl/tk, closed source, etc. Command-line and ncurses applications may also be included, provided that these are relatively straightforward in use and readily usable by technically unaware users. Please consider, however, that only free programs (as in free to use) are preferred.

The article focuses mainly on selecting easy to use applications that would fit a "typical" lightweight Desktop Environment; many of these applications could also fit an office environment. Thus, the article assumes that the final user will be an end-user, not knowing much other than to point, and click.

File management

 * emelFM2 -- An "orthodox" two-pane file manager
 * Documentation: emelFM2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: An alternative to Thunar. Those coming from Windows and looking for a Total Commander alternative under Linux need to at least check this application. It does not strive to emulate the look and feel of Total Commander; it does however offer you similar (sometimes more) functionality with a more Unix-like approach.
 * Remarks: An alternative to Thunar. Those coming from Windows and looking for a Total Commander alternative under Linux need to at least check this application. It does not strive to emulate the look and feel of Total Commander; it does however offer you similar (sometimes more) functionality with a more Unix-like approach.


 * Catfish -- A versatile file searching tool
 * (ebuild; HOWTO Installing 3rd Party Ebuilds)
 * Homepage: http://software.twotoasts.de/index.php?/pages/catfish_summary.html
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * PCManFM -- Fast and lightweight tabbed file manager
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Alternative to Thunar. Standard compliant file manager similar to Windows Explorer. Provides built-in volume management (through HAL) and file searching utility (GUI frontend for the UNIX find + grep command).
 * Remarks: Alternative to Thunar. Standard compliant file manager similar to Windows Explorer. Provides built-in volume management (through HAL) and file searching utility (GUI frontend for the UNIX find + grep command).

Office tools
With office usage, compatibility and sharing documents in mind, OpenOffice is the obvious choice for an office suite. It is however criticised for its slowness, as well as bloated code and interface. Users report nights of compiling, so seriously consider installing the binary package. OpenOffice hardly fits the scope of this article, but is the choice for inter-operability with Microsoft Office and as an alternative to the latter.

Lightweight alternatives to this heavyweight are AbiWord and Gnumeric, word processor and spreadsheet, respectively. Ted is decidedly a "heavy-lightweight", but may prove well handy for certain tasks, like handling MS Word-created .rtf files. It is up to you to try these and decide whether they fit your needs. A worthy alternative to conventional word processors is LyX.
 * OpenOffice -- A full office productivity suite
 * Documentation: OpenOffice.org 3.0 is an incremental improvement
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (gkt+2),  (gkt+2),  (motif)
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * LyX -- The Document Processor
 * Documentation: LyX made easy, Compatibility with MS Word, LyX vs other software, LyX with R through Sweave, Legal Documents the LyX Way, Designing a book with LyX
 * Toolkit: QT4
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. LyX is an WYSIWYM frontend to LaTeX. It can be used to create structured documents and presentations, professionally typeset mathematical formulae, and to insert diagrams in its documents (as images, and created by an external application, such as Dia). For compatibility reasons you might enable most USE flags.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. LyX is an WYSIWYM frontend to LaTeX. It can be used to create structured documents and presentations, professionally typeset mathematical formulae, and to insert diagrams in its documents (as images, and created by an external application, such as Dia). For compatibility reasons you might enable most USE flags.


 * TeX Live -- Complete TeX distribution
 * Alternatives:
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Check the USE flags; there are plenty. As the backend used by LyX, you will probably prefer the modern TeX Live to the no longer maintained teTeX.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Check the USE flags; there are plenty. As the backend used by LyX, you will probably prefer the modern TeX Live to the no longer maintained teTeX.


 * Beamer -- LaTeX class for creating presentations using a video projector
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Beamer presentations can be created using LyX. As usual with LyX documents, start with a template. For examples of professional-looking presentations created with this LaTeX class, please check the project's home page. For special cases of the resulting .pdf presentation, be aware of the `handout' and `article' class-options that can be specified within LyX.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Beamer presentations can be created using LyX. As usual with LyX documents, start with a template. For examples of professional-looking presentations created with this LaTeX class, please check the project's home page. For special cases of the resulting .pdf presentation, be aware of the `handout' and `article' class-options that can be specified within LyX.


 * Eqe -- LaTeX equation editor that produces images interactively
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: Ekee (qt4)
 * Remarks: Perfect if you want to use beautifully typeset LaTeX equations in conventional word-processors. The application also has support for drag-and-drop. Ekee is in fact the successor of Eqe, and an ebuild is available. The latter has many more features and seems to be more robust. Note, however, that similar functionality is integrated within AbiWord, "Insert > Equation > from LaTeX".
 * Remarks: Perfect if you want to use beautifully typeset LaTeX equations in conventional word-processors. The application also has support for drag-and-drop. Ekee is in fact the successor of Eqe, and an ebuild is available. The latter has many more features and seems to be more robust. Note, however, that similar functionality is integrated within AbiWord, "Insert > Equation > from LaTeX".


 * Scribus -- Desktop Publishing (DTP) and Layout program for Linux
 * Toolkit: QT3
 * Toolkit: QT3


 * Evince* -- Simple document viewer for Gnome
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (gtk+2),  (gtk+2),  (motif)
 * Remarks: Beginning with the acroread-8* editions, Adobe's Reader gives the feel of a "normal" GTK+2 application, which loads relatively fast. However Evince* is proposed as a main choice mostly because it is quicker than acroread, and that it is a mature project; for more robust features you will need acroread. If you prefer lightweight open-source programs, consider ePDFView or Xpdf, both free lightweight PDF document viewers.
 * Remarks: Beginning with the acroread-8* editions, Adobe's Reader gives the feel of a "normal" GTK+2 application, which loads relatively fast. However Evince* is proposed as a main choice mostly because it is quicker than acroread, and that it is a mature project; for more robust features you will need acroread. If you prefer lightweight open-source programs, consider ePDFView or Xpdf, both free lightweight PDF document viewers.


 * PDFedit -- Editor for manipulating PDF documents
 * Homepage: http://pdfedit.petricek.net/index_e.html
 * Toolkit: QT3
 * Remarks: Ebuild available on the Sunrise overlay.
 * Remarks: Ebuild available on the Sunrise overlay.


 * Osmo -- Handy personal organizer
 * Documentation: Osmo: A daily organizer
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: gfa (gtk+2)
 * Remarks: Alternative to Orage. Osmo and Orage functionality overlap, but each is good at what it does best. You would use Osmo as an Address book and as a Date calculator. It also allows you to easily keep track of your contacts' birthdays, store encrypted notes and learn "kool" stuff like, say, the current moon phase. Orage would be better suited when used as DE easy-to-access calendar and as a time organiser. It even allows you keep a private journal. The good news is that both are in active devlopment, so expect new features and closed bugs. At last, gfa is hardly an alternative to either Orage or Osmo, but can come in handy for an Address book. If in gfa you input your contacts "internally" only, and may not export them, Osmo supports importing from and exporting to CSV.
 * Remarks: Alternative to Orage. Osmo and Orage functionality overlap, but each is good at what it does best. You would use Osmo as an Address book and as a Date calculator. It also allows you to easily keep track of your contacts' birthdays, store encrypted notes and learn "kool" stuff like, say, the current moon phase. Orage would be better suited when used as DE easy-to-access calendar and as a time organiser. It even allows you keep a private journal. The good news is that both are in active devlopment, so expect new features and closed bugs. At last, gfa is hardly an alternative to either Orage or Osmo, but can come in handy for an Address book. If in gfa you input your contacts "internally" only, and may not export them, Osmo supports importing from and exporting to CSV.


 * Qalculate! -- A modern multi-purpose calculator
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (gtk+2)
 * Alternatives: (gtk+2)


 * Leafpad -- Simple Notepad-like text editor
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Alternative to Mousepad, its successor.
 * Remarks: Alternative to Mousepad, its successor.

Statistical packages
Migrating to Linux often means searching open-source equivalents to proprietary software. For those looking for an alternative to SAS or SPSS statistical packages, the R programming language is the answer. R is command-line driven, but does provide several GUIs among the multitude of its modules, 1700+ and growing. Several other computational and visualisation sowftware are presented below. Check this page for various suggestions to Useful software for Economists.
 * R -- Language and environment for statistical computing and graphics
 * Documentation: Quick-R, R for SAS and SPSS Users, CRAN Task Views, The R Manuals, Contributed Documentation
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * R Commander -- A Basic-Statistics GUI for R
 * R package page: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/Rcmdr/index.html
 * Documentation: Getting started with the R Commander
 * Toolkit: Tcl/Tk
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * JGR -- A unified GUI for R
 * R package page: http://cran.at.r-project.org/web/packages/JGR/index.html
 * Interface: Java
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * Rattle -- Effective Data Mining with R
 * R package page: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rattle/index.html
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * BiodiversityR -- GUI for biodiversity and community ecology analysis
 * R package page: http://cran.at.r-project.org/web/packages/BiodiversityR/index.html
 * Toolkit: Tcl/Tk
 * Toolkit: Tcl/Tk


 * GGobi -- A visualization program for exploring high-dimensional data
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. There is also an R package, rggobi, which acts as an interface between R and GGobi.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. There is also an R package, rggobi, which acts as an interface between R and GGobi.


 * ParaView -- Powerful scientific data visualization application
 * Toolkit: QT4
 * Toolkit: QT4


 * wxMaxima -- Graphical frontend to Maxima, a free computer algebra environment
 * Toolkit: wxGTK
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.

Network related applications

 * Opera -- Fast and secure Internet suite
 * Documentation: Opera
 * Toolkit: QT3
 * Alternatives:
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Beginning with version 9.50, if run under the correct environment (say, DESKTOP_SESSION=xfce) Opera uses the native GTK+ file-chooser.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Beginning with version 9.50, if run under the correct environment (say, DESKTOP_SESSION=xfce) Opera uses the native GTK+ file-chooser.


 * Epiphany* -- Simple and easy to use web browser for Gnome
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives:
 * Alternatives:


 * Gftp -- Gnome based FTP Client
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives:
 * Alternatives:


 * Pidgin -- Instant messaging client
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2

Graphics applications

 * Mirage -- Fast and simple image viewer
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (gtk+2)  (gtk+2)
 * Alternatives: (gtk+2)  (gtk+2)


 * The GIMP -- GNU Image Manipulation Program
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Inkscape -- An SVG based generic vector-drawing program
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Dia -- Diagram/flowchart creation program
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (motif)
 * Remarks: Dia can also be used to create and insert diagrams into LyX documents.
 * Remarks: Dia can also be used to create and insert diagrams into LyX documents.

Multimedia applications

 * Brasero -- Application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (tcl/tk),  (gtk+2), * (gtk+2)
 * Remarks: Alternatives to Xfburn.
 * Remarks: Alternatives to Xfburn.


 * XSane -- Graphical scanning frontend
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Sonata -- An elegant music client for the Music Player Daemon
 * Documentation: MPD
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Alternative to Xfmedia. Sonata uses MPD as a backend for playing audio files and for the library support. The "kool" thing about MPD is that at boot-time it will resume playing before X is initialized and at halt-time will stop playing after X was shut down.
 * Remarks: Alternative to Xfmedia. Sonata uses MPD as a backend for playing audio files and for the library support. The "kool" thing about MPD is that at boot-time it will resume playing before X is initialized and at halt-time will stop playing after X was shut down.


 * Parole Media Player -- Another lightweight media player using Gstreamer
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (qt4)
 * Alternatives: (qt4)


 * Whaaw! Media Player -- A lightweight audio/video player using Gstreamer
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives:  (qt4)
 * Alternatives:  (qt4)
 * Alternatives:  (qt4)


 * Gnome MPlayer -- A simple GUI for MPlayer
 * Documentation: MPlayer
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Contrary to what the name suggests, GNOME MPlayer is not highly dependent on the Gnome libraries and can easily be built without.
 * Remarks: Contrary to what the name suggests, GNOME MPlayer is not highly dependent on the Gnome libraries and can easily be built without.


 * OGMRip -- Graphical frontend and libraries for ripping DVDs and encoding to AVI/OGM/MKV/MP4
 * Documentation: Ripping DVD to Matroska and H.264
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Grip -- Audio CD Player/Ripper
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * EasyTAG -- Utility for editing MP2, MP3, MP4, FLAC, Ogg and other media tags
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Beginning with version 2.1.1, EasyTAG uses libid3tag, which fully supports writing UTF-8 tags to mp3 files.
 * Remarks: Beginning with version 2.1.1, EasyTAG uses libid3tag, which fully supports writing UTF-8 tags to mp3 files.


 * Audacity -- Free audio editor
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.

Miscellaneous utilities

 * XPP -- The X Printing Panel
 * Toolkit: FLTK
 * Toolkit: FLTK


 * StarDict -- An international dictionary supporting fuzzy and glob style matching
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (tcl/tk)
 * Remarks: Alternative to Xfce4 Dictionary. The WordNet Browser is a Princeton dictionary browser.
 * Remarks: Alternative to Xfce4 Dictionary. The WordNet Browser is a Princeton dictionary browser.


 * Figaro's Password Manager 2 -- A small password manager
 * (ebuild; HOWTO Installing 3rd Party Ebuilds)
 * Homepage: http://als.regnet.cz/fpm2/
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (tcl/tk), * (gtk+2)


 * Password Meter -- Password strength checker
 * (source code)
 * Homepage: http://www.passwordmeter.com/
 * Interface: Web
 * Documentation: Guidelines for strong passwords, Choosing Good Passwords, Tips on using meaningful symbols to increase password strength
 * Remarks: Cross-platform. Revelation* also contains a password strength checker.


 * gtk-splitter -- Split / combine files
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: For this task one may also use the "Custom commands" menu shipped by default with emelFM2.
 * Remarks: For this task one may also use the "Custom commands" menu shipped by default with emelFM2.


 * gtkam -- A frontend for gPhoto 2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Alexandria -- An application to help you manage your book collection
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Periodic Calendar -- A utility that assists in menstrual cycle tracking and fertility periods prediction
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Be sure to have read the application README before using it.
 * Remarks: Be sure to have read the application README before using it.

Miscellaneous system-related utilities

 * HardInfo -- System Profiler and Benchmark
 * (ebuild; HOWTO Installing 3rd Party Ebuilds)
 * Homepage: http://hardinfo.berlios.de
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Gmrun -- Launcher box with bash style auto completion
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * ktsuss -- Graphical version of su
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * XfKC -- A keyboard layout configuration tool
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: The application was initially written to complement xfce4-xkb. Recently, however, XfKC functionality was integrated into xfce4-xkb. The application might still prove useful to non-Xfce users.
 * Remarks: The application was initially written to complement xfce4-xkb. Recently, however, XfKC functionality was integrated into xfce4-xkb. The application might still prove useful to non-Xfce users.


 * Wicd -- A wired and wireless network manager
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (qt3)
 * Alternatives: (qt3)


 * GParted -- A Partition Editor
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Alternatives: (qt3)
 * Alternatives: (qt3)

Developer tools

 * Geany -- A fast and lightweight IDE
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * Bluefish -- An editor for the experienced Web designer or programmer
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Meld* -- A graphical diff and merge tool
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * Poedit -- Gettext catalogs (.po files) editor
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.


 * wxChecksums -- Calculate and verify CRC and MD5 checksums
 * Toolkit: wxGTK
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.
 * Remarks: Cross-platform.

Mind-breaking games

 * Enigma -- Puzzle game similar to Oxyd


 * Eboard -- Chess interface for POSIX systems
 * Documentation: HOWTO Chess
 * Toolkit: GTK+2
 * Toolkit: GTK+2


 * pouetChess -- 3D and open source chess game