Linux Software

GUI Applications

Etcher

Etcher is a quick and easy way to burn ISO images to CDs and USB devices. There are two different ways you can install this program. First, you can navigate to the official website and download the AppImage file, which can run without installation.

However, AppImage files are not executable by default, so you'll either need to right-click to open the properties of the file and click the "Allow executing file as program" box in the Permissions tab or use the following command:

chmod u+x FILE_NAME

If you don't like AppImage files or just prefer repositories, you can use the following commands to add the author's repository and install it through the command-line only.

First, you'll have to echo the repo and write it to a list file:

echo "deb https://deb.etcher.io stable etcher" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/balena-etcher.list

Next, add the application keys to Ubuntu's keyring:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 379CE192D401AB61

Finally, update the repositories and install the app.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install balena-etcher-electron

Using Arch, Manjaro, or another distro using the AUR? Use this command instead:

sudo pacman -S etcher

Atom

Atom is the self-proclaimed "hackable text editor for the 21st century". This text editor is made by GitHub, now owned by Microsoft, and has some of the best add-ons available to customize the layout and abilities of the app.

First, add the Atom repository to your sources.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/atom

Next, update your package listings and install atom.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install atom

If you have issues updating your packages with the Atom repository, you'll need to use the snap package described below instead of the repository. To remove the repository we just added, use this command:

sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:webupd8team/atom

You can also install Atom as a snap package, but it must be installed with the --classic flag. A full explanation of classic snaps is available if you'd like to read more about why you need the classic flag.

snap install atom --classic

Using Arch, Manjaro, or another distro using the AUR? Use this command instead:

sudo pacman -S atom

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is yet another fantastic choice for programming on Linux, especially if you need those extra add-ons to spice up your late-night coding sessions. The theme used in the screenshot is Mars by theme creator Eliver Lara, who makes a ton of great themes for VS Code, Atom, and various Linux desktop environments.

To install VS Code, you'll need to download the .deb file from the official website. Once you've downloaded the file, either double-click it to install through the Software Center or run the following command:

sudo dpkg -i FILE_NAME.deb

You can also install VS Code as a snap package, but it must be installed with the --classic flag. A full explanation of classic snaps is available if you'd like to read more about why you need the classic flag.

snap install code --classic

Using Arch, Manjaro, or another distro using the AUR? Use these commands instead:

sudo pacman -S yay binutils make gcc pkg-config fakeroot yay -S visual-studio-code-bin

GNOME Tweaks

GNOME Tweaks is the ultimate tool to use if you want to customize your GNOME desktop environment. This is how you can switch application themes (GTK), shell themes, icons, fonts, and more. To install GNOME Tweaks on Ubuntu, you just need to install the official package.

sudo apt install gnome-tweaks

If you've installed Manjaro or Arch with Gnome, you should have the tweak tool pre-installed. If you're on Fedora, this tool is available as an official package:

sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks

Steam

Steam is one of the most popular gaming libraries for computers and is one of the main reasons that many people have been able to switch to Linux in recent years, thanks to Steam Proton, which makes it easier to play games not officially created for Linux platforms.

To install Steam on Ubuntu, you just need to install the official package.

sudo apt install steam-installer

For Arch-based systems, you'll simply need to install the steam package. However, this requires that you enable the multilib source. To do so, use the following command:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Now, scroll down and uncomment the multilib section.

# Before:
#[multilib]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

# After:
[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Finally, install the program:

sudo pacman -S steam

Problem Launching Steam Games? Click Here.

Command-Line Packages

neofetch

Neofetch is a customizable tool used in the command-line to show system information. This is exceptionally useful if you want to see your system's information quickly without the clutter of some resource-heavy GUI apps.

This is an official package if you're running Ubuntu 17.04 or later, so simply use the following command:

sudo apt install neofetch

If you're running Ubuntu 16.10 or earlier, you'll have to use a series of commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dawidd0811/neofetch; sudo apt update; sudo apt install neofetch

Using Arch, Manjaro, or another distro using the AUR? Use this command instead:

sudo pacman -S neofetch

yt-dlp

yt-dlp is an extremely handy command-line tool that allows you to download video or audio files from various websites, such as YouTube. There are a ton of different options when running this package, so be sure to run yt-dlp --help first to look through everything you can do (or give up and search for the best config online).

While this shouldn't be a problem for most users, yt-dlp requires Python 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+ to work correctly, so install Python if you don't have it already. You can check to see if you have Python installed by running:

python -V

To get the youtube-dl package, simply curl the URL and output the results.

sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

Finally, make the file executable so that it can be run from the command-line.

sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp