PSUbuntu Applications

This is a list of suggested applications to run on your PSUbuntu installation. We have tried to provide lightweight alternatives to most programs, because of the low amount of available RAM. Most of them can be installed using the visual Add/Remove Application or using the terminal command sudo apt-get install applicationname.

Feel free to add to the list if you have suggestions for other applications.

Software Updates

Using Ubuntu 8.10, updating software should work properly using the update manager. Add more repositories using [System] > [Administration] > [Software Sources].

Web Applications

Midori

Midori is a simple and lightweight web browser based on webkit.

Opera

Opera is a sleek and very fast browser, which works great on PSUbuntu systems. To install, go to http://www.opera.com∞. You should be prompted with the correct deb file to download and run directly from the website.

Firefox 3.0

Ubuntu 8.10 already has Firefox 3 as its default web browser.

Ubuntu 7.10 comes with Firefox 2. To install the latest version of the Firefox web browser, paste the following command into a terminal window:

Multimedia Codecs

To be able to play certain file types, like mp3 and divx, you need to install some extra tools and codecs. A quick way to do this is is to paste in the terminal:

To select specific codecs go to Applications > Add/Remove... In the top right box, select Show: "All available applications", do a search for "gstreamer" and pick whatever you need from the search result list.

Music applications

Music library organizers/players:

• amarok (excellent, but depends on KDE libraries and can be quite slow on PSUbuntu)

  sudo apt-get install amarok libxine1-ffmpeg
• bluemindo (recommended)
• exaile (recommended)
• listen (default in Xubuntu 8.10)
• rhythmbox (already installed by default in Ubuntu)
• quod libet (also installs ex falso tag editor)
• sonata (requires the console based mpd)

Simple music players

• audacious (recommended)
• xmms

Really lightweight (console based)

• MOC (recommended) (launch command: mocp)
• mpd
• cmus (vi-like interface)

Video players

Some suggested video players:

VLC (sudo apt-get install vlc)
MPlayer (sudo apt-get install mplayer)

Desktop/Window Managers

One of the disadvantages with integrated desktop environments, like GNOME or KDE, is that they tend to have much higher system requirements and consume a lot of resources. Rather than using an integrated suite of programs you can simply use a standalone window manager and then just run any of the apps you want. These lightweight window managers are designed specifically to do just a very simple task and keep the resources consumed to a minimum.

Openbox

sudo aptitude install openbox obconf

See the PSUbuntu Openbox page for more information.

Fluxbox

Another lightweight alternative. Fluxbox provides you with window management, a taskbar-like window switcher and a basic panel, a right-click menu for launching applications. It is lightweight and very configurable.

See the PSUbuntu Fluxbox page for more information.

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Feel free to add more applications to the list. A comment on how it perfoms on PSUbuntu is much appreciated.