Ubuntu Linux Desktop Productivity Tools for Ex Windows User

I am happy to announce that I have been MS-Windows/sluggish/annoyance free for the past three years by migrating to Ubuntu Linux. I didn't take the plunge in one day, the main reason for my slow/calculated migration was because there were too many Windows software tools/utilities/online-services that I used on a daily basis that I could not find(3+ years back) a good equivalent replacements for on Linux(at that time) or compatible software supported on Linux.

Over the last couple of years Linux support for "Desktop-tools" have improved a lot, and the major contribution I would say is because of Ubuntu's focus on Desktop. My observation is with Ubuntu 95% of the things just works out of the box for reasonably aged machines(laptops and desktops). The 5% of things that do not work out of the box can be easily fixed by googling the error message, thanks to the huge Ubuntu community.

In my quest to find best windows alternative FREE tools on Linux I have spent lot of time over the years and finally settled on the following tools. I hope this blog helps others who are in the same quest.


Email:
ThunderBird

Internet Browser:
FireFox
IE6 on Wine

Instant Messaging:
Pidgin

FTP:
FileZilla

Mind Map:
FreeMind

Linux Info:
Hard Info

Music Player:
Amarok

Office Documents:
Open Office
Google Docs

Disk Usage Info:
JDisk Report

Java Development:
java
eclipse
netbeans

SQL Development:
JDeveloper
sqlplus instant client

Database:
Oracle database

SOA Development:
SOAP UI

Online Share Drive:
Zumo Drive. My important files are available on any machines I login and also in my iPhone.

VPN:
"Cisco VPN Client" from CISCO with my companies profiles files.
VPNC

PDF Reader:
Adobe Reader 9

CHM Reader:
CHM Viewer

CD/DVD Burner:
K3b

Virtulization:
VMWare Player

Text Editor:
JEdit

TODO Management:
"Task" google gadget with iGoogle. I use it because the task list is available in any machine I login and also in my iPhone. I can add task through my iPhone and it is in sync when I get online.

Directory Sync:
Synkron
rsync

Diff Tools:
Meld Diff Viewer

Bookmarks:
delicious.com with FireFox plugin.

Address Book/Contacts:
yahoo.com. There is sync capability with iPhone through iTunes.

Ubuntu package holder:
wajig

Shared Storage:
ZumoDrive

Network Sniffer:
Wireshark

I am still looking for good Linux alternatives for VISIO and HyperSnap.

If you use other good FREE linux tools/utilities please let me know, I will try it out and if I find it valuable I will add it to my list. I will try to keep this post up to date as and when my tool selection changes.