What Application Do You Want Ported to Linux?
January 30th, 2006 by Web Editor in
A couple of weeks ago, Novell's Cool Solutions on-line users community site posted a survey asking people what Windows-only applications they are using that prevent them from switching to Linux. The survey also asks current Linux users what Windows-only applications they would like to see ported to Linux. Novell's end goal is to take the survey results to the vendors and ask them to work with Novell on making Linux ports available.
On an individual basis, many Linux users for years have been requesting a Linux port of QuickBooks or Photoshop, to no avail. The standard response from developers and vendors has been "there isn't enough of a user base to make Linux ports worthwhile". With this survey Novell is hoping that many voices united finally will motivate the application vendors.
Last week, Cool Solutions shared the first round of survey results. So far, the top-three application port requests are QuickBooks, AutoCAD and Photoshop, respectively. Overall, most of the requests are for financial and multimedia application ports.
To get your voice heard and your application needs counted, take part in the Cool Solutions survey now.
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Live From the Field
Most Wanted Appl 2 Linux OneNote.
On January 21st, 2008 Anonymous (not verified) says:
OneNote is the ONLY MS app. I find it very, very, difficult to live without.
I would pay for it, again, if it were ported to Linux (esp.Ubuntu/Deb). Or, I would pay for a Linux alternative that really mimicks 75% of OneNote's features!
If you've never tried it, DON'T! It's like a drug! LOL
You can download a free 60 trial at MS office online. After the download expires (and it doesn't expire in exactly 60 days, more like 95), you can still use it to view OneNote docs.
So, which brilliant programmers out there will rise to the challenge??? :)
M$ Office 2007
On December 13th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Yes, there are substitutes, but nothing beats M$ Office. M$ Office is used by the majority so life would be easier if Linux users would be using the same Office because exporting would be easier. Other than that, it's hard to find substitute to programs like Office Groove and Office OneNote
+1 to OneNote
On October 21st, 2007 Deniz Çınar (not verified) says:
+1 to OneNote
autodesk 3d studio
On July 20th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
autodesk 3d studio max
please!
Outlook and proper Exchange
On June 11th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Outlook and proper Exchange integration.
E-mail is the most dominant tool in corporate environments and M$ and Exchange seem to be the biggest player here.
The current version of the Exchange Connector sux big time. Needs a better port of that Exchange connector code (which is a hack/workaround), or a complete Outlook for Linux as opposed to Evolution.
FLASH FXP
On May 20th, 2006 jcc (not verified) says:
We need it! There is no good counterpart for FlashFXP for linux! Iglooftp , kftpgrabber and kasablanca are three big clients of discontent, yeah they work but they are far away from perfect (as in flashfxp:)!
Flash FXP supports perfect site-to-site transers and SSL/TLS transfers. FlashFXP also features nice queuing and site managing. And yes, I've tried FlashFXP under WINE, SSL and dir-listing problems.
SwiftFXP was a nice idea, too bad it's not under development anymore.
However FlashFXP is the only client for professionals, PORT IT!
FlashFXP counterpart
On July 10th, 2007 Alexlendar (not verified) says:
Recommand that CrossFTP is a good counterpart for FlashFXP in linux. For KDE, the latest KFTP 0.81 is a good candidate.
Flashfxp
On September 24th, 2006 Hyper (not verified) says:
I agree, we need flashfxp, itś a great ftp-client for windows, to bad there is no one like it for windows, and wine doesnt make it work very good, port it please! :)
FlashFXP
On May 8th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
FlashFXP
one more for FlashFXP
On July 13th, 2006 esoos (not verified) says:
Word, I put my hat in for FlashFXP as well. Solid, stable, frequenty updated, I've become quite dependent on it.
Only 2
On March 3rd, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
I think that it would be nice if there was a program like MS ACCESS in linux. Something with that level of simplicity, in particular. It's pretty easy to throw together some data entry forms and reports for an SQL database in just a few minutes with it. Right now I just write something, and I have toolkits that make it fairly easy, but it would be nice to have it for some of the smaller projects. I wouldn't care if it worked with the MDB files or used it's own kind of data files, as long as it actually simplified everything as much as Access does.
Another tool that I don't really need but I think would be nice to have is Dreamweaver. I can do a lot with PHP to simulate the whole "template" functionality, but I've never found anything as fast, easy, and effective as Dreamweaver for just building a small website fast.
Other than that, I think all of the linux programs I use are better than anything I've found on Windows. I've become so dependent on the power and flexibility of all of my linux software that I can barely even use Windows anymore. It's like a stripped down show plane out of the box, and without thousands of dollars and hours of research time it's almost completely useless. A better and more productive topic might actually be "What linux programs do you want ported to Windows?".
access? it's a joke, isn't it?
On May 7th, 2006 Cockroach (not verified) says:
I'm a programmer, we work a lot with databases and we always talk about microsoft's software if we wanna laugh, specially access.
Also, why waste time porting Linux applications to windows? Let the windows people continue with their never-ending problems, they do have alternatives, windows failure is inevitable as people become less stupid.
There is one thing that really upsets me, as microsoft prevents our technology to advance faster by having a hold of so many desktops with their trash-OS, Microsoft spends a lot of money on advertisement, however, no Linux advertisement exists, so it has been a race without competition for Microsoft, it is now so easy for microsoft to force people pay for trash-OS in their box when one buys a new computer.
OpenOffice2 Base provides a
On March 17th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
OpenOffice2 Base provides a pretty good alternative to Access. And it works in Linux. Has the advantage of working on a variety of different database backends, as well as having it's own built-in database system similar to MS Access DB's.
halflife counterstike
On March 2nd, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
halflife counterstrike install.exe
why would I do something so dumb?
On May 6th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
without any doubt, MSIE is the worse browser in the world. The only reason why people use it is because MS propaganda and people simply do not bother to use something more productive such as opera or firefox, they simply stack their desktop with a window-mess. Most people that try any alternative to MSIE never go back to MSIE.
I most decidedly would not.
On March 17th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
I most decidedly would not. At least, not until Microsoft bothers to actually apply the standards for HTML and other web technologies as provided by the W3C.
Exchange
On February 17th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Exchange
Just keep improving the
On February 8th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Just keep improving the multimedia programs like RealPlayer and Amarok. Streamed video is still choppy and out of sync in many cases. I'd also like to see improved hardware drivers for video, sound, cable modems and network interface cards.
Not so much an app but...
On February 7th, 2006 Paulinbkk (not verified) says:
The two most important things that will have me give up Windows.
1. Linux needs both a DDE Server and OLE type embedding, and apps that support it. I don't care if I have to pay for the apps, just give me the damn ability to link my data across different files, file types, and across the network.
2. Decent programming tools. I don't want to spend 2 days writing and debugging a small program to automate my business documents. I want it done in 5 mins and working properly!
2.1. Linux needs to be faster. Not a real complaint but try opening Writer and Calc at the same time and I am on a coffee break. WinXP is 10 times more responsive on the desktop.
I love and use Fedora, OOo, Squid, and Firefox at home -- because it's free! I would also be willing to adopt these free apps at the office as well. I wouldn't switch though if I had to pay for them because they are a poor substitute compared to MSO.
Linux is faster than windows
On May 6th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
unless you installed a bunch of servers and stuff you don't need, the reason this does not often happen with microsoft is because windows software is very expensive and takes light-years to install, while a linux installation is straight forward and done in a matter of minutes, with all the software most people will ever need, unlike windows takes about a whole day the computer is good for anything and somewhat secure. There are many web sites that explain how to install linux, but because there are so many most people never bother reading them for a half hour, microsoft does have the microsoft.com label defined for people to go get lost.
RE: Not so much an app but...
On March 30th, 2006 francesco (not verified) says:
In my humble opinion linux is not slower than windows... I use OOo with no problem. Maybe your Gnu/linux is not correctly configured.
whatcha mean, "application"?
On February 6th, 2006 bee kay (not verified) says:
Many of us are stuck with MSWin due to remote access clients, such as MSRA. Does that count as an application? Results may be skewed by the "app" dropdown.
Alternative to MS OneNote and Tablet PC support!
On February 5th, 2006 Michael R. Rose (not verified) says:
OneNote is the perfect notetaking application for Tablet PCs. Without it, I can't imagine being able to switch to Linux on my TC1100 (and believe me, I would love to). For just about everything else I NEED to do, I can find a Linux alternative. I too would love better gaming support, but that is something I don't need. OneNote is a great product and has become and indispensible tool for me.
The opensource community really needs to come up with and support an open document format for digital ink related files and some sort of notetaking application. It would be even better if it could import Onenote documents. Something like this should be scalable from small handhelds to Tablet PCs and other desktop/laptop computers with pen digitizers. I know of GPE, Familar, Qtopia, and OpenZaurus for handhelds running Linux, but I have yet to see something to go up against the Tablet PC features that Microsoft is offering in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Tablet PC support is going to be standard in all the various versions of Vista as well. Hopefully before Vista ships, there will be a viable alternative for Linux distributions.
Basket is here
On September 18th, 2006 Bea (not verified) says:
Just discovered KDE's answer to OneNote - Basket
Check it out here - http://basket.kde.org/
Basket is here
On September 18th, 2006 Keith Daniels says:
It's a lot more than a replacement for OneNote -- IMO. I like it a lot and use it all the time for many different things.
Webmaster.
Huh?
On September 18th, 2007 Anonymous (not verified) says:
BasKet doesn't seem to have tablet support at all!
surprised at results
On February 2nd, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Wow, most programs in the pulldown menu are also in the top ten. Maybe all surveys should do the same. And act surprised at the results.
Xara Xtreme
On February 2nd, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Long time Xara user, and I know Xara is working on an OS version of Xara Xtreme: Xara LX. I hope it comes available soon.
A graphical GPS package would be nice
On February 1st, 2006 BobFahey (not verified) says:
I would like a graphical GPS package.
On a side note, a small version for cell phones would be nice.
Linux GPS packages do exist
On February 7th, 2006 numptyspence (not verified) says:
Tanke a look at www.directions.ltd.uk they do a really good GPS product for RPM based distributions not sure how well alien will move it over to a DEB But the product is top notch i run it on my laptop in the lorry.
Spence
photoshop
On February 1st, 2006 emptythought (not verified) says:
all i really miss from windows is photoshop, at least twice a day theres something i wish i could do in that.(and no, gimp is not there yet)
photoshop
On May 6th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
I used to work with photoshop at work, but I quit doing that since I discovered the gimp, I don't miss any windows program yet, I realize that in this web page people look at linux the way some people today still says Japanese cars are bad (because Japanese cars were inferior 30 years ago)
photoshop
On February 6th, 2006 d_claire (not verified) says:
Did you tell the gimp developers what makes photoshop so much better? Because for me a photoshop replacement with gimp, ImageMagick and netpbm works quite well. I rather expected to see adobe illustrator on the list.
Quickbooks or MYOB
On February 1st, 2006 Bill (not verified) says:
There is a lack of good accounting software for Linux. I was using Quickbooks before M$ bought it out and got used to the format, but MYOB is also very popular. Either, or both, would be a great addition to the Linux desktop, even better if they were open source :-)
Not really an application,
On February 1st, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Not really an application, but... How about the ability to easily install things. Thats the worst part about linux.
You have to find the right files for each kernel, then make sure you meet alllll the dependancies etc...
So so so annoying
Installation
On April 28th, 2007 pooky (not verified) says:
It all really depends on the Linux distribution. Some are more difficult at installing applications than others. Try something like Debian (or Knoppix which is easier), or Gentoo. Both work great and once installed are easy to work with (IMO).
DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++
On February 1st, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC+ DC++ DC+ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++ DC++......
also, don't use such a crap rpm based distro, stupid noob...
want DC++ for linux system
On May 19th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
want DC++ for linux system
use linuxdcpp, its the
On June 19th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
use linuxdcpp, its the best!!
You shoul try Valknut. It
On May 1st, 2006 Dan (not verified) says:
You shoul try Valknut. It works pretty fine for me, it doesn't provide a very impressive graphical interface, but after a few days using it i got used to it.
Sad but true
On February 1st, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Sometimes I regret supporting freedom of speech that much.
Acctually, I have been using
On February 1st, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Acctually, I have been using linux for about 10 years. I don't use an RPM distribution at this point either. But Thanks for the criticism.
Im currently running Debian 'Sid' on my laptop. Id have to admit that I do manage some fedora systems at work, and that they actually have better package management than Debian or any other distribution I have ever used.
Let me also add that 99% of the time for new versions of software you need to compile.
How can windows do it so well? Surely the wonderful open source "community" (collective?) can do better.
Propellorheads Reason, and Adobe/Macromedia
On February 1st, 2006 Lewis Walsh (not verified) says:
The only tools that stop me moving over to Linux are Reason by Propellorheads software, which is a music authoring tool, Photoshop/Illustrator, and Flash.
Games.
On February 1st, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Games. There are solid counterpoints for nearly every type of application out there. OpenOffice is a good alternative to MS Office. Firefox is arguably better than IE. Gimp is nearly as good as photoshop and it's free!
Essentially, everything I want on linux is there -- it is missing games however, especially Direct3D games. If I could sit down and fire up Black & White 2, Civiliation IV and World of Warcraft with no issues, I'd probably never come out of Gentoo. My wife would probably insist on a linux port of iTunes however.
Games
On March 3rd, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
I'm not really a big gamer, but I'd have to agree with this one too. Most of my friends use linux to do everything but play games. Many of them won't even connect their Windows computers to the Internet because their afraid that they'll be infected with worms and viruses if they do, and it seems like a valid concern to me. At any rate, running games is the only reason that 90% of the people I know install Windows at all, and the only reason that I would.
OpenOffice is a good alternative to MS Office
On February 7th, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
It depends on your definition of good. Last time I checked, for any kind of complex work and work using data MS Office is still much better. I would also say (weird idiocyncracies aside) that MS Office is easier to use quicker.
GAMES - THE MOST IMPORTANT PORT
On February 2nd, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
Absolutely Games are the most important port.
Its by far the biggest part of the Software Industry.
The Gaming Industry is almost completely isolated from Linux.
It we could run any D3D game as easy as it is on windows, then Linux could go mainstream. Thats the sad fact.
Any OS, Mac, Windows, Linux can web surf, wordprocess, tell time etc. But the one thing 2 of them is missing is gaming.
Some progress is being made... cedega, wine... but its still got a long way to go. It doesnt help that cedega is commercial, and not part of every distro freely out of box.
Games
On February 1st, 2006 Duewydo (not verified) says:
MR. Anonymous is right!
Every popular big hit game comes to Windows first and prime time. by the time you see it on other platforms its old news. I know you have wine and other was to emulate windows api and play games and for example a way to run battlefield 2 just came out, but bf2 is old. I would hop to any linux disto on my main desktop in a heat beat if I knew any new game I wanted to play I woudl be able too, that is the single thing I need that I dont have
Photoshop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
On February 1st, 2006 Richard Pope (not verified) says:
Photoshop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
better, photoshop open
On February 1st, 2006 Anonymous (not verified) says:
better, give us PHOTOSHOP OPEN SOURCE! (I think it's called GIMP but it just doesn't compare yet. We need more professional programming! Do the stuff commercial coders do, not just the stuff you wanna do!)