this post was submitted on 30 May 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What are your must-have programs? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by land@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Trying to discover new/unheard Linux desktop programs (Sorry for the confusion).

Edit: I apologise for confusing a lot of people. I meant Linux desktop “programs” coming from Windows/Mac. I'm used to calling them “apps”.

Edit: 🙌 I’m overwhelmed with the great “programs” people have recommended in the comment section. Thank you guys.

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[–] Ramin_HAL9001@lemmy.ml 19 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (10 children)

Emacs.

Emacs is an app platform in and of itself, and the vanilla installation comes with dozens of its own apps pre-installed. Like how web apps are all programmed in JavaScript, Emacs apps are all programmed in Lisp. All Emacs apps are scriptable and composable in Lisp. Unlike on the web, Emacs encourages you to script your apps to automate things yourself.

Emacs apps are all text based, so they all work equally well in both the GUI and the terminal.

Emacs comes with the following apps pre-installed:

  • a text editor for both prose and computer code
  • note taking and organizer called Org-mode (sort of like Obsidian, or Logseq)
  • a file browser and batch file renamer called Dired
  • a CLI console and terminal emulator
  • a terminal multiplexer (sort-of like "Tmux")
  • a process manager (sort-of like "Htop")
  • a simple HTML-only web browser
  • man-page and info page browser
  • a wrapper around the Grep and Find CLI tools
  • a wrapper around SSH called "Tramp"
  • e-mail client
  • IRC client
  • revion control system, including a Git porcelain called "Magit"
  • a "diff" tool
  • ASCII art drawing program
  • keystroke recorder and playback

Some apps that I install into Emacs include:

  • "Mastodon.el" Mastodon client
  • "Elfeed" RSS feed reader
  • "consult" app launcher (sort-of like "Dmenu")
[–] yetAnotherUser@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

How do you think one should get started with Emacs? Should they start start with regular GNU Emacs or should they install one of the "distros"?

[–] arxdat@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago

Honestly, just download/install from your package manager and then start using it. One of the best built-in modes is called Org mode. Don't try anything crazy because it's easy to get overwhelmed. It took me some periods of stopping and starting before things felt natural and became my daily driver.

[–] Ramin_HAL9001@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

How do you think one should get started with Emacs? Should they start start with regular GNU Emacs or should they install one of the “distros”?

I always recommend using the default setup for any software. The same goes for learning GIMP, Krita, Blender, FreeCAD, or whatever else, even though you can customize them all to your liking.

It is usually a good idea to try and learn the workflow that was intended by the people who developed this software, you could learn something from trying to use the computer in the same way that the professionals do. Same for Emacs: professional software developers have used it for almost 50 years, the default keyboard shortcuts are set the way they are partially for random historical reasons, but partially because they often make a lot of sense.

If you are interested, please check out my blog series on getting started with Emacs, called Emacs for Professionals

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