10 reasons Linux should be your netbook operating system

TechRepublic has 10 reasons Linux should be your netbook operating system.

Even if you started with Linux, you might want to change to another version, as explained in this post.

10 solid Linux distributions for your netbook

TechRepublic suggests 10 solid Linux distributions for your netbook.

Netbooks have a number of specialized versions of Linux that do well on that type of hardware.

10 Linux apps for educational environments

10 Linux applications that are perfect for educational environments covers:

• ATutor
• iTalc
• Online Grades
• Open Admin for Schools
• FET
• GCompris
• Edubuntu
• KStars
• KWordQuiz
• ChildsPlay

Simplify Media – Connect Your Music

Simplify Media is freeware which lets you play your music in iTunes, Front Row, Winamp, Windows Media Player 11, or Linux’s Rhythmbox.

It’s file streaming software for Windows/Mac/Linux systems as well as iPhone/iPod Touch.

Mac4Lin Gives Linux the Complete Mac Look

Lifehacker has a post about how Mac4Lin Gives Linux Desktops the Complete Mac Look.

Now here’s an identity crisis — you have Linux (because you like to save money?) but you want a Mac (which costs more money) so you simulate the look of a Mac on a Linux computer.

Mac4Lin is the freeware answer.

13 Great Free Backup Programs for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Download Squad has 13 Great Free Backup Programs for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Pick your operating system and find a backup program for it — and use it!

ocropus for OCR work in Linux

ocropus is a program for doing OCR (Optical Character Recognition)  in Linux.

Download Back In Time 0.9.26 for Linux

Back In Time 0.9.26 is is a simple backup system for Linux (Gnome & KDE4).

Two GUI available: Gnome and KDE 4 (>= 4.1).

Available on Softpedia.  Freeware for Linux.

Ext2 IFS For Windows and Linux

Ext2 IFS For Windows “provides Windows NT4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008 with full access to Linux Ext2 volumes (read access and write access). This may be useful if you have installed both Windows and Linux as a dual boot environment on your computer.”

Alternative software for Windows, Mac, Linux

AlternativeTo.net helps you find alternative software for other operating systems.

What’s comparable to Microsoft Office on a Mac?  Or Linux? Find alternatives to your favorite software even running other systems.  Or just find alternatives.

SpeedCrunch – fast and usable calculator

SpeedCrunch is a fast and usable calculator which is available for Windows, Linux, and Apple Mac OS X.

Overview

• history and results on a scrollable display
• up to 50 decimal precisions
• unlimited variable storage
• intelligent automatic completion
• fully usable from the keyboard
• more than 50 built-in math functions
• optional virtual keypad to be used with a mouse
• on-the-fly and selection calculation
• customizable appearance
• syntax highlighting and parentheses matching

This is recommended by a number of sites (links available on this site).

Shutter Makes Linux Screenshots Faster and Easier

Lifehacker has a post on how Shutter Makes Linux Screenshots Faster and Easier.

“Linux only: Free screenshot manager Shutter provides a really handy upgrade from the built-in GNOME screen grabber, sending your images to editors, auto-thumbnailing, sending to FTP or hosting sites, and doing much more.”

Get To Know Linux: Process Management

Get To Know Linux: Process Management covers the Linux equivalent of the CTRL/ALT/DEL “three finger salute” in Windows without actually using those keys in Linux.

Linux Process Management: Command Line

Linux Process Management: Command Line shows how to, for example, kill a process in a Linux system.

Sometimes you just have to do things the hard way.

How To Reset the Root Password in Linux

How To Reset the Root Password in Linux is a step-by-step instruction from Ghack.

Lifehacker’s Beginner’s Guide to Creating Virtual Machines with VirtualBox

Lifehacker has a post on The Beginner’s Guide to Creating Virtual Machines with VirtualBox.

” it’s an easy, free way to try or use a separate OS without messing with your hard drive.”

This might be your chance to try Linux, or maybe run just enough Windows for your needs on a Linux netbook, or whatever.

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference for FREE

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference is $10 from Amazon or FREE if you download the PDF.

Handy resource for Ubuntu Linux, and recommended by Lifehacker.

GParted the Gnome Partition Editor

GParted is the “industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging).”

Freeware.  Runs on Linux, but could be used on a Windows system from a CD or flash drive.

4 Open Source Collection Manager Apps

MakeUseOf has an article reviewing 4 Open Source Collection Manager Apps.

Alexandria (Linux) is a Gnome application specifically aimed at cataloging books.

Griffith (Windows, Linux) is fairly similar to Alexandria, but is designed for movies.

Tellico (Linux) comes packaged with support for books, comic books, videos, music, coins, stamps, cards, wines, video games, and board games and also allows custom collection types.

GCStar (Linux) has options and customization similar to Tellico.

WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper for Ubuntu

So you wanted to try Linux, but now your wireless doesn’t work?

If you’re on Ubuntu, you could try WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper.

“Even if your wireless network card does not have a native Linux driver, you may still be able to get it working with Ndiswrapper. Ndiswrapper is a Linux module which allows Ubuntu to use the Windows driver for wireless cards (in most cases).”