Software Recommendations for Linux

Overview

This guide maps common Windows software to their Linux equivalents, with install commands that fit Ubuntu 24.04-based distros.

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The Problem (Windows User Perspective)

You’re used to specific apps on Windows and want to find their Linux equivalents. Some apps (like VLC, Chrome, VS Code) work identically on Linux. Others (like Microsoft Office, Adobe suite) have no official Linux version and need alternatives. This guide maps everything out.

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Install With Clean System Control

This guide gives quick app recommendations, but the clean-system rule still applies: install one app from one source, update it from that same source, and uninstall it with the matching package manager.

Before adding several apps from this list, read the clean installation and removal best practices. That guide explains when to use apt, Snap, Flatpak, .deb files, AppImage, and source builds without losing track of what owns your files.

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Essential Software by Category

Web Browsers

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
Chrome	Chrome (same)	wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb && sudo apt install ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
Edge	Edge (same)	See Browser Setup Guide
Firefox	Firefox (often pre-installed)	Already installed on many Ubuntu-based desktops, including the tested setup
Brave	Brave (same)	See Browser Setup Guide

Office & Productivity

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
Microsoft Office	Office PWA / Web Apps (Highly Recommended)	See Microsoft Office on Linux
Microsoft Office (offline alt)	LibreOffice or ONLYOFFICE	See details below or Office alternatives
Notepad	Text Editor (often pre-installed)	Already installed on many Ubuntu-based desktops
Notepad++	VS Code or Gedit	See VS Code Setup (requires Microsoft APT repo)
OneNote / Notion	Obsidian	sudo snap install obsidian --classic
Standard Notes	Standard Notes	sudo snap install standard-notes
Windows Clipboard History	Windows 11 Clipboard History for Linux or CopyQ	See Clipboard Manager Guide

Communication

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
Zoom	Zoom (same)	wget https://zoom.us/client/latest/zoom_amd64.deb && sudo apt install ./zoom_amd64.deb
Discord	Discord (same)	sudo snap install discord or download .deb from discord.com
Slack	Slack (same)	sudo snap install slack
Telegram	Telegram (same)	sudo apt install telegram-desktop
Thunderbird (email)	Thunderbird (same)	sudo apt install thunderbird
Signal	Signal (same)	sudo snap install signal-desktop

Media & Entertainment

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
VLC	VLC (same)	sudo apt install vlc
Windows Media Player	Celluloid	sudo apt install celluloid
iTunes / Groove Music	Rhythmbox (often pre-installed)	Already installed on many GNOME-based desktops
Spotify	Spotify	sudo snap install spotify
uTorrent / BitTorrent	qBittorrent	sudo apt install qbittorrent (see BitTorrent Guide)

Photos & Graphics

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
Photoshop	GIMP	sudo apt install gimp
Illustrator	Inkscape	sudo apt install inkscape
Windows Photos	Shotwell	sudo apt install shotwell
Paint	Drawing or another basic image editor	sudo apt install drawing (or sudo apt install pinta for a Paint.NET-like alternative)

System & Utilities

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
System Restore	Timeshift	Included on some distros; otherwise install it first. See Timeshift Guide
CCleaner	BleachBit	sudo apt install bleachbit
Task Manager	System Monitor (often pre-installed)	Already installed on many desktop installs
Everything (file search)	Catfish or your distro’s built-in search tool	Availability depends on distro flavor
7-Zip	File Roller (often pre-installed)	Already installed on many desktop installs
KeePass	KeePassXC	sudo apt install keepassxc
Bitwarden	Bitwarden	sudo snap install bitwarden

Development Tools

Windows App	Linux Equivalent	Install
VS Code	VS Code (same)	sudo apt install code
Git	Git (same)	sudo apt install git
GitHub Desktop	GitHub Desktop (community)	See install commands below
Stata	Stata (same, Linux version)	See Stata Guide
MiKTeX	TeX Live	See TeX Live Guide

ONLYOFFICE on Linux (APT):

ONLYOFFICE uses OOXML (the format behind .docx, .xlsx, .pptx) as its native format, so downloaded .docx files open without formatting breaks or crashes. It is a good complement to LibreOffice: use ONLYOFFICE for .docx compatibility and collaboration, and LibreOffice for complex long-form documents in .odt.

Install via APT (smaller footprint, native font and theme integration). You must run all three steps in order — skipping the first two and going directly to sudo apt install will fail with E: Unable to locate package onlyoffice-desktopeditors because your system does not yet know where to find it.

# 1. Add the GPG signing key
mkdir -p -m 700 ~/.gnupg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring gnupg-ring:/tmp/onlyoffice.gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys CB2DE8E5
chmod 644 /tmp/onlyoffice.gpg
sudo chown root:root /tmp/onlyoffice.gpg
sudo mv /tmp/onlyoffice.gpg /usr/share/keyrings/onlyoffice.gpg

# 2. Add the repository
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/onlyoffice.gpg] https://download.onlyoffice.com/repo/debian squeeze main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onlyoffice.list

# 3. Install
sudo apt update && sudo apt install onlyoffice-desktopeditors

Version installed on the tested setup: 9.4.0-129

Verification: After step 3, confirm the package is visible in your repos:

sudo apt search onlyoffice
# Look for: onlyoffice-desktopeditors/noble ... Desktop editors ...
# The output should include download.onlyoffice.com in the source line

Alternative — Flatpak (no terminal setup needed):

On Linux Mint, open Software Manager, search for “onlyoffice”, and click the green Install button for the Flatpak version. This bypasses all terminal commands and key management.

Note: The ONLYOFFICE repository includes an enhanced version of ttf-mscorefonts-installer (bundling ClearType fonts like Calibri and Cambria) that will appear in sudo apt upgrade output — this is expected and safe to allow.

Troubleshooting: E: Unable to locate package onlyoffice-desktopeditors

This means steps 1 and/or 2 were skipped. Your system does not have the ONLYOFFICE repository configured. Run all three steps above — the repo must be added before apt can find the package. Verify with:

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onlyoffice.list
# Should return the file path — not "No such file or directory"

Known issue: If the echo command in step 2 was accidentally run twice, you will see duplicate W: Target Packages ... is configured multiple times warnings on every apt update. Fix by overwriting the file with a single entry:

echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/onlyoffice.gpg] https://download.onlyoffice.com/repo/debian squeeze main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onlyoffice.list

GitHub Desktop on Linux:

# 1. Ensure the modern keyrings directory exists
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings

# 2. Download and install the GPG key from the current mirror
wget -qO - https://mirror.mwt.me/shiftkey-desktop/gpgkey | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/mwt-desktop.gpg > /dev/null

# 3. Add the repository
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/mwt-desktop.gpg] https://mirror.mwt.me/shiftkey-desktop/deb/ any main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mwt-desktop.list'

# 4. Install
sudo apt update && sudo apt install github-desktop

Version installed on the tested setup: 3.4.12-linux1

If you followed older guides and get an SSL certificate error:

Certificate verification failed: The certificate is NOT trusted
Failed to fetch https://apt.packages.shiftkey.dev/...

This means you have the old, now-broken shiftkey.dev repository configured. The project migrated to mirror.mwt.me. Fix it:

# Remove the old broken repository and its GPG key
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/shiftkey-packages.list
sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/shiftkey-packages.gpg
# Then run the four install steps above

AI / CLI Tools

Tool	Install	Uninstall
Claude Code (Anthropic CLI)	curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash	claude uninstall && rm -rf ~/.claude
Antigravity CLI (Google, replaces Gemini CLI)	curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash	rm -f ~/.local/bin/antigravity && rm -rf ~/.antigravitycli
Codex CLI (OpenAI)	npm install -g @openai/codex	npm uninstall -g @openai/codex && rm -rf ~/.codex

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Package Managers: Which to Use?

Manager	Best For	Speed	Disk Usage
apt	System packages, drivers, libraries	Fast	Small
Flatpak (Flathub)	Desktop apps — latest versions, sandboxed	Medium	Larger
Snap	Quick installs, auto-updates	Slower to launch	Larger
.deb download	Official packages from vendor websites	Fast	Small
AppImage	Portable apps — no install needed	Fast	Varies

General rule:

1. Check apt first — fastest, best integrated
2. If not in apt or version is old, use Flatpak from Flathub
3. Use Snap when it’s the only option
4. Download .deb from vendor website for Chrome, Zoom, Discord, etc.
5. Use AppImage for portable/trial apps

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File Search: Windows “Everything” Equivalent

The user tried FSearch but didn’t like it. Better alternatives:

Tool	Type	Install
Catfish	GUI search (available on Ubuntu-based distros)	Install if needed, or use the file manager’s built-in search
Recoll	Full-text content search	sudo apt install recoll
locate	Lightning-fast terminal search	sudo apt install mlocate && sudo updatedb

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What Didn’t Work (and Why)

Approach Tried	Why It Failed
FSearch (file search tool)	Didn’t like the interface — removed it and the PPA
Official uTorrent on Linux	Abandoned, v3.3 alpha, web-only UI
Looking for Microsoft Office on Linux	No official Linux version — use the PWA / Web App method or WinApps. See Microsoft Office on Linux.
Looking for Adobe suite on Linux	No official Linux version — use GIMP (photos), Inkscape (vectors), Kdenlive (video)

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Related Guides

• Package Management Basics — Clean install, update, and uninstall practices
• APT Repository Issues — Fix duplicate sources, key errors, and broken third-party repositories