The I.T Massive!

These are some of my favourite applications for Linux/BSD, Mac and Windows. All these applications are free of charge, some are open source projects. I've also included what operating systems I used these programs in brackets for ones that aren't obvious.

Terminal Stuff

Favourite in category: Terminator (Gnome)

This is a cool little program that is very handy if you use a lot of command terminals. You can split the screen into as many terminal windows as you want, you can have multiple tabs with different groups of windows and you can maximise and zoom a single terminal window to full screen which is useful when doing demonstrations. More screenshots can be found on the project website.

Runners Up:

Guake (Gnome) / Yakuake (KDE)

Screen (Terminal Multiplexer App)
OpenSSH / PuTTY (Windows)

Dedicated Distributions

Favourite in category: pfSense

This Disribution is a FreeBSD based dedicated firewall/router device that is used on commodity hardware. I started using pfSense after I was left unsatisfied with the configurable options on Smoothwall Express and I was blown away too see all the advanced features in pfSense. pfSense is based on m0n0wall which is also a good firewall if not a little on the simple side for me.

Runners Up:

Smoothwall Express (Linux based dedicated install)

Astaro (Free Home license)

FreeNAS (FreeBSD based dedicated file server)

Monowall (FreeBSD based dedicated embedded firewall)

Text Editors

Favourite in category: TextWrangler (Mac)

TextWrangler is a powerful freeware text editor that started out as a commercial product. The program is aimed at programmers and others that need access to reading and writing source code.

Runners Up:

macvim / Vim (Mac/Linux)

Notepad++ (Windows)

Audio

Favourite in category: iTunes (Windows/Mac)

iTunes is the winner in the music library and podcast functionality as I have a iPod so it is the least hassle for me. However Amarok and Rhythmbox are good for the open source desktop.

Runners Up:
Amarok (KDE) / Rhythmbox (Gnome)

Ardour (Limited free version, Mac/Linux)
Audacity (Windows/Linux)

Video

Favourite in category: VLC (Windows, Linux, Mac)
VLC is an awesome media player that plays just about anything you chuck at it. I use this on Windows, Linux and my Mac for all my video viewing needs.

Runners Up:
HandBrake (Windows/Mac)

Office

Favourite in category: Open Office is a very nice office program that gives you most of the common features that you would expect to find. It delivers text document, spreadsheet, presentation, database and many other kinds of support. Open Office works on Windows, Linux and Mac and it's a valuable addition to any open source desktop.

Runners Up:
Scribus (Desktop Publishing Software, Linux)

Wink (Tutorial/Presentation Software, Windows)

Communication Software

Evolution / Thunderbird (Email)

Firefox (Browser)

XChat / mIRC (IRC Client)

Image Apps
GIMP (Gnome)
Inkscape (SVG)

Virtualisation

VirtualBox (Desktop VMs)
VMware Server / VMware ESXi (Server VMs)

Other

APTonCD (Linux/Apt)

Geany (IDE)

TrueCrypt (crypto, Windows/Linux)

Gobby (Collaborative Editor)