Linux resources

Software

Office suites

OpenOffice.org http://www.openoffice.org/
An application suite similar to MS Office, including Writer word processor, Calc spreadsheet, Impress presentation manager. Available for Linux, Windows, and Mac. OpenOffice version 2.0, first released in 2005, adds Math equation editor and Base user-friendly graphical database manager. General-purpose desktop-type Linux distributions usually include a version of OpenOffice.org.
StarOffice http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/
Sun Microsystems bought StarOffice in 1999; OpenOffice.org is the LGPL version. Sun releases their own versions of the suite under the StarOffice name with some third-party proprietary elements.
KOffice http://koffice.kde.org/
For the KDE desktop environment
GNOME Office http://live.gnome.org/GnomeOffice
For the GNOME desktop environment; AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet, and GNOME-DB database connectivity software. Apparently not considered especially mature or integrated; I have the impression most GNOME users are probably also OpenOffice.org users.
Applixware Office http://www.vistasource.com/
Proprietary (not open source)
SoftMaker Office http://www.softmaker.com/
Proprietary
Wikipedia: Comparison of office suites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_office_suites

Windows emulator systems

Crossover Office http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxoffice/
Supposedly lets you run Microsoft Office 2000, XP, or 2003 on Linux; also lists many other Windows apps including Adobe Dreamweaver (WYSIWYG HTML generator/editor) and Adobe FrameMaker (technical publishing).
VMware http://www.vmware.com/
VMware lets you create virtual machines, run multiple whole operating systems simultaneously, switch between them at will, and even copy and paste. It requires approximately the sum of the RAM and disk space requirements of the set of operating systems you want to run. An example: you can boot Linux, open a VMware virtual machine, then boot Microsoft Windows inside the VM.
Win4Lin http://www.win4lin.com/
WINE http://www.winehq.com/

Email clients

Mozilla Thunderbird http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/
Opera Mail http://www.opera.com/
Opera version 7 introduced a new database-based mail client called M2, and I hear complaints about it. Your mileage may vary.
Evolution http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/
For the GNOME Desktop
Pronto http://www.muhri.net/pronto/
Balsa http://balsa.gnome.org/
Two more GNOME email clients
KMail http://www.kde.org/
A KDE email client
Mutt* http://www.mutt.org/
Pine* http://www.washington.edu/pine/
Pine was my first email client, on a Unix shell account I had for fifteen months.

* Console-based (text mode) email clients

Other Linux software

Mozilla Firefox Web browser http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Opera for Linux Web browser http://www.opera.com/
Konqueror http://www.konqueror.org/
Web browser and file manager for the KDE desktop environment
Virtual Network Computing http://www.realvnc.com/
VNC is an open-source, Free Software product for high-performance remote console logins. It lets you control one PC from another, somewhat similar to PCanywhere, but it works cross-platform on Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac, over a LAN or over the Internet.
MySQL http://www.mysql.com/
Open-source database management system for Linux and Windows
Arkeia http://www.arkeia.com/
High-performance backup software for Linux, including a free version for home and small business (supports one server, two clients).
AMANDA http://www.amanda.org/
Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver; set up a backup server to back up multiple computers over a network.
The GIMP http://www.gimp.org/
The GNU Image Manipulation Program, free software's answer to Photoshop
Bluefish editor http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/
A powerful and user-friendly editor for programmers and Web designers. Debian, Ubuntu, and Gentoo users have specific provision in their distro for Bluefish.
Quanta Plus http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/
Web development tool for the KDE desktop environment
Linux Applications and Utilities Page http://stlinux.ouhk.edu.hk/linapps/linapps.shtml
Linux Software Map http://www.boutell.com/lsm/
Wikipedia category: Linux software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Linux_software

Hardware

Linux-Friendly Hardware (Linux Online) http://www.linux.org/hardware/
Linux-drivers.org http://www.linux-drivers.org/
Linux hardware compatibility lists & Linux drivers
Red Hat Hardware Catalog http://bugzilla.redhat.com/hwcert/
Linux on Laptops http://www.linux-laptop.net/
Beowulf "cluster computing" http://www.beowulf.org/
A way to make a supercomputer by interconnecting a group of Linux PCs
The Stone SouperComputer http://stonesoup.esd.ornl.gov/
A Beowulf cluster at Oak Ridge National Lab that was made out of cast-off 486s and Pentiums

Print resources

Linux Journal http://www.linuxjournal.com/
The oldest Linux magazine; scholarly and programmer orientation. Published by SSC
Linux Magazine http://www.linux-mag.com/
"The chronicle of the revolution" began publishing in Spring 1999; oriented more towards Linux beginners and troubleshooting
Specialized Systems Consultants (SSC) http://www.ssc.com/
Unix and Linux publications
O'Reilly & Associates http://www.oreilly.com/
Another great source for Linux books
Running Linux, 5th Edition, O'Reilly (ISBN 0596007604, $50 list) http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/runlinux5/
Linux In A Nutshell, 5th Edition, O'Reilly (ISBN 0596009305, $45 list) http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxnut5/
3rd edition reviewed in Maximum Linux magazine Nov/Dec 2000: " ... the ultimate Linux command reference dictionary."
Linux for Non-Geeks, No Starch Press (ISBN 1593270348, $35 list)

General Linux links

www.linux.org - Linux Online http://www.linux.org/
Linux User Groups http://www.linux.org/groups/
Linux Archive at UNC Chapel Hill http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/
This is what used to be sunsite.unc.edu, and then metalab.unc.edu; you can download Linux for free, here and from many other sources.
The Linux Documentation Project http://www.tldp.org/
Primary resource for public information about Linux
Linux User Group HOWTO http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/User-Group-HOWTO.html
Wikipedia Linux article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
LinuxChix http://www.linuxchix.org/
A community for women who like Linux, and for supporting women in computing
Linux Central http://www.linuxcentral.com/
The Linux Counter http://counter.li.org/index.html
Yahoo: Linux

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