Useful Tools for your Ubuntu installation

With the advent of the latest release of probably the most preferred Linux distro, Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), life for a lot of has become simpler. I have been loving the changelog that Ubuntu team works on. With their six-monthly release schedule they come back with better UI, support for new technologies, newer kernel, etc. You may wish to check out the scintillating features of the latest release.

I wonder if a lot of reader know the Ubuntu philosophy which says “I am what I am because of who we all are”. Ubuntu, from its birth has focused on providing a stable, user friendly and easy to install and up to date operating system.

What adds to the glory is the availability of numerous free applications that help you do most of what you’ll need to pay for on a alternative operating system.

The following are a few useful tools which make life simpler;

• APTonCD - A tool that can be used to create local repositories for the various downloaded files from the web keeping the dependencies on a DVD/CD intact. This also permits the installation of these packages on another installation without the usage of internet.
• CheckGmail - One of the easiest and smallest tool that positions itself in the taskbar and notifies a user whenever there is a new Gmail in the mailbox! On clicking the small notification window, the default browser leads you to Gmail.
• Ubuntu Tweak - With the use of wizard based easy to use interface, this tools helps in easy configuration of Ubuntu. This makes a lot of tedious tasks simpler. A must have for noobs.
• 3UNetbootin - Well known as Universal NetBoot Installer. It eases the installation on either a HDD partition or a USB drive. Another point worth noting down is that it is available both on Linux and Windows platform.
• GSmartControl - Control and monitor storage systems by using Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology System (SMART) which is built in ATA and SCSI hard-disks. By installing this tool, various information about the Hard Disk Drive such as its state, degradation and other parameters is made available for easy viewing.

You may use the inbuilt package manager to search and install these applications with a few mouse clicks.

I could find a lot of other interesting tools as well which help optimizing your Linux installation with their powerful-yet-simple UI. Most of these tools intend to improve the overall performance of the system.

Another key concern for novice users is the presence of hacking element which tend to create vulnerability. You may like to have a look at this interesting Ubuntu Geek article that showcases few tools that help you safeguard your beloved Ubuntu installation gainst security issues and concerns.

Before we close, I would like to share an interesting list of bandwidth monitoring tools for Ubuntu users.