Software we would love to see on Linux (excluding games)

[IreMinMon]

So with the launch of Windows 10, end user license agreements have changed dramatically. Microsoft is attempting to to change the way they are selling their software - not as a product, but rather as a service. Microsoft account integration, Cortana, DirectX 12 being exclusive to Windows 10 are just a few things power users aren't too happy about. And lately, there has been proofs of Windows 10 trying to connect to Microsoft's serves without being given any kind of instruction to do so. This raises questions on whether the software you bought can be considered your property, or even safe/private enough to be trusted.

Many people decided to jump ship for this particular reason. In 2016, casual computer users will find most of the software that works on Windows work on Linux aswell, or have an open-source alternative, but there are still certain programs that have neither Linux port or open-source alternative.

The purpose of this thread is to point out the kind of software Linux lacks the most and educate the LTT community on open-source alternatives Linux already supports. Hopefully this thread can help open-source developers understand the needs of Linux community and/or extend the list of alternative software on the amazing thread by rashdanml.

The rules:

• No games or drivers - it is too simple to point out all of this software and too hard for the open-source community to actually write proper alternatives (DRM). Maybe in a separate thread.
• Try not to point out software that has a Linux alternative which is not just as functional. That means open-source community is aware of the need for software of such kind and is working on it
• The lower list will be updated as LTT community posts their suggestions
• I might decide to add a rule or two in order to keep conversation constructive

The list:

• Flawless Widescreen
• MSI Afterburner
• Text-to-speech applications
• DaVinci  Resolve

Please, leave a comment about what you would want to be ported over to Linux, so we can improve the list!

[Totalschaden1997]

I would love to see some kind of good CAD and CAM software, since the closest you can get is Fusion 360 for Mac...

[impure]

Not sure if this violates (2) but I'd love to see a good text to speech program. There are some available but they usually need a bunch of terminal commands, don't sound natural, ior require an internet connection. Also I'd like to adjust the reading speed as well.

[IreMinMon]

3 hours ago, Totalschaden1997 said:

I would love to see some kind of good CAD and CAM software, since the closest you can get is Fusion 360 for Mac...

1) FreeCAD - the perfect AutoCAD and Solidworks replacement. 
2) OpenFOAM - The best open-source alternative to ANSYS tools (primarily used for numerical simulation in Structural and Mechanical Engineering). 
3) Scilab - excellent replacement for MATLAB (which is cross-platform, while still proprietary). Scilab is the free and open-source equivalent based on Python.
4) Octave - very similar to Scilab and MATLAB. 
5) Scipy - a python extension specifically for scientific and simulation-based calculations. 
6) CAElinux - Should really belong in a section of its own, as it's an entire distribution built around CAE. 

Originally posted by rashdanml, I just copied the exact thing down there.

[JUJUJU655624667]

Just applications in general. 

[IreMinMon]

On 2/14/2016 at 10:06 PM, JUJUJU655624667 said:

Just applications in general. 

Yeah, but, most of the applications are already there, or have very good alternatives....

[flowalex]

Show Cue System I have the Platinum Level I think, and I have gotten it to work somewhat in WINE, but it is not usable for real time playback in a show, as well as ETC Nomad software.