Best Open Source Tools

Nick Peers reveals 10 fantastic tools and applications that should be on every Ubuntu user’s radar, for maximising their time in the distro.

- Nick Peers

An operating system stands or falls on the quality of its programs, and Linux is no exception. Thankfully, you’ll find a rich seam of applications spanning all your needs, and we’ve dug out 10 of the absolute best to help you get started.

Unless stated, all programs can be installed through the Ubuntu Software store app, but where multiple versions exist, choose the Snap version, which will ensure you’ll always have access to the latest version.

VLC Media Player

Ubuntu’s built-in Videos tool is good, but it will struggle with more demanding movies – for example, it can struggle with 4K video encoded using the h.265 codec. That’s where VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org/ vlc) steps in. This configurable video player can handle just about anything you throw at it, making it a reliable choice for anything you care to watch through your PC.

VLC can even do a great job of playing HDR content through non-HDR displays without making the image appear dull and washed out, but you’ll need to set things up first. Choose Tools>Preferences>Video tab. Select All under Show settings to reveal all available options, then expand Video>Output modules to select OpenGL. Change the Tone-mapping algorithm dropdown to Mobious (linear + knee) and click Save to produce more vibrant images.

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