For the Linux newbie....

Ubuntu

Very easy to install and use. Includes Open Office and Firefox.

Edubuntu

Probably the one to try if you are working in the education commuity. Includes Open Office, Firefox, and some educational software.

For the techno tinkerer....

(Check out Linux Ditros for a more comprehensive list.)

 

ArchLinux

 

BeLinux

 

Debian

 

Engarde

Internet-based OS.

gOS Space

Includes a Dock just like another popular OS!

 

k12TSP

K12 terminal server project

Knoppix

 

Linspire

 

Linux-xp

Porting Windows XP desktop to a Linux environment.

 

Fedora

 

Mandriva

 

OpenSUSE

 

Red Hat

 

Slackware

 

VectorLinux

 

Canorus (Mac, Win, Lin)

Music score editor.

Celestia (Mac, Win, Lin)

Planetarium software.

ChildsPlay (Mac, Win, Lin)

Educational games suite.

Crossword Builder (Web Based)

Includes a maths capability.

eXe (Mac, Win, Lin)

Multi-project authoring. Cloze, etc. Runs in a browser.

GCompris (Win, Lin)

Educational activities for young children.

JMemorize (Win, Lin)

Flashcard application.

LilyPond (Mac, Win, Lin)

Music notation software.

Multiplication Station (Mac, Win, Lin)

Maths drill software.

MuseScore (Win, Lin)

Music score typesetter.

NoteEdit (Lin)

Music score editor.

Stellarium (Mac, Win, Lin)

Plenetarium software.

TuxMath (Win, Lin)

Maths game software.

TuxMathScrabble (Mac, Win, Lin)

Maths scrabble.

TuxPaint (Mac, Win, Lin)

Painting application.

TuxType (Win, Lin)

Typing tutor.

TuxWordSmith (Mac, Win, Lin)

Scrabble game.

Art of Illusion (Mac, Win, Lin)

3D modelling software.

Audacity (Mac, Win, Lin)

Sound editing and recording.

AvideMux (Mac, Win, Lin)

Video editor.

Blender (Mac, Win, Lin)

3D animation software.

Gimp (Mac, Win, Lin)

Image editor.

Gungirl Sequencer (Win, Lin)

Audio track sequencer.

Hydrogen (Mac, Win, Lin)

Drum machine.

Inkscape (Mac Win, Lin)

Vector graphics editor, like Illustrator.

Jahshaka (Mac, Win, Lin)

Video editor.

Miro (Mac, Win, Lin)

Internet TV

VLC (Mac, Win, Lin)

Multi-format video player.

Linux.org

Linux @ Wikipedia

Open Office (Mac, Win, Lin)

Open source 'office' suite, comprising Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw & Base applications. Free.

Star Office (Win, Lin)

Corporate implementation of Open Office.
Not free.

Neo Office (Mac)

Mac implementation of Open Office.
PPC and Intel versions. Free.

OpenOSX Office (Mac)

Full featured open source office software. Includes AbiWord, Gnumeric, Inkscape, Diagram, Gnucash and Gimp. Low cost.

AbiWord (Mac, Win, Lin)

Fast and polished word processor.

Dia (Win, Lin)

Diagramming software, similar to Visio.

GanttProject (Mac, Win, Lin)

Gantt chart based project management software.

GNUCash (Win, Lin)

Financial accounting software.

Gnumeric (Win, Lin)

Full featured spreadsheet application.

Scribus (Mac, Win, Lin)

Open Source DTP and page layout software.
PPC Only for OS X. Free.

Sunbird (Mac. Win, Lin)

Calendar application. From Mozilla.

Adium (Mac)

Instant messaging software.

aMSN (Lin)

Instant messaging software.

Azureus (Mac, Win, Lin)

BitTorrent client.

eXe (Mac, Win, Lin)

Includes a web editor. Runs in a browser.

FileZilla (Mac, Win, Lin)

FTP client.

Firefox (Mac, Win, Lin)

Popular web browser.

FrostWire (Mac, Win, Lin)

Peer to peer filesharing.

Juice (Mac, Win, Lin)

Podcast receiver.

Kompozer (Mac, Win, Lin)

A development of the Nvu web editor.

Miro (Mac, Win, Lin)

Internet TV

Nvu (Mac, Win, Lin)

Web page editor.

Pidgin (Win, Lin)

Instant messaging.

SeaMonkey (Mac, Win, Lin)

All-in-one browser, web-editor, email suite.

Thunderbird (Mac, Win, Lin)

Email client.

 

Fire Up Your Own Linux server

Notes about installing a Linux server.

LiveLAMP

Can turn any PC into an instant server capable of supporting up to 1,000 users.

SENTRAL (Commercial)

A dedicated UNIX server built on FreeBSD 6, with a variety of plug-in modules to provide a complete educational "solution" for schools. All aspects of the software are web-based for the admin, student or staff user.

XAMPP

XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. Easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start. Ideal to install on Windows PCs.

See also:

Proxy servers and content filters.