I want to start a conversation about the software we rely on every day. I’ve been running Linux for more than 10 years now, so I’m not exactly new to this. But I’m always curious about what tools other people find useful.
I work as a lawyer and do photography as a hobby. My computer usage falls into these main areas:
Professional tasks: Legal research, document creation, client communication
Fun stuff: Watching movies, listening to music
Learning: Digital books and news feeds
Creative work: Editing photos and videos
Professional Tools
Web browsing: Currently testing Zen browser (still in alpha but works well), keep Firefox as backup
Chat apps: Use Ferdium to access WhatsApp Web and similar services
Telegram Desktop: For messaging
Documents: Google Docs when online, LibreOffice for offline work. Switch to OnlyOffice when I need perfect Microsoft Office compatibility
Email client: Evolution has been rock solid for me
Task management: Endeavour with Google Tasks integration (still searching for something better with time tracking features)
PDF tools: PDF Arranger for combining and modifying PDF files
Time logging: Using Clockify but it’s not ideal. What time tracking apps do you recommend for Linux?
Creative Software
Photo editing: Darktable for RAW processing
Video work: Mainly ShotCut, sometimes Kdenlive
Video playback: Stremio for online content, Celluloid for local videos (anyone know good apps that auto-download subtitles?)
Entertainment Apps
YouTube alternative: FreeTube
File sharing: Qbittorrent with search plugins (incredible tool)
Downloads: Persepolis as download manager
Music playback: Tauon for my high-quality audio collection (open to better suggestions)
Audio enhancement: EasyEffects for sound adjustments
Reading Applications
Ebook reading: Foliate (wish it had more font customization options)
Book management: Calibre for organizing my library
News feeds: Newsflash keeps things simple and clean
Desktop Customization
Gnome Tweaks: For UI adjustments
Font: Inter
Theme: Marble shell theme
Icon pack: Yaru
Extension Manager: Handles gnome extensions like color picker and clipboard tools (looking for better clipboard manager with keyboard shortcuts)
Input method: Ibus with m17n for typing in my native language
I don’t go crazy with desktop theming but I’m interested in good customization ideas. Also searching for a complete productivity solution, maybe multiple apps working together. Need task management and time tracking that works with Google Tasks. Bonus points if it supports Getting Things Done methodology.
What essential apps do you use? Any recommendations for the gaps in my setup?
For legal work, check out Zettlr - it’s like Obsidian but handles research notes and citations better. Great with markdown and lets you link cases and documents together. Signal Desktop is way safer than Telegram for client communications. And Flameshot is perfect for annotating court docs or sharing quick visual notes with clients.
To enhance your Linux experience, consider integrating a few terminal applications that can significantly boost your productivity. Zsh with Oh My Zsh offers intelligent auto-completion and a plethora of plugins that can streamline your command-line interactions. If you’re looking for a file manager, Ranger mimics the vi interface, and while it may have a learning curve, it pays off in efficiency over time.
For editing tasks, VSCode is an excellent choice for managing quick notes and configuration files, even for those who don’t code extensively; its user-friendly extensions make it accessible. Alternatively, Neovim is a robust option that operates seamlessly within the terminal environment.
To monitor your system, tools like Htop and neofetch deliver real-time statistics in a visually appealing format, while Ncdu is essential for managing disk space effectively, especially when handling large media files. In terms of time tracking, Toggl Track offers a strong Linux client complemented by browser extensions that sync seamlessly. Lastly, for clipboard management, CopyQ stands out with its advanced shortcuts and efficient search functionality, which might be just what you need.
Since you need better time tracking with Google Tasks integration, I’ve had great luck with Timewarrior + Taskwarrior. Yeah, there’s some setup involved, but once you get it running, the command-line interface is crazy fast for logging time on specific projects. Perfect for legal billing since it handles both tasks and the detailed time tracking you need.
For subtitles, VLC has decent auto-subtitle stuff through extensions, but MPV with the autosubsync script works way better. You can set it up to grab subtitles from OpenSubtitles automatically - no manual work needed.
For clipboard management with good keyboard shortcuts, I’ve been using Parcellite for years. It’s lightweight, stays out of your way, and you can customize the hotkeys however you want. Way simpler than CopyQ but still gets the job done.
One more thing - since you do photography work, check out Rapid Photo Downloader. It handles camera imports with custom naming and can auto-sort by date or project. Really streamlines things before you even open Darktable.
Your workflow has way too much manual switching between apps - I see this productivity killer at work constantly.
You need automation connecting these tools. Finish a legal doc in LibreOffice? Auto-log the time, update your client, file it properly. Import photos? Process and organize them without lifting a finger.
I’ve built workflows that do exactly this. One links task completion straight to time tracking. Another processes and sorts files by metadata automatically. You just need a platform that talks to everything - Google Tasks, Clockify, your files, email, the works.
Forget hunting for apps that might play nice together. Build custom automations that turn your existing tools into one smooth system. Connect PDF work to automatic time logs. Link photo imports to project folders. Trigger client updates when tasks change status.
GTD works so much better when capture and processing happen automatically. Build workflows that sort incoming tasks, set contexts, even handle weekly reviews.