LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

taylorchu · 2011-01-17 21:26:27

Another year, another set of awards to give out... More likely than not, we will see many of the same candidates as last year, but given the recent trend in software development I'm expecting to see some new arrivals. Instead of manually adding up the votes like what we did last year, this time we will use Google Docs!

note
1. you don't have to answer all questions; you may leave it blank.
2. please enter the EXACT same package name(or group) shown in the arch package repository.

end date: 12/25/2011 (Santa will announce the overall count of the votes.
Santa does not know how to write a bash script, but I do.
The result is pasted below. It is long because many people add their comments or write down the wrong package names.

LnF 2011 result
- Generated by Tai-Lin Chu

Display/Login Managers
slim: 138
startx/xinit: 132
none: 63
cdm: 13
lxdm: 12
gdm: 7
kdm: 5
bash: 3
xorg-xdm: 2
login: 2
coreutils: 2
cdm-git: 2

Tiling Window Managers
awesome: 87
xmonad: 58
dwm: 53
subtle: 15
ratpoison: 14
wmfs: 13
i3: 11
wmii: 8
stumpwm: 4
scrotwm: 4
musca: 4
pytyle: 2
icewm: 2

Floating Window Managers
openbox: 207
fluxbox: 17
pekwm: 11
e17: 5
compiz: 4
awesome: 4
xmonad: 3
fvwm: 3
sawfish: 2
kwin: 2
icewm: 2
dwm: 2
compiz-core: 2

Desktop Environments
xfce: 84
lxde: 43
kde: 23
gnome: 16
none: 12
e17: 4
xmonad: 2
awesome: 2

Shells
bash: 268
zsh: 87
rxvt-unicode: 6
dash: 5
terminal: 2
ksh: 2
fish: 2
bin: 2

Archive Managers
tar: 124
xarchiver: 98
file-roller: 23
atool: 13
bsdtar: 11
p7zip: 8
xarchive: 6
ark: 5
xz: 4
fileroller: 3
unzip: 2
unrar: 2
squeeze: 2
bzip2: 2

CD Burners
xfburn: 31
cdrkit: 27
k3b: 23
brasero: 22
wodim: 8
recorder: 7
bashburn: 7
graveman: 6
dd: 3
simpleburn: 2

CD Rippers
abcde: 22
asunder: 19
rubyripper: 12
cdparanoia: 9
dd: 8
ripperx: 3
handbrake: 2
grip: 2
brasero: 2

Communications Apps
pidgin: 18
skype: 16
irssi: 8
bitlbee: 8
mumble: 7
weechat: 4
centerim: 3
linphone: 2
gvcall: 2
empathy: 2

Email Clients
mutt: 91
thunderbird: 48
claws-mail: 27
gmail: 13
sylpheed: 10
opera: 5
alpine: 3
heirloom-mailx: 2
gnus: 2
chromium: 2

File Managers
thunar: 99
pcmanfm: 72
ranger: 68
coreutils: 38
mc: 26
qtfm: 10
vifm: 8
dolphin: 7
xfe: 6
rox: 5
none: 5
nautilus: 5
zsh: 3
bash: 3
tuxcmd: 2
pcmanfm-mod: 2
krusader: 2
emelfm2: 2
dired: 2

Image Editors (Raster)
gimp: 189
mtpaint: 10
viewnior: 2
mirage: 2
imagemagick: 2
gimp-devel: 2

Image Editors (Vector)
inkscape: 130
gimp: 5
none: 2

Image Viewers
feh: 136
mirage: 48
gpicview: 33
sxiv: 23
geeqie: 22
viewnior: 17
eog: 11
gthumb: 7
gqview: 7
comix: 7
ristretto: 4
qiv: 4
gwenview: 4
viewnoir: 2
okular: 2
fbv: 2

Instant Messengers
pidgin: 127
bitlbee: 39
centerim: 15
finch: 10
emesene: 8
gajim: 6
mcabber: 5
irssi: 4
empathy: 3
ekg2: 3
skype: 2
psi: 2
pidgin-light: 2
kmess: 2

IRC Clients
irssi: 113
weechat: 44
xchat: 25
pidgin: 5
ii: 4
emacs: 3
opera: 2
erc: 2
centerim: 2

Music Players
mpd: 106
ncmpcpp: 58
moc: 30
mplayer: 22
deadbeef: 21
cmus: 19
audacious: 10
clementine: 9
quodlibet: 8
mocp: 8
exaile: 7
vlc: 6
mpc: 6
gmusicbrowser: 6
banshee: 5
amarok: 5
gogglesmm: 4
gmpc: 4
xmms: 3
sonata: 3
xmms2: 2
smplayer: 2
qmmp: 2
mpg123: 2
herrie: 2
ario: 2

Network Managers
wicd: 143
netcfg: 73
networkmanager: 21
ifconfig: 6
wpa_supplicant: 5
wifi-select: 2
wicd-gtk: 2
rcconf: 2
netcfg2: 2
dhcpcd: 2

Office Apps (Spreadsheet/Math)
libreoffice: 100
gnumeric: 39
openoffice: 6
sc: 3
r: 3
googledocs: 3
vim: 2
latex: 2
gap-math: 2
calc: 2

Office Apps (Word Processing)
libreoffice: 101
abiword: 58
texlive: 11
latex: 9
vim: 5
openoffice: 5
lyx: 3
vim-latexsuite: 2
texmaker: 2
googledocs: 2

Office Apps (Other)
libreoffice: 61
texlive: 4
vim: 3
latex: 3
antiword: 3
xls2txt: 2
rtfreader: 2
openoffice: 2
odt2txt: 2

Package Managers
pacman: 220
yaourt: 68
packer: 26
clyde: 12
pacman-color: 5
powerpill: 3
cower: 3
bauerbill: 3
packman: 2
aurget: 2

PDF Readers
evince: 99
zathura: 94
epdfview: 44
mupdf: 24
xpdf: 18
apvlv: 17
okular: 8
foxitreader: 4
evince-gtk: 4
foxit: 3
fbpdf-git: 2

RSS Readers
newsbeuter: 43
googlereader: 11
canto: 10
liferea: 9
snownews: 8
thunderbird: 3
rsstail: 2
rss: 2
opera: 2
centerim: 2

Security/Backup Utilities
rsync: 60
tar: 6
rdiff-backup: 6
slock: 3
unison: 2
ufw: 2
rsnapshot: 2
luckybackup: 2
iptables: 2
gpg: 2
duplicity: 2
dropbox: 2
coreutils: 2
clonezilla: 2
backintime: 2

System Monitors
htop: 153
conky: 64
top: 29
lxtask: 9
xfce4-taskmanager: 2
ps: 2

System Panels/Menus/Trays
tint2: 89
dmenu: 20
lxpanel: 16
dzen2: 15
xfce4-panel: 14
xmobar: 11
trayer: 7
pypanel: 6
dzen: 5
stalonetray: 4
conky: 4
tint: 2
none: 2
fbpanel: 2

Terminal Emulators
rxvt-unicode: 202
terminal: 26
xterm: 24
lxterminal: 21
terminator: 16
sakura: 15
lilyterm: 8
tilda: 5
konsole: 5
st: 4
rxvt: 4
roxterm: 4
gnome-terminal: 4
tmux: 3
guake: 3
urxvtd->urxvtc: 2
stjerm: 2

Text Editors
vim: 217
nano: 35
geany: 33
leafpad: 29
emacs: 26
gedit: 17
gvim: 15
medit: 7
vi: 6
scite: 5
kate: 2
beaver: 2

Torrent Clients
rtorrent: 130
transmission-cli: 72
deluge: 29
transmission-gtk: 20
qbittorrent: 13
aria2: 11
ktorrent: 4
rtorrent-extended: 3
utorrent: 2
opera: 2
fatrat: 2
btpd: 2

Video Players
mplayer: 207
vlc: 89
smplayer: 34
mplayer2: 18
gnome-mplayer: 9
totem: 2

Web Browsers
firefox: 137
chromium: 103
opera: 25
luakit: 22
midori: 19
jumanji: 15
uzbl: 13
google-chrome: 8
surf: 7
dwb: 7
w3m: 4
links: 3
elinks: 3
conkeror: 3
vimperator: 2
seamonkey: 2
netsurf: 2
luakit-git: 2

Web Utilities
wget: 20
openssh: 5
curl: 4
youtube-dl: 2
gmail: 2
firefox: 2
dropbox: 2
aria2: 2

Other Apps
tmux: 12
dmenu: 9
ncdu: 4
parcellite: 3
ncmpcpp: 3
cower: 3
zim: 2
volumeicon: 2
vim: 2
taskwarrior: 2
sshfs: 2
scrot: 2
pytyle: 2
keepassx: 2
imlibsetroot: 2
geany: 2
emacs: 2
eclipse: 2
conky: 2
clipit: 2
clangdmenu: 2
calibre: 2
burp: 2

Overall (top 30)
bash: 268 - Shells
pacman: 220 - Package Managers
vim: 217 - Text Editors
openbox: 207 - Floating Window Managers
mplayer: 207 - Video Players
rxvt-unicode: 202 - Terminal Emulators
gimp: 189 - Image Editors (Raster)
htop: 153 - System Monitors
wicd: 143 - Network Managers
slim: 138 - Display/Login Managers
firefox: 137 - Web Browsers
feh: 136 - Image Viewers
startx/xinit: 132 - Display/Login Managers
rtorrent: 130 - Torrent Clients
inkscape: 130 - Image Editors (Vector)
pidgin: 127 - Instant Messengers
tar: 124 - Archive Managers
irssi: 113 - IRC Clients
mpd: 106 - Music Players
chromium: 103 - Web Browsers
libreoffice: 101 - Office Apps (Word Processing)
libreoffice: 100 - Office Apps (Spreadsheet/Math)
thunar: 99 - File Managers
evince: 99 - PDF Readers
xarchiver: 98 - Archive Managers
zathura: 94 - PDF Readers
mutt: 91 - Email Clients
vlc: 89 - Video Players
tint2: 89 - System Panels/Menus/Trays
zsh: 87 - Shells

Last edited by taylorchu (2011-12-27 20:54:06)

pogeymanz · 2011-01-17 23:09:25

I'll go ahead and post a small tidbit here.

I think the release of Xfce4.8 is going to affect the outcomes this year. Thunar and Xfce4-panel are not the lightest in their class but there is NO competition when it comes to the features per bloat ratio.

Also a nod to dmenu-launch, which is basically dmenu_run but pimped out. It parses your .desktop files to get the "nice" name of an app and not just the command you would use to launch it. It also allows you to run a command from a terminal.

Highly recommend,

That is all.

Last edited by pogeymanz (2011-01-17 23:10:31)

karabaja4 · 2011-01-18 21:07:18

pogeymanz wrote:

Thunar ... there is NO competition when it comes to the features per bloat ratio.

You might want to try out qtfm - it's in [community].

pogeymanz · 2011-01-18 22:46:35

True. Qtfm is amazing for its size. I have played with it several times. It's super-fast, the GUI is highly configurable, custom actions. Pretty awesome. I used to switch between Thunar, PCManFM and QtFM, but these days I'm probably sticking with Thunar thanks to gvfs and network browsing.

taylorchu · 2011-01-19 05:21:28

is there a "gtkfm"?

BTW, it is great to see they finally release xfce4.8.

pogeymanz · 2011-01-19 12:09:00

taylorchu wrote:

is there a "gtkfm"?
BTW, it is great to see they finally release xfce4.8.

I guess PCManFM is the closest thing.

twix · 2011-01-20 10:56:41

I think too, PCManFM is the lightest FM well integrated with gtk

cgarcia · 2011-01-21 02:09:22

twix wrote:

I think too, PCManFM is the lightest FM well integrated with gtk

I just have discovered xfe. I hate the constant Linux evolution towards annoying Windows features, except just for the file explorer. Many users are familiarized with the windows implementation, and daily need to run windows for some tasks. We don't want a revolutionary tool: simply a windows explorer clone with the "expected" behaviour for this concrete task, uniform across systems. Xfe is not exactly the windows explorer, but is close enough, and highly configurable.

Yes, I also have the panel at the bottom :-)

Last edited by cgarcia (2011-01-21 02:17:56)

karabaja4 · 2011-01-21 06:49:41

Xfe is ugly, FOX feels... old

But really, there's nothing more I'd expect from a file manager which isn't already there in qtfm: custom actions, windows-explorer-like view and "+" expanders (ugh, I hate those big gtk triangles), custom keybindings (!), extremely customizable GUI, fast, etc...

I wonder why so many people dislike QT library (like taylorchu asking for "gtkfm"). It's not like you're polluting your system with some bad libraries or heavy components, it's just a single library from user point of view, very much like GTK is. It even renders ("feels") faster than GTK - IMHO of course. From programmer's point of view, the code is much more high level than GTK and thus much easier to understand (some like low-level code, but that's a topic for another discussion).

pogeymanz · 2011-01-21 11:30:16

I like that in Xfe you can switch between the more traditional file manager view and the "commander" style very easily.

At least, I think that was true. It's been a few years since I used Xfe. I actually can't remember why I dropped it.

There are too many good file managers.

taylorchu · 2011-01-25 18:47:48

recently I have tried tiling window manager: dwm + dmenu + ranger.

I really like how they organize the windows, and simplicity of dmenu really made my life easier.

Ranger is really great too. It does not have any icon but works really fast if you know vim. No wonder so many people love it this year.

aeosynth · 2011-01-25 23:10:44

my only gripe about ranger is its non-instant startup. rewriting ranger in a faster language is on my todo list.

Is there any way to get a running total of the votes? it *is* a spreadsheet, after all.

taylorchu · 2011-01-25 23:37:02

@aeosynth
I will do the first counting on this Sunday.
BTW, I hope ranger is written in C or C++. In addition, some of the file highlight colors are painful for my eyes.

kolbycrouch · 2011-01-26 01:57:29

karabaja4 wrote:

Xfe is ugly, FOX feels... old
But really, there's nothing more I'd expect from a file manager which isn't already there in qtfm: custom actions, windows-explorer-like view and "+" expanders (ugh, I hate those big gtk triangles), custom keybindings (!), extremely customizable GUI, fast, etc...
I wonder why so many people dislike QT library (like taylorchu asking for "gtkfm"). It's not like you're polluting your system with some bad libraries or heavy components, it's just a single library from user point of view, very much like GTK is. It even renders ("feels") faster than GTK - IMHO of course. From programmer's point of view, the code is much more high level than GTK and thus much easier to understand (some like low-level code, but that's a topic for another discussion).

Well i feel like it began with qt3/kde3 most qt3 apps ive seen either depend on kde or dont use your qt3 style(im thinking opera) I think it also has something to do with the fact that qt3 required you to write themes in c++(afaik) after they stopped using pixmaps. I dont know much about qt4 styles though.

qt4 apps are really fast it seems unless they require kdelibs and your not running kde where everything is preloaded. gtk apps are alot more common and easy to theme. I do think the gtk style for qt4 is very nice though.

BTW, is there anyway to change icon themes in qtconfig?

karabaja4 · 2011-01-26 12:47:39

kolbycrouch wrote:

Well i feel like it began with qt3/kde3 most qt3 apps ive seen either depend on kde or dont use your qt3 style(im thinking opera) I think it also has something to do with the fact that qt3 required you to write themes in c++(afaik) after they stopped using pixmaps. I dont know much about qt4 styles though.
qt4 apps are really fast it seems unless they require kdelibs and your not running kde where everything is preloaded. gtk apps are alot more common and easy to theme. I do think the gtk style for qt4 is very nice though.

BTW, is there anyway to change icon themes in qtconfig?

There are lots of apps that use only QT4 as a dependency . QT itself has nothing to do with KDE, it's the KDE apps that use parts of KDE as a dependency, them being written in QT doesn't mean QT depends on KDE. You might also like qtcurve-qt4 style which doesn't depend on any part of KDE.

As for icons, that depends on the application. I think you can't set icons from qtconfig directly but most of my QT apps respect icons I set from lxappearance (the GTK ones).

taylorchu · 2011-02-08 09:45:50

bumped. I posted some results today. (2011/02/08)

adamlogan · 2011-02-18 06:29:09

taylorchu wrote:

recently I have tried tiling window manager: dwm + dmenu + ranger.
I really like how they organize the windows, and simplicity of dmenu really made my life easier.
Ranger is really great too. It does not have any icon but works really fast if you know vim. No wonder so many people love it this year.

Same here, just started using dwm + dmenu. Will try ranger for awhile, from first glance it seems very nice. Not sure what it has to offer compared to vimfm tho. So far I'm really happy with the simplicity/minimalism of this combination.

Fruity · 2011-02-22 03:36:12

Not sure how anyone can vote for the best of anything only 2 months into a year? 6-8 odd months down the line, maybe.

davidm · 2011-02-28 22:46:57

Hard to argue with newsbeuter for a RSS reader. I only recently had the pleasure of coming across it. After a couple days I don't miss Akregator or Liferea one bit. It more than fulfills my needs and is blazing fast as a console application.

steve___ · 2011-03-01 00:46:39

I like to use 'rss2email-xdg-git' with fdm then use my mail client to read rss feeds.

To add an rss feed just append the url to $HOME/.config/r2e/feeds

In fdm.conf I have something like this:

## mail spool dir -- $HOME/.mail
$mail   = "%h/.mail"

## mail dir for mailing lists and rss feeds
$ml-rss = "${mail}/ml-rss"

## An action definition
action "r-arch"         maildir "${ml-rss}/arch"

## Some match rules
match "^From:.*Arch.*" in headers action "r-arch"
match "^From:.*Recent News" in headers action "r-arch"

Last edited by steve___ (2011-03-01 00:47:14)

edma2 · 2011-03-04 22:14:49

Here's a vote for rexima, a sleek little volume mixer. It's in [community].
Very minimalistic and fast, much more "lightweight" than alsamixer in my opinion.

stozi · 2011-03-29 21:33:21

smplayer? I thought qt was kinda counter to the arch way, no?

Rasi · 2011-04-12 13:35:21

stozi wrote:

smplayer? I thought qt was kinda counter to the arch way, no?

I dont know, maybe you should ask some of the many arch developers that use KDE?

natostanco · 2011-04-12 18:09:18

edma2 wrote:

Here's a vote for rexima, a sleek little volume mixer. It's in [community].
Very minimalistic and fast, much more "lightweight" than alsamixer in my opinion.

for 1 soundcard it's good enough.

masteryod · 2011-04-13 23:04:05

great initiative am I missing music player category?

stozi wrote:

smplayer? I thought qt was kinda counter to the arch way, no?

the Arch way is simplicity* and choice, not forcing to use light apps because they are light by definition, you can choose and use whatever you like and Arch is providing great posibility to do this

*simplicity from developer/advanced user point of view - and the more I use Arch, the more I like this point of view

Last edited by masteryod (2011-04-13 23:10:10)

Arch Linux

#1 2011-01-17 21:26:27

LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#2 2011-01-17 23:09:25

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#3 2011-01-18 21:07:18

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#4 2011-01-18 22:46:35

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#5 2011-01-19 05:21:28

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#6 2011-01-19 12:09:00

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#7 2011-01-20 10:56:41

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#8 2011-01-21 02:09:22

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#9 2011-01-21 06:49:41

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#10 2011-01-21 11:30:16

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#11 2011-01-25 18:47:48

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#12 2011-01-25 23:10:44

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#13 2011-01-25 23:37:02

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#14 2011-01-26 01:57:29

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#15 2011-01-26 12:47:39

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#16 2011-02-08 09:45:50

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#17 2011-02-18 06:29:09

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#18 2011-02-22 03:36:12

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#19 2011-02-28 22:46:57

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#20 2011-03-01 00:46:39

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#21 2011-03-04 22:14:49

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#22 2011-03-29 21:33:21

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#23 2011-04-12 13:35:21

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#24 2011-04-12 18:09:18

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

#25 2011-04-13 23:04:05

Re: LnF Awards 2011 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2011

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