The debate between users of different operating systems never ends, each side trying to present their favourite as the best. So, if you’re a business owner picking the right OS for company needs, the best way not to do a big mistake is giving a test drive to the variants at stake and select the one best satisfying all the demands (which should be very clearly worded at the very beginning).
So, your choice fell on Linux and its Ubuntu distribution, which is getting more and more popular nowadays. Although said to be less intuitive than the competitor OSs, there are a number of reasons for the number of Linux fans to grow.
- First, Linux is frequently associated with freedom, especially when compared to its closest rival – Windows. Most of its versions are free to use, or cost much cheaper than the alternatives, which means serious savings for the company budget.
- Secondly, many Linux apps and distributions are open-source, which means you can make them maximally correspond to your needs.
- Third, Linux versions are very stable and are known to crash seldom. Even if this happens, the whole system is still “alive”, which is a big advantage.
- Finally, Linux, in spite of being mostly open-source, is very secure and less prone to malware attacks than Windows, for instance.
Essential Linux Apps To Use in the Office
There are thousands of free software programs developed for Linux or specifically for its distributions, Ubuntu being one of the most popular. Let’s take a brief look over the apps that would be useful at the workplace.
Libre Office
This application brings you the range of tools like text editor, spreadsheets, presentations and more useful stuff which would be indispensable for virtually any undertaking.
GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program – this is the full name of an awesome image editor that is free to use. While being less complex than Photoshop, it still gives huge possibilities to its users letting do virtually anything with the images.
Wine
This app is a savior in case you need certain Windows software that currently doesn’t work under Linux. Wine is especially useful for former Windows users who find it hard to say goodbye to it all together. So, this app runs Windows software under Linux, however it doesn’t work with all programs, so you may need to choose the closest alternative to your favourite one.
Time tracker for Linux
Tracking work time is quite a serious task for most employers who desire to be aware how well their staff are spending their work hours. With Linux, it has an even more solid ground. The point is, many business owners, when migrating to Linux from Windows or Mac OS, claim that the freedom of the new OS leads to the drop in employee productivity. This can be partially due to the fact that open source Linux doesn’t provide a wide choice of time tracking tools. In fact, there are hardly any to be found created specifically for Ubuntu.
Luckily, Yaware.TimeTracker is the solution that can help out. This multiplatform service supports Linux, Windows and Mac OS, so it will suit even companies where employees or freelancers are using various OSs.
It is an automated time tracker for Linux with a wide range of features to monitor the work of your employees. Here’s what it can do:
- fixates the time of starting and finishing work;
- records the number and duration of breaks (it’s possible to configure the service to request the reason of absence from the computer);
- counts the total amount of time worked;
- notes down all websites, apps and software used (plus the time spent for each of them);
- evaluates the productivity of work;
- provides reports on late attendance and early leaves;
- provides the possibility to identify the most and least productive workers
and much more.
The rich functionality of Yaware.TimeTracker also lets easily monitor the work of distant employees or even offices and access the data from virtually anywhere in the world (the single condition is Internet connection).
