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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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This is an alphabetized and annotated list of links to various software
amenable to installation and use on computers running the
Linux
operating system. Some of the software is available in source
form, some in binary form, and some in both.
Currently (8/97) most of the software listed can be used on Linux
Intel platforms, and quite a bit of it can also be used on Linux
Alpha, Sparc, and PowerPC ports.
The one overwhelming necessity for compiling or using most of
the packages here is the GNU
C compiler, i.e. GCC.
It not only allows you to compile the packages written in C but
also those written in Fortran via the
g77 compiler since it is a front-end to
GCC. Other front-ends are available or in the works, but GCC
and g77 will allow you to use over 99% of the packages listed here.
The bulk of this list consists of computer programs. These range from single programs to huge packages of programs that can take upwards of 50 Mb to store in compressed format. There are conceptually broader entries such as TeX, Perl, and Tcl/Tk for things that have become much more than a single software package. To do justice to each of these packages (and others like them), an entry includes a description of the basic package as well as links to sources for the many ancillary packages, user groups, and Web sites associated with each. There'll also be some entries with links to other Linux sites, e.g. the Linux Organization and the like, as well as the occasional entry that links to another site that collects software of a specific algorithmic or conceptual theme, e.g. multigrid algorithms Lastly, there'll on rare occasion be entries that defy all categories whose existence depends solely on the vagaries of personal whim. It is my compilation, after all. This list will, of course, be biased by my interests, which happen to be in the fields of numerical analysis and geophysical fluid dynamics, although it will in no way be limited by those same interests. As such you can expect quite a few listings for Fortran programs seeing how it's still the language of choice for most scientific programming (although large inroads have been made by both C++ and C). This was originally called ``Linux Software for Scientists,'' but as it and my interests expanded, I decided to go with the more accurate (and less misleading) ``Linux Software Encyclopedia,'' although I presume that the majority of the contents will still be of interests to scientists of various stripes. A major impediment to Linux portability is the occasional package that dynamically links with the Motif widget set. The impediment being, in this case, a price tag of around $100-150 for a Linux binary of the aforementioned widgets. One way around this is to find a binary of the package that is statically linked with OSF/Motif which, unfortunately, makes for much larger binaries (but is available more often than not). Another option is to wait for a Motif clone called the Lesstif widget set to be sufficiently stable. When I started this list, a stable Lesstif was, as Blackadder might put it, ``a gleam in the Hungry Programmers' eyes,'' but as of mid-1997 when I write this it fairly stable version is available which works with an ever-growing list of applications that require Motif. There is, of course, the option of buying the Motif binaries, but that would violate the Linux spirit of leeching off of the hard work of others in order to create a socialist paradise, wouldn't it? (Missives from angry libertarians and the like vis a vis that last line would be answered, if I answered such things, with a comment on the humorlessness of the overly dogmatic.) Some of the links that follow point to the official Linux repository at sunsite.unc.edu. As a matter of fact, I'm attempting to include links to sunsite for all packages which are made available there, even if they have another home site. This gives the dedicated Linux user a couple of avenues from which to obtain the software and thus might ease the frustration should one avenue be down for a bit. There are also quite a few mirror sites for sunsite which are scattered about the world and which provide an alternative to those who are similarly scattered. A couple of articles recently published in Computers in Physics should be of more than passing interest to scientists considering the efficacy of using Linux as a workstation platform (Balluder et al. (1996) and Templon (1996)). Since I started this list in 1994 Linux has gone from something vaguely heard about on Usenet to a phenomenon recently (6/97) deemed worthy of an article in ``Wired,'' so there's presently no lack of articles, books, usenet groups, etc. pertaining to it. For example, there were about 30 Linux-related books the last time I attempted to keep track of such things. I don't at all mind if someone wants to mirror this site. If you decide you want to do this then please send me a note so I can mention it here. There are a few packages available which will automatically mirror a site, although I can't recall what they are right now. This document is freely reproducible for educational, i.e. nonprofit, purposes in which context copies can be made provided that, at the very least, the author is credited and a link to the home site is maintained. This may not be reproduced for any other purpose without prior arrangements having been made with the author. |
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Nothing yet. |
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