These 10 open-source apps built Linux into what it is today

abdulmanannet77@gmail.comApril 4, 2026

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An operating system is only as good as the applications it runs. Linux has been able to challenge proprietary systems because it can deliver “killer applications.” Here are some of the best applications, both on servers and desktop, that have grown up alongside Linux.

Apache

The original Linux “super app”

The Apache web server, officially Apache HTTP Server Project, could be considered Linux’s “killer app”, at least on the server side. This server fueled the dot-com boom in the 1990s. This took Linux from a curiosity among computer enthusiasts and academic computer scientists, to a mainstream alternative to Windows and traditional Unix servers. Along with MySQL and Samba, this is the main reason why Linux is the cornerstone of modern computing. If anything could be a “killer app” for Linux for real-world use, it might be Apache.

Although nginx has overtaken Apache in terms of deployments, it remains a popular web server.

MySQL/MariaDB

The first open source database

While Apache made Linux servers a viable competitor to expensive Linux servers, it was MySQL that made the modern web possible. MySQL provided durable, easy-to-use storage for websites and allowed them to deliver dynamic content. It used the relational model with the SQL language popularized by Oracle. The phpMyAdmin front-end made administration easy.

MySQL became the “M” in “LAMP” or “Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP (or other scripting language starting with “P”, such as “Python.”) MySQL was acquired by Sun Microsystems, and its developers left after Oracle acquired Sun in turn. This fork is called MariaDB and it is widely compatible with MySQL, so you can easily convert MySQL to MariaDB.

Hit

It’s the default Linux shell for a reason

Linux terminal showing $RANDOM in bash used to roll dice using an input loop

Although Bash existed before Linux, it became an essential part of modern Linux distributions as part of the GNU Project. Bash is the default shell on most Linux distributions. This is the command interpreter that will greet most users venturing into the command line for the first time.

Bash is largely compatible with the classic Bourne shell. Its name is “Bourne Again Shell”, a play on words. It can run older scripts by enabling its compatibility mode via a symbolic link. On many Linux systems, /bin/sh is actually Bash in disguise. This is ideal for creating small scripts to automate maintenance tasks. Because of its ubiquity, you can count on Linux systems having it installed, but if you need scripts to be portable, Python is a better choice because it’s easy to learn but doesn’t depend on a user’s installed command set.

Mozilla/Firefox

Making open source acceptable and improving the web

The Q4OS TDE desktop with Firefox opens to the How-To Geek home page and a power management window opens in Windows XP style theme.

Although Firefox is a cross-platform application, you will usually find it installed as the default web browser on most desktop Linux systems. Its predecessor, the Mozilla suite, was an open source version of the Netscape browser. Netscape’s open source for its flagship product might have seemed like an act of desperation in the face of heavyweight Microsoft, but a major company doing so helped popularize the open source movement.

The original Mozilla suite popularized tabbed browsing and was one of the first to incorporate pop-up blocking, ending a major web nuisance overnight. These have been transferred to Firefox.

GNOME/KDE/Xfce

Make Linux easier to use

While Linux immediately became popular among people accustomed to the Unix command line, the interface needed to be more accessible to non-technical users in order to gain popularity.

KDE Plasma window ruler for Spotify with virtual desktop and activities as selected properties.

KDE, created by Matthias Ettrich in the mid-90s, was one of the first open source desktop environments to gain traction in the Linux world. While it’s not a Linux-specific desktop, it’s where it first attracted a user base and helped make Linux a competitor to Windows and macOS. The current version is known as KDE Plasma.

Ubuntu takes care of installing all GNOME extensions.

GNOME was developed in response to KDE’s use of the Qt toolkit, which defines the appearance of the desktop. Even though KDE was open source, the toolkit it relied on, Qt, was still proprietary in the late 90s. GNOME established itself as a popular desktop in its own right, the default desktop on distributions like Ubuntu.

openSUSE with Xfce and btop desktop, YaST and calendar widget open.

Xfce also emerged around the same time as a lighter alternative to both desktops, offering an easy-to-use desktop metaphor that will run more smoothly on the system.

Samba

Easily integrate Linux and Windows machines

Although most people aren’t familiar with Samba, if you’ve used a Windows desktop on a corporate network, there’s a good chance it supports your work as a file and print server. Samba, along with MySQL and Apache, made Linux and open source software acceptable in the enterprise. This was mainly because Linux servers running on standard PC hardware were cheaper than traditional Windows or Unix servers.

It also highlights one of the things Linux does best: supporting heterogeneous environments. Samba can easily support Windows, macOS and Linux clients on the same network.

Gimp

Who needs PhotoShop?

GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program, presents itself as the free and open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop. With gripes over Adobe’s subscription-based business model, more people will likely turn to GIMP in the future. It’s already good enough for me as someone who uses it primarily for resizing and cropping screenshots for articles like this.

Ink landscape

Vector graphics for everyone

Open Inkscape showing a sample image and editing control menus.

Inkscape is another popular open source graphics program. Unlike GIMP, which works on raster graphics, Inkscape is based on vecotr graphics. This means that images created with Inkscape can be enlarged without jagged edges. This makes it ideal for things like logos.

Audacity

Simple but powerful audio editing

Moving from image to audio editing, Audacity is a cross-platform that appears to be a desktop Linux stable. It’s a staple seemingly everywhere as a basic audio editing program. This is something that macOS and Windows seem to overlook.

Here’s a screencast from Mike Russell showing some basic operations you can do in Audacity:

Libre/OpenOffice

Professional open source spreadsheet and document editing

One thing that seemed to elude traditional Unix was a good office suite, including a spreadsheet and word processor. Workstation users either had to use a separate PC or run some sort of compatibility layer similar to WINE. Sun Microsystems purchased Star Division, maker of StarOffice. They created an open source version called OpenOffice.org. I used it to write papers at university, or rather a Mac version called NeoOffice which no longer exists.

Similar to MySQL and MariaDB, after Sun was acquired by Oracle, users and developers decamped to The Document Foundation and released a fork called LibreOffice. It’s popular enough in Europe that government agencies have standardized it, with or without desktop Linux.

These applications helped make Linux the platform it is today. Although most of them are cross-platform, they really shine on Linux systems. They demonstrated the practical benefits of open source development by doing useful things as good as, or better than, their proprietary counterparts.