GFTP

If there’s one thing Ubuntu and Linux in general have trouble doing, it’s playing nice network-wise with Windows PCs. In fact, creating a shared folder from Ubuntu to Vista over a wireless connection can be a flat-out nightmare. This can be doubly frustrating if you’d like to swap over existing large media files to your PS3, and you don’t have an enormous backup USB storage solution. However, if you have the option of an FTP alternative, GFTP flies in to the rescue. It more or less copies the functionality and features of Filezilla (which, unfortunately, isn’t compatible with Ubuntu PPC). Still, GFTP is the next best thing. Its transfers are speedy and reliable, and it’s relatively straightforward to operate. Install it and follow below.

Mosey on over to Applications=>Internet=>GFTP. Once GFTP opens up, just fill in the domain name or FTP IP address, your user name and your password, and hit enter. After that, it’s as easy as dragging and dropping.

ScummVM and Beneath a Steel Sky

Sam and Max notwithstanding, the PC’s adventure gaming realm is all but dead. Sadly, the genre went before its time. But that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate its life by reliving the classics that once populated the spectrum, and ScummVM is the means to do so. But the app will do little good standing all by its huddled lonesome, so we’ve joined another app that goes together with ScummVM like peanut butter and jelly: Beneath a Steel Sky- one of the pinnacles of the point-and-click adventure medium. Best of all: both of these apps are available for download absolutely free. Trust us, if you fancy yourself a PC gamer, this is an experience you can’t miss (especially on the big screen). Yeah- it’s a classic, so the graphics may not be up to par with that of, say, Crysis, but the gripping narrative yanks Prophet’s fancy nano-suit down around his ankles and calls him Susan. If you enjoy an interactive graphical story and some brilliant puzzles, it just doesn’t come much better than Beneath a Steel Sky. So follow those install steps, taking special note to check off BOTH apps after first searching for ScummVM in the application repositories, and then continue on below.

Go to Applications=>Games=>Beneath a Steel Sky

Note: There’s no need to run ScummVM before launching the game, as Ubuntu already does so automatically.

The controls are fairly basic: right click to examine, left click to interact and move about. To bring up your character’s inventory and in-game menu, hover the mouse pointer on the upper top edge of the screen. And that’s really all there is to it. Now you’re prepared to show your dinner guests what REAL geeks consider classic gaming.

Jokosher

We’ve recommended a few audio-related apps already, and for good reason: everything just sounds better on home speakers, even if they’re the middle of the road variety. But what to do with all those musical tracks sitting on Ubuntu just begging to be mashed together and harassed? Wouldn’t it be nice to edit a long group of singular clips on the robust size of a lavish 46-inch flat screen? In walks Jokosher, a brawny audio editor that contains a plethora of options to tinker with and explore. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, Jokosher is just the right fit. Nab it by reading the installation steps mentioned in the beginning of the list; then afterwards, cast your eyes below.

To open the app, meander your mouse icon over to Applications=>Sound and Video=>Jokosher

Click “Create New Project,” and give the project a name, and press “OK.”

If you’ve tangled with Audacity once or twice, Jokosher should feel eerily familiar. But if you’re still left scratching your head, check out the official site’s user manual located here.

AllTray

AllTray is one of the most elementary apps on this list, but it’s also one of the handiest. The concept is straightforward: you open AllTray, a small pointer takes the place of your mouse, you click on any open window, and then the program or file gets docked into your taskbar as a tray icon, while still remaining 100 percent active (albeit mostly hidden). While it seems rudimentary at first, we found ourselves using this little gem over and over, especially when running multiple programs in concert with each other and wishing to avoid the opened visual clutter and annoyances of minimized horizontal columns. Install the app, and then read below to run it.

Go to Applications=>Accessories=>AllTray

From here, click on any open window, dock, repeat.

Look to the upper right hand corner of your screen to see the new icon associated with your freshly docked app. It’s that easy.

Have any other Linux/Ubuntu apps that you use on your PlayStation 3? Share your favorites in the comments section below!