These are the 3 coolest Linux apps I found this week
If you're looking for interesting Linux software, look no further than the apps I dug up this week. If you've got time this weekend, I recommend checking out this fractal generator, game launcher, and Markdown reader.
The software I found this week all have in common the quality of exploring worlds. These apps let you explore that oversize collection of games you got from the Epic Games Store, explore the wild world of 3D geometry, or explore those lengthy Markdown files you work with.
Heroic Games Launcher
Play games from all sorts of sources
OK, I'll come clean: I didn't discover Heroic Games Launcher just this week. Still, I think you should take a look at it if you haven't yet, or if you haven't used it in a long time. Just this week, Heroic Games got its first major update since August of last year . The update brings with it a new game storefront, ZOOM Platform, opening up new avenues for playing older games on your Linux PC.
Speaking of which, I also just started using Heroic Games Launcher to play my old CD-ROM games on Linux . It's surprisingly easy.
In case you aren't familiar, Heroic Games Launcher is a game manager that's able to integrate with the Epic Games Store, GoG, Amazon Prime Games, and, as I said, now ZOOM Platform. If you log into your account on any of those platforms, you can easily download the game and get assistance for setting up the game with the compatibility layer it needs to run on Linux.
One of my favorite things about Heroic Games Launcher is how simple it makes installing a Windows game or application. All you need is the executable to start or install it. In fact, when you add an external game to your Heroic Games library, there a "Run Installer First" option to simply run a Setup.exe file or something similar and go through the installation wizard like you would on Windows.
The easiest and developer-recommended way to install Heroic Games Launcher is to get it from Flathub . You can also find an AppImage on the Heroic Games download page , along with links to DEB, RPM, and TAR.GZ downloads.
Mandelbulber 2
Make and explore a 3D world of fractals
I have another confession: I'm somewhat in over my head with geometric concepts. However, when I came across Mandelbulber 2 , I had to give it a try. It's an open source engine for generating ridiculously intricate and beautiful 3D structures based on complex mathematical models and algorithms, including Mandelbulb, Mandelbox, Bulbbox, Juliabulb, and Menger sponge.
Even if you're like me and don't know much about how these systems work, it's pretty easy to open the program and start generating something interesting. Just about every button changes an aspect of the 3D model or your perspective of it. With the camera controls, you can take a closer look at every angle, grabbing photos or creating videos as you go. You can also export your creations for use in other 3D rendering programs.
One warning about Mandelbulber 2, though: you'll want a decent graphics card installed on your Linux PC. 3D rendering this complex is far from a walk in the park for a computer, so expect the app to take quite a toll on your resources.
Mandelbulber 2 is widely available across Linux distros, so try searching your software manager for it. Failing that, you can find Mandelbulber 2 on Flathub , and you can also get the AppImage from the Mandelbulber 2 GitHub release page . It's also available in some Linux repositories:
treemd
A modern Markdown reader for the terminal
Do you work with Markdown files and want to be able to quickly skim and search them inside the Linux terminal? Do you like tree-based navigation? Then you should check out treemd , a terminal user interface meant just for browsing Markdown files using tree structures.
Just run thetreemdcommand in any directory containing MD files, and treemd will open its interface, prompting you to select a file to open. You can also specify a file, like this:
Once you've opened a file, treemd will let you use arrow keys or vi-style controls to tap through the document's headings. Highlight a heading and it'll appear in the right-hand pane. Then you can hit Tab to scroll through that section of text. Use theikey to interact with objects in the document or thefkey to see a list of links in the document. The/key opens a search tool to find keywords in the document.
The treemd interface is slick-looking and customizable with themes, ultra-fast, and written in Rust. Its command line interface also has a powerful query function for quickly printing specific elements from an MD file.
Unfortunately, treemd isn't widely available. Arch users can install it from the Arch Extra repository using thesudo pacman -S treemdwhile others will have to use an alternative package manager. If you have the cargo.io package manager, you can runcargo install treemd, or with Homebrew installed, runbrew install treemd.
Not impressed with these apps? Don't fret. Take a look at the roundup of Linux apps I wrote last week , where I explored an ASCII character drawing tool, a Wikipedia reader, and a network monitor for the terminal.
