TuxMate: Install Hundreds of Applications at Once on Linux

The Problem of Installing Applications After a Fresh System Install

Anyone who has installed a new Linux distribution knows this tedious phase. After finishing the system installation, you begin the journey of searching for the applications you need. You open the software store, search for Firefox, then install it. Search for GIMP, install it. Search for VLC, install it. You repeat this process for dozens of applications. If you are a command-line user, you might resort to writing sudo apt install or sudo dnf install commands for each application individually, which is also repetitive and boring.

TuxMate came to solve this problem in a simple and elegant way.

🔗 Official Website: tuxmate.com 🔗 GitHub Repository: github.com/MikeTheHash/TuxMate

What Is TuxMate?

TuxMate is an open source web application designed to be a “Bulk App Installer” for Linux systems . The idea is simple. Instead of installing each application individually, you select all the applications you want from a list, press one button, and TuxMate generates the appropriate command to install them all at once.

The application works through your browser and does not require installation. It generates the appropriate installation commands based on your distribution, whether you use APT, DNF, Pacman, Zypper, or Flatpak, and then allows you to copy and paste them into your terminal.

The Extensive Application List

TuxMate features a huge list of applications organized into categories, covering nearly everything a Linux user might need:

Browsers include Firefox, Chromium, Brave, LibreWolf, Waterfox, Tor Browser, Google Chrome, Zen Browser, Helium, Vivaldi, Ungoogled Chromium, Konqueror, Falkon, GNOME Web, qutebrowser, Nyxt, Floorp, Mullvad Browser, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

Gaming tools include Steam, Lutris, Heroic, Prism Launcher, RetroArch, MangoHud, GameMode, ProtonUp-Qt, AntiMicroX, and GOverlay.

Creativity and design software includes Blender, GIMP, Inkscape, Krita, Darktable, FreeCAD, KiCad, UltiMaker Cura, Godot Engine, KolourPaint, OrcaSlicer, and DaVinci Resolve.

Development tools include Cursor, VS Code, VSCodium, Zed, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, CLion, Arduino IDE, Sublime Text, Kate, Geany, Neovim, Vim, Helix, Micro, Emacs, Git, Git LFS, LazyGit, Docker, Podman, Podman Desktop, Incus, kubectl, Vagrant, VirtualBox, GNOME Boxes, DBeaver, Meld, Wireshark, Postman, Bruno, Hoppscotch, Yaak, Virt Manager, ImHex, and CMake.

AI tools include OpenCodescript, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Claude Code, Ollama, llama.cpp, and Jan.

Communication apps include Discord, Vesktop, Stoat, Telegram, Signal, Slack, Zoom, Thunderbird, Element, Nheko, Cinny, Fluffy Chat, Halloy, and Dino.

Multimedia software includes VLC, mpv, Celluloid, Strawberry, Spotify, Audacity, Kdenlive, OBS Studio, FFmpeg, HandBrake, Stremio, Kodi, Haruna, Shortwave, and Parabolic.

Productivity and office applications include LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Obsidian, Logseq, Joplin, Okular, Zathura, Calibre, Xournal++, Zotero, and Trilium Notes.

Security and privacy tools include Bitwarden, KeePassXC, VeraCrypt, GnuPG, Firejail, ClamAV, Ente Auth, IVPN, Proton VPN, Mullvad VPN, Tailscale, WireGuard, and OpenVPN.

System tools include GParted, KDE Partition Manager, KDE Connect, Timeshift, BleachBit, Flameshot, GNOME Tweaks, dconf Editor, BorgBackup, Restic, Flatpak, Filelight, Conky, FSearch, Resources, CPU-X, Mission Center, and OpenRGB.

Networking and terminal tools include Nmap, OpenSSH, Remmina, Python 3, Node.js, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, OpenJDK, Deno, Bun, npm, pnpm, yarn, uv, Zsh, Oh My Zsh, Fish, Starship, Alacritty, Kitty, WezTerm, Foot, Ghostty, Ptyxis, btop, htop, fastfetch, eza, bat, fzf, ripgrep, zoxide, tldr, wget, curl, aria2, yazi, ranger, ncdu, fd, tmux, Zellij, Superfile, and rsync.

This list is not exhaustive. The website adds new applications continuously.

Ease of Use

Using TuxMate is very simple:

Open the website at tuxmate.com in your browser.
Browse the applications, searching by name or filtering by category.
Click the plus icon next to each application you want to install.
After selecting all applications, click the button that appears at the bottom to view the unified installation command.
Copy the command and paste it into your terminal.

TuxMate works with most popular package managers: APT for Ubuntu and Debian, DNF for Fedora, Pacman for Arch, and Zypper for openSUSE. It also supports Flatpak for universal applications.

Why TuxMate?

There are several reasons why TuxMate is a useful tool.

For new users, TuxMate provides an easy way to explore and discover popular applications they might not know exist. Instead of randomly browsing the software store, they see an organized list of everything available.

For professionals who reinstall their system periodically, TuxMate saves significant time. Instead of writing long commands manually, they select applications from a graphical interface and copy a single command.

For developers who want an integrated development environment, they can select all development tools at once: code editor, Git, Docker, programming languages, and database tools.

Current Limitations

TuxMate is still in its early stages and has some limitations.

First, the application does not install automatically. It generates an installation command, but the user must copy and paste it into the terminal. This is intentional for security reasons, as no website should be allowed to run commands on your system without your consent.

Second, some applications may not be available on all distributions. For example, some applications are only available through Flatpak, while others are only available in distribution repositories.

Third, the list is very large and may be overwhelming for new users. However, the categories help with organization.

Summary

TuxMate is a simple but very practical tool for any Linux user. If you are installing a fresh system, want to try new applications, or want to save time when setting up a new work environment, this tool is worth visiting. Being open source, developers can contribute by adding new applications or improving the interface.