ssh
This installs both the standard ssh client and (optionally) the ssh server. Recommended.
less
This is a "pager". It is a text-files viewer with many features, such as text search. You need this if you work in the command-line.
tcpdump
A simple command-line sniffer. Handy for debugging network problems.
strace
System calls tracer. Especially useful for understanding what a certain program really does.
mc
Midnight Commander is a terminal-based file manager fashioned after the old Norton Commander. Includes some handy features. May be useful if you are forced to deal with files.
lftp
A text-mode client for ftp, http, https and sftp.
gpm
Adds mouse support in the Linux console. Also allows you to copy & paste text between different virtual consoles.
lynx
A text-mode browser.
sox
A Swiss-army knife application for sound manipulations. including "play" for playing sound, "rec" for recording, and "sox" for general conversion between sound formats.
lsof
LiSt Open Files: Lists all processes that use a certain file/directory/device . Useful for troubleshooting.
host
Resolve DNS names to addresses and generally query the DNS system.
elinks
Another text-mode browser. Eventually we will have just one. Let us know which one you prefer…
w3m
Yet another text-mode browser.
mondo
System backup software. See the next section.
apache
A popular Web server.
PHP
A popular scripting language, most commonly used for Web applications.
MySQL
A database server. Used in Asterisk CDR application. Also commonly used as the storage method for Web-based applications.
Webmin
A Web-based interface for managing a Linux system. Note that by default it is only accessible from the local host. Install a text-mode browser and browse https://localhost:1000
Kernel 2.6
We currently still use version 2.4 of the Linux kernel. However, we also ship kernel 2.6 (2.6.8) and include the Zaptel modules compiled for it. It is not yet officially supported. This menu entry installs kernel 2.6.8. It also makes it the default for the next time the system boots.
dnsmasq
A DNS+DHCP server. Intended to serve mainly as a caching name-server for local networks. It is much more straightforward to configure than bind and ISC dhcpd
