Plots For Linux

Visualizing mathematical formulae can have various benefits, especially for researchers, teachers, and students, but can also be quite interesting for people who want to learn more and rely on their visual memory in order to achieve this.

This is where Plots comes into play. It's a free and open-source graph plotting application and a good one at that.

Plots is written in Pyhon, and uses GTK 3. This means that it's a lightweight app (that's also capable of using modern hardware such as OpenGL) and that it integrates nicely with GNOME desktops (even though it should also work on other DEs without issues).

It supports all the basic arithmetic operations, as well as some of the more advanced functions such as trigonometric, hyperbolic, exponential, and logarithmic functions. It can also be used to visualize arbitrary sums, polar equations (both implicit and explicit Cartesian equations), as well as other products.

Even though it's responsible for seemingly a very complex task, that of displaying advanced functions and equations, Plots is very easy to use.

Simply click the plus button to add new equations, and delete them by pressing the "trashcan" button. You are provided with the option of undoing and redoing actions, zooming in and out, and the ability to change the plot colors.

One of the best features of Plots is that it also comes with a nicely integrated Documentation section, which can be accessed from the "hamburger" menu, and by selecting "Help."

Plots has various installation options. On the project's GitHub repository page, you're able to find instructions on how to install Plots for Ubuntu, Debian-based distributions, and Arch Linux, both PPAs and specific DEB files.

The app is also available as a Flatpak file, meaning it can be installed on pretty much all Flatpak-enabled systems with ease. Before installing it, however, please note that Plots does require Python 3.0 to be present on your system.

To conclude, Plots is a no-frills graph plotting app that does its job right. It can be useful for everyone interested in visualizing simple or complex mathematic and arithmetic operations, functions, and equations.

Sure, it could do with a few more features (such as the ability to export projects, or even a simple built-in screenshot tool), but it's still very much usable and useful in its current form.