One can also use a lot of standalone executables that do not have to be
installed. These are compiled programs made in various programming languages
including Realbasic (I am using the free personal edition). Just double click on
the application and it is running (just like under Windows). If you copy the
program from somewhere else (for example if you get it via email) you first have
to look into Properties, Permissions and check "Allow executing file as
program", otherwise it would not work, due to the security measures in Linux.
The executables made in the Gambas programming environment are not standalone,
they work only if Gambas is installed.
I would recommend both Gambas and Realbasic for building simple programs for
everyday routine tasks, for example if you have a lot to calculate by using a
formula. I would also recommend Yabasic for this purpose and the programs simply
written in Yabasic are indeed very very small.
I am a beginner both in Gambas and Realbasic, as I did not have much time to
study.
Gambas can be installed easily by sudo aptitude install gambas2
There are a few steps where you have to type Y for Yes.