I am referring here to the design patterns found in the GOF book. First how I see it, there are a few peculiarities to design pattern and knowing multiple language knowledge, for example in Java you really need a singleton but in Python you can do without it you write a module, I saw somewhere a wiki trying to write all GOF patterns for JavaScript and the entries where empty, I guess because it might be a daunting task.

If there is someone who is using design patterns and is programming in multiple programming languages supporting the OOP paradigm and can give me a hint on how should I approach design patterns that might help me in all languages I use(Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby):

Can I write good application without knowing exactly the GOF design patterns or I might need some of them which might be crucial and if yes which one, are they alternatives to GOF for specific languages, and should a programmer or a team make its own design patterns set?