Ubuntu without multimedia

Linux is great in many ways. A complete operating system for free, why is not everybody using it? The truth is that it hasn’t been very user-friendly. That is about to change. With the latest version of Ubuntu (version 10.04) I have started to use it on several machines, both desktops and servers. Some say it’s the new Windows or Mac OS X. I can’t agree there, it’s evolving but it’s still a half-baked product. Just because it’s a free product it’s shipped without some important components.

What I’m talking about and what probably is a show stopper for many users is the lack for media support. I can’t play DVD-movies on my laptop! Luckily this is easy to fix. If you know how to do, that is. What still makes Linux a hobby and enthusiast project is that many users are technically skilled but can’t teach their skills to other people. Until that is changed Linux is not for “everyone”. To make Ubuntu multimedia ready, follow the instructions below or check out the source that explains exactly how to do: Linux and Microcontroller Tips!

The changes needed are made in the terminal, you can just copy and paste the below commands:

Add the medibuntu repository:

sudo wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list

sudo apt-get --quiet update

sudo apt-get --yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring

sudo apt-get --quiet update

Install non-free-codecs:

sudo apt-get install non-free-codecs

Install DVD Support:

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

Install MS Windows codecs:

sudo apt-get install w32codecs

Install VLC player and Mplayer:

sudo apt-get install vlc mplayer

This might still look like greek to you but it’s still the most straight forward instructions I have found. If you copy and paste the commands in the above order into your terminal window you will enable multimedia support. Hope this will improve your Linux experience.

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