MEDIbuntu - Movies & Mp3 Playback

Okay, fresh off the first install..now what? Missing some of your favorite old Windows or OSX functionality and programs after experimenting with the pre-installed software? No worries, I'll offer some suggestions on free, alternative software and tell ya just how to get it. And now its time for the infamous question first asked by *nix n00bs galore...

"Soo.. how can I play all my p0r-I mean mp3s, movie 'backups' and Sopranos DVDs?"

No worries. The Ubuntu communitiy has made this easy with MEDIbuntu - Multimedia, Entertainment, and Distractions in Ubuntu. (Please note, some of these links are specific for i386 computers, if you have and amd64 or powerpc please check carefully and adjust accordingly.)

You can install the appropriate packages through the terminal or synaptic package manager.

ADDING THE MEDIBUNTU REPOSITORY

Now, to do this in the package manager, go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager (or, press Alt+F2 simultaneously then type 'gksudo synaptic.')

Enter your admin password, and select Settings > Repositories.


Go to the Third-Party Software tab, and add http://packages.medibuntu.org as the link, add you distro in lowercase letters (ie. gutsy, intrepid or jaunty) and for Components, enter 'free non-free' without the quotes.


You'll also need to add the GPG security key (a harmless verification key for some 3rd party sources) in order to appreciate everything the MEDIbuntu repository has to offer. It is in the package manager under 'medibuntu-keyring.'


SAME THING...BUT WITH THE TERMINAL

To save time, you could open a terminal and copy and paste the following commands. The first one is to add the Medibuntu Repository source to your list of trusted sources so that you are able to receive future updates

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

*Be sure to replace intrepid with your Ubuntu release name, for example 'jaunty,' 'intrepid' or 'hardy.' And to add the GPG key type:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update.


VIDEO & DVD CODECS

To install the codecs for Windows Media, Real, Apple, Divx, and other files which are not native to Linux, you can use the synaptic manager and search for 'w32codecs.' For the CLI, enter:

sudo apt-get install w32codecs


To enable DVD playback, the decoding library files are needed and you can again install through the package manager by searching 'libdvdcss2' or using APT:

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

MP3 and Video Players

If you are coming from Windows or Mac, you're probably looking for something decent as the default video player. The MEDIbuntu player is found in the repositories as 'mplayer.' Or using the terminal,

sudo apt-get install mplayer

I also highly recommend VLC Media player, plus a few plugins (such as mozilla for firefox), which can all be found by searching 'vlc' in the software manager. In the terminal, key the following:

sudo apt-get install vlc vlc-plugin-esd mozilla-plugin-vlc

VLC in action:


As far as MP3 playback in Linux is concerned, the aforementioned media players will playback almost any media format available. If you are looking for a program to organize your media collection and interface with your iPod (so, basically some kinda iTunes clone) there are about three or four programs worth taking a look at: AmaroK, Banshee, Rhythmbox and, newly released version 1.0 from Mozilla, Songbird. [Of course you could try installing iTunes with WINE, but I've never been able to get it to recognize my iPod] All of these are available in the repositories and maybe someday I'll do a comparison post. For now, enjoy your media collection and feel free to email me or comment for any questions on playback or any programs/entries in this posting!

Tilda - Creating a Drop-Down / Quake (or other FPS) Style Terminal window

This guide will walk you through the installation of a Quake/Half-life style drop-down terminal window, such as the one pictured above.

While I mostly get around in Ubuntu with the GUI, I do try and experience using the Terminal window as much as I can, and having one easily avialable via a hot-key (a single key 'shortcut') can be very convenient. The main reason I have decided to start off with this post, is that I find having the terminal window readily available so that when you are copying and pasting commands from the web, you can have the drop-down terminal window be transparant and 'above' the other windows making it easy to still read whats online while monitoring the installation.

First off, the following installation instructions are for the Gnome Desktop Environment, if you are running KDE, I recommend checking out Yakuake. There are a couple different Quake-style console apps for Gnome, but I prefer to use Tilda, and I will briefly discuss the others at the end.

INSTALLATION

Tilda can be found in the Synaptic Package Manager (Alt+F2 and enter 'synaptic'). Just type 'tilda,' mark it for installation, and apply. To download the program through the terminal, open a window and type:

sudo apt-get install tilda

After the installation has completed, it can be accessed under Applications > Accessories > Tilda

By default, the hot-key is (duh) the Tilda button. "The what!?" The tilda. That wavy line that you've never known actually had a name, on the same button the crazy-lookin apostraphe, below the Esc key. To change this (I like to use the tilda button to switch application windows - look for an upcoming how-to post on that!) simply right-click anywhere on the Tilda terminal window and select preferences. A menu will pop up with several tabs.

The 'Keybinding' tab, is where you will change what button to press in order to hide/view the window. You can also adjust other options such as the size of the window, add borders, add background image, change colors, etc.

INITIATE TILDA ON START-UP

You may be wondering at this point just how annoying its gonna be to have to wait for your machine to start-up, then select Tilda from the application menu everytime, or if theres a way for it to initiate on startup. Well, there is. And its easy.

Just go to System > Preferences > Sessions and enter the information as seen below. The command is simply 'tilda' (without quotes), the title is Tilda, and you can put whatever comment you damn well please.

And there you have it, folks. Feel free to mess around with some of the settings, as you can see from the screenshots, I prefer a classic matrix-esque color scheme and to have the terminal window only take up a portion of my screen.

Also, if Tilda isn't quite what you are looking for, or doesn't agree with your system for whatever reason, don't fret, you can also look into YeahConsole (the simplest drop-down console) or Guake. Both can be found in the repositories.