Ubuntu is nice..

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JackOfHearts

Senior member
Apr 18, 2000
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First distro of linux I used was RH 4ish then slackware... Since slackware I haven't used linux on a system as a primary OS, for awhile. Just installed Ubuntu on a laptop a friend gave me... Wow so user friendly.

Well I guess I have a few questions. What media players do you use and where is a good place to find codecs for linux.

It also had drivers right off the bat for all the hardware in the laptop. Soooooo nice. Also jumped right on the network via a pcmcia wired nic, no samba config needed(thank god). Been using Ubuntu for a few hours no and I haven't had to edit a single config file. What is a good wireless card to get for Ubuntu?

PS Synaptic RULES!!!!!

 
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Brazen

Diamond Member
Jul 14, 2000
4,259
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Originally posted by: JackOfHearts
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What media players do you use and where is a good place to find codecs for linux.
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Click to expand...

Under the applications menu, go to Audio and Video and the media application are under there, or just double click a media file and it will open the appropriate media application automatically. Since there is no "Ubuntu Media Player," Ubuntu just already includes the most popular and easy to use media players.

As for codecs, if you are using Feisty, then it automatically find and install the appropriate codecs when they are needed.
 
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BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
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Maybe you should try Linux Mint. Its based on Ubuntu but already includes codecs, plug-ins, etc.
 
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drag

Elite Member
Jul 4, 2002
8,708
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For wireless cards...

If your laptop supports mini-pci slot then the best thing to get would be a Intel based mini-pci card. You can pick them up from newegg and they'll be pretty cheap. You may have to get a bit creative about the antenna though if your laptop doesn't have one already built-in. The interesting models only come in Mini-PCI form since generally they are a OEM-only item.
http://intel.rapla.net/

Otherwise my personal preference is ralink-based for USB and PCI. I haven't tried a PCMCIA though. These are supported by open source drivers, but they are tricky to setup and unless your willing to muck around with drivers and such things then probably avoid them for now until the get incorporated into the kernel.
http://ralink.rapla.net/ (remember pay attention to the revision of the card you want)
For drivers and rutilt utility (uninstall network-manager if you want to use that)
http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
They'll have forums there for help.

One of the most popular models to get is Atheros-based devices. Unfortunately they still require a binary-only hunk of code for otherwise open source drivers. But generally they work fairly well and are favored by a lot of people. Requires the 'madwifi' drivers.
http://atheros.rapla.net/
 
G

gus6464

Golden Member
Nov 10, 2005
1,848
32
91
I second getting an intel based wireless card for its built in kernel support. But atheros cards are also super easy to set up under ubuntu as restricted manager will identify the card automatically and set it up.

As far as windows codecs and such I recommend automatix: www.getautomatix.com
It is an app that simplifies the process of getting w32codecs, ms truetype fonts, browser plugins, vmware, and many other apps. Some people will tell you that it breaks systems but I have yet to encounter any problems with it on debian 4.0, ubuntu edgy and feisty.

Ubuntu Feisty is honestly very good at auto detect and plug and play. It is almost windows-like in ease of setup of most hardware. I found that one of the best improvements was connecting to windows shared printers through network. Feisty probably has the easiest and most trouble free way of connecting through a gui compared to OSX and windows itself.
 
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Brazen

Diamond Member
Jul 14, 2000
4,259
0
0
Originally posted by: gus6464
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As far as windows codecs and such I recommend automatix: www.getautomatix.com
It is an app that simplifies the process of getting w32codecs, ms truetype fonts, browser plugins, vmware, and many other apps. Some people will tell you that it breaks systems but I have yet to encounter any problems with it on debian 4.0, ubuntu edgy and feisty.
...
Click to expand...

Be wary of Automatix. If you plan to do an apt-get upgrade from Feisty to Gibbon, things are apt to break if you've used Automatix.
 
J

JackOfHearts

Senior member
Apr 18, 2000
667
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hmmmm Ubuntu doesn't seem to want to stream music over the network... Any ideas?

Thanks for the help so far:)
 
D

drag

Elite Member
Jul 4, 2002
8,708
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0
stream music? You mean you play it as you download it, right? (as opposed to streaming to a music box or something)

I donno. Depends on the format and such things. Got a link?
 
X

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
Originally posted by: JackOfHearts
hmmmm Ubuntu doesn't seem to want to stream music over the network... Any ideas?

Thanks for the help so far:)
Click to expand...

vlc can handle network streams, and the mplayer mozilla plugin can handle other embeded streams pretty well from any site ive tried.
 
T

trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
18
81
Mplayer plugin for mozilla. Just make sure to install it through synaptic or apt-get and not through the xpi file available through their website. I tried that xpi file that installs directly into firefox and it never worked. Then I used synaptic and it worked the first time.
 
sourceninja

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I currently play ut2004, doom3 with expansions, quake 4, nwn, ET, and a few other games native to linux, plus warcraft 3 and wow work fine in wine. Right now i'm playing starcraft in wine with no issues.
 
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Jay

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,728
7
81
Give PCLinuxOS 2007 a spin, you will see it's gaining momentum and IMO, the best distro out of the box for a newbie to Linux.

Check distro watch (www.distrowatch.com).
 
DarkThinker

DarkThinker

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2007
2,822
0
0
For wireless cards the best choices out there are what is the most common either Intel or Atheros. Personally I recommend going with Atheros as I had an IPW3945ABG in my Thinkpad T60 and I had to get rid of it, the quality of madwifi modules and their ease of installation puts the Intel counterparts to shame IMHO.

As for Codecs, I use Fedora 6 and my media player of choice is Totem due to it's GNOME integration and utilization of gstreamer, the codec packages that I use with it are gstreamer-bad and gstreamer-ugly those two usually do the job for the most part.
 
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Brazen

Diamond Member
Jul 14, 2000
4,259
0
0
Originally posted by: drag
Originally posted by: pcslookout
Has linux improved much with gaming ?
Click to expand...

Not realy. Not in terms of commercial games from big players.

There are a few fun free software games.. Tremulous, Alien Arena, Torcs, Vdrift, Scorched3d and a few others.

If your curious...
http://www.linuxgames.com/
http://happypenguin.org/
http://www.tuxgames.com/
http://www.linux-gamers.net/
Click to expand...

Singularity is the funnest little game I've played in a long time. You can install it with Synaptic.
 
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