new linux users, any tips?

You could install Wine so you can run your windows programs in Linux. Also, apt get is the most useful tool on the planet. You can do updates of your software, install new software, resolve dependencies issues, etc.

Play DVD's in Ubuntu:

1. Open Bash, (command prompt).

2. Enter in this text exactly as follows: sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse

3. Press enter, enter password, press enter.

4. Wait for install, and enter in the following text exactly as it appears: sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

5. Repeat step 3.

6. Wait for install, and enter in the following text exactly as it appears: sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh

7. Repeat step 3.

8. Insert DVD, watch movie.

EDIT: (also, you will now be able to play your MP3 collection as well)

 

When you plug in your MP3 player, it should show up as a removable HDD. You can transfer your MP3's to it, as well as any other file you want. You don't need iTunes.

 

Read more closely, he's using an iPod. Those use a proprietary database that has to be updated as well. I think Ubuntu's default Rhythmbox software should have a plugin to sync with most older iPod models FWIW Dale.

 

It's just a simple text file with *.lst extension. You can edit it with nothing more then notepad. Edit it to how you want, rearrange the playlist to your heart's content, keep to the file layout, and away you go.

Example:

That is a standard *.M3U playlist, and should work on any device. Alter it to your needs.

 

I just got a laptop for school, and one of the first things I done was delete Windows 7 and install Ubuntu.

I installed Sun Virtualbox inside of Ubuntu, so I can run Windows XP (can't get 7 to work correctly without crashing).

I instaled Compiz, which lets me do a lot of visual effects for switching programs and have multiple desktops. I like the 3D cube, and the fire effects.

It took me about 3 weeks to get used to it, but now it's running smoothly. I had to use the terminal and enter a lot of UNIX commands to do some things. I checked out Ubuntu Forums, and they helped me get it all working.

 

Yay I made the switch from windows to mac a couple years ago and from mac to ubuntu a few months back now. Never going back to either.
Does anyone know how to get the right hand scroll bar to automatically move to the top or bottom when I click it. Instead of scrolling all the way up or down. I searched all in my settings and can not find anything for it.

 

First off, apt-get isn't necessarily the best. I would recommend using aptitude instead. They do the same things, but the aptitude command is different and does more, though at the moment I'm high and can't remember how. It has something to do with how files are removed when you uninstall them. If you installed with apt-get, you are stuck. Aptitude will still remove them, but it will not do its extra functions, which like I said I can't remember at the moment. If you install with Aptitude and remove with it as well, it will do the extra things I can't seem to come up with.

Also, I use Rhythmbox to manage my iPod. It works wonderfully. You plug it in, and modifying the content is as simple as dragging the desired files onto the iPod.

Also, as a method of "preventing" piracy, Apple makes iTunes format your ipod every time you sync, so basically it is re-writing your collection each time. Rhythmbox doesn't do this. It simply takes what songs you want and adds/removes them from the ipod independently from the computer's library, so that you can put a song on your ipod, delete it off the computer, then re-attach the ipod and add a new song without losing the first one.

Perhaps apple changed the way their software works, but that's how it went the last time I used iTunes, which was about 2nd gen release.


Also, a pretty decent list of apps is Rhythmbox, VLC, Vuze, Frostwire, Firefox, Chrome, Skype, OpenOffice, and, depending on your DE, Exaile or Amarok are nice. I prefer them over Rhythmbox for actually PLAYING my media, but I prefer Rhythmbox for managing it. That's just me though.

Oh, and Vbox is nice, but at the same time the only thing you'll really ever need to use it for is games, which I doubt you're very serious about on a netbook. I recommend looking up and learning a few key commands by heart, as well as maybe running a sysmon screenlet to watch what your apps are doing to your hardware.

That's about all I have, I used to be into tweaking and all that but over the last 2 years I've given it up and just go with a nice clean install.


Oh, and Ubuntu 9.10 offers ./home encryption out of the box, and its pretty good I must say. Another good idea if you're on a shared computer or don't want to bother with people finding your Pr0nz, is to make a hidden file for it all by placing a full stop before the folder name. Ctrl + H will display hidden folders, so if you put your hidden one in ./home you can do Places > Home then Ctrl + H for simple access. lol.

 

You can use apt-get to remove packages and config files.

sudo apt-get --purge remove <package>

 

The apt vs. aptitude thing is mostly outdated now because as of about 2007 the apt-get software has the ability to do the special thing that aptitude does, but for general enlightenment here's where they used to differ:

When you install software with either one, it pulls in packages that your desired packages depend on to work properly (called dependencies). When you remove software using apt-get remove it removes the package you specified, but it doesn't also remove packages which were installed only to satisfy dependencies for that package. aptitude remove checks to see if the dependencies of that package are also dependencies for any other packages - if not, it removes them. This can help to keep the size of your Linux system trimmed of unnecessary packages left over from older software that is no longer on the system.

However, if you install a package using apt-get and then uninstall it using aptitude, aptitude has no knowledge of why that particular package was installed - if it was pulled in as a dependency or you specified that it should be there. So really, if that sort of thing matters to you, it's best to use one or the other and not mix them up.

HOWEVER, as of 2007 or so the apt-get software now keeps track of why which packages were installed and has a special remove function (use "autoremove" instead of "remove") that allows you to do the same thing via apt-get.

Hmm, I've never heard of this. My iPod Nano syncs way too quickly to be doing a reformat and rebuild every sync, and I sync every day, usually about a minute before I run out the door to catch my bus. It takes like 10 seconds, including the time it takes to copy a one-hour podcast. I could believe that it rebuilds the iPod's Library database to catch any new files that were added, but rebuilding from a format doesn't make sense, especially if you consider that flash memory can only be written to so many times.

 

What generation iPod is it? Is it like a Touch or something?

Older models are much better-supported. I have a first-generation Nano which is pretty much supported by everything. If you're not sure Apple has a handy page which should help.

 

soso book semi-related to the thread book, you can get it for the cost of shipping basically, off of Amazon "Hacking iPod and iTunes (ExtremeTech)"

 

best tip for linux noobs, Do not fear command line!