. . . using Linux on enterprise and end user desktops

AD

AD

Home / LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS: Q&A;, discussion most useful distro.. dvd playing, ease of dependencies, good updates

most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) binskipy2k4 what distro if any is the easiest to get dvd's to play out of the box and fixes dependcies before you realize you need them? is there such a distro? i had suse 9.1 pro, it wont play dvds.. and i didnt feel like damn near learning programming to get it to do so, windows for me just works in minutes, but is there a linux that just "works" right out of the box? i tried using a new version of gyach.. said i needed something, i installed with the rpm -i --nodeps. and then it opens and closes.. my fault i know.. but isnt there a linux that goes out and finds whats "needed" so it just works the first time? i d/l the latest version of mplayer, says it should play dvds.. i see the fbi warning, and then it closes/disappeears.. so any linux that just works the first time? 09-28-2004 22:03:18

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) lllonhro I had the same problem but it is easily fixed. The whole thing is that it is illegal for any Linux distro to supply you with the required file. The file is, however, freely available on the net. This is what I did; 1. Google search "libdvdcss xine" 2. Select "Daily xine RPMS with CSS support (Linux DVD player)" 3. Scroll down to "libdvdcss-1.2.8-2.network.i386.rpm" 4. Download the file and save to your home directory 5. Goto home directory and double click on the file 6. Fire up Xine, insert dvd and enjoy By the way, I use Mandrake 9.2 PowerPac (boxed set) - its great. Hope this helps. If you have any questions on what I have written, just post them here. Cheers 09-28-2004 23:43:56

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) kevin Profile i had suse 9.1 pro, it wont play dvds.. and i didnt feel like damn near learning programming to get it to do so, I don't think any distro will play dvds out of the box due to legal problems with the dvd decryption. lllonhro posted instructions on how to rectify that situation. but isnt there a linux that goes out and finds whats "needed" so it just works the first time? If you stick with the thousands of programs available in YasT, it will fetch dependencies over the internet. I don't know if gyach is in there, but both gaim and kopete are for sure and both support yahoo chat. Any time you want to install software, use YasT. so any linux that just works the first time? SuSE linux, if you use it properly. You're not going to get anywhere by switching linux distributions every time you get frustrated with this one. You'll just waste a lot of your own time. SuSE is one of the most user friendly linux distributions, there should be no reason to switch. -kev 09-29-2004 07:54:02

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) SM.... >>so any linux that just works the first time? >SuSE linux, if you use it properly. For anything except multi-media yes. Knoppix is better for multi-media. Lindows is also better for multi-media from what I hear (because they license all the codecs), but I haven't tried it personally. 10-09-2024 14:38:04

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) LQM3216 Hello all, About a month ago I filled out a request for Novell's SUSE 9.1. A set of DVD's arrived at the house and I'm just doing some finishing touches after a fresh install. As to the topic of DVD's, I downloaded the file that lllonhro referenced, but I still got the warning that the version of xine that's in the distro can't play them. "This version of Xine lacks support for playing DVD discs for legal reasons." That's the exact warning in Kaffeine Media Player 0.4.1. I d/l'd the file, opened it and used the YaST applet to install it. I've no idea where it put it, but it didn't work anyway. Am I doing something wrong? LQM 10-10-2024 13:16:17

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) Gavin19 Profile I haven't experimented with all the distros (yet), but as far as working 'out-of-the-box' Suse is indeed hard to beat. For DVDs the libdvdcss2 package is all that is needed AFAIK though I haven't tried installing it in Suse to date. However while I admire Suse's user-friendliness I do tend to prefer to steer clear of it's rpm package management as I have found it too picky and prone to breaking. Instead the debian/apt package system I have found to be solid and a lot less hassle especially for a newb like me. I even tried apt4rpm with Suse but it just felt like a mask for rpm and not as relable as the 'real' apt. I would recommend you look at Mepis/Knoppix as both are pretty complete 'live' distros with superior hardware detection and ease of use for newbs. As far as in-built DVD playback the only distro I know that ships with it is Turbolinux(?), but that is a pay-for distro, and considering the libdvdcss package is freely available, then there isn't much point in paying for a whole distro just for that one small aspect. 10-10-2024 19:22:09

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) LQM3216 On another note: As my previous post states, I've decided to load SUSE 9.1 Pro to see what it looks like. So far, with a few exceptions, one of which is the DVD issue, I like it. I've come to the realization that it's still Linux- just under another cover. As I get more familiar with Linux as a whole, I can make distinctions like that. No comes the question. Just for giggles, I decided to try and re-install my Mandrake 10.1 distro. For some reason it wouldn't load. I keep getting the warning that the Mandrake disk may not be an install disk. I know the discs work becasue I've loaded it before, made copies and loaded it, and built two machines with them. I tried the fdisk /mbr, I used the disc utility to wipe the drive, re-partition and format, and nothing. I get the same warning. SUSE however, loads just fine. Could there be some trickery afoot? LQM 10-11-2024 13:59:23

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) LQM3216 On another note: As my previous post states, I've decided to load SUSE 9.1 Pro to see what it looks like. So far, with a few exceptions, one of which is the DVD issue, I like it. I've come to the realization that it's still Linux- just under another cover. As I get more familiar with Linux as a whole, I can make distinctions like that. No comes the question. Just for giggles, I decided to try and re-install my Mandrake 10.1 distro. For some reason it wouldn't load. I keep getting the warning that the Mandrake disk may not be an install disk. I know the discs work becasue I've loaded it before. I've made copies and loaded it, and built two machines with them. I tried the fdisk /mbr, I used the disc utility to wipe the drive, re-partition and format, and nothing. I thought maybe it was the file format so I re-loaded SUSE in Reiser and EXT3, but I get the same warning when I tried to load Mandrake. SUSE however, loads just fine. Could there be some trickery afoot? LQM 10-11-2024 14:02:13

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) LQM3216 Profile | Email Oops! Sorry. I posted twice. 10-11-2024 19:55:54

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) lqm3216 Nevermind....I got it back. LQM 10-12-2024 14:25:35

RE:most useful distro.. (modified 0 times) LQM3216 lllonhro, After finally getting Mandrake 10.0 Download re-installed, I did what you suggested about DVD play, and lo and behold! it works. Thank you sir LQM 10-12-2024 20:13:59

Start New Thread | Reply to Thread | Printer | Forward All times are PST Powered by UltraBoard v1.62

- LINUX vs. WINDOWS debate / discussion - Win2Lin MIGRATION STORIES / discussion - LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS: Q&A;, discussion - TALKBACKS on news and articles - HARDWARE TOPICS: Q&A;, discussion - APPLICATION SOFTWARE: Q&A;, discussion - LINUX SYSTEM ADMIN: Q&A;, discussion - DESKTOP/WINDOW MANAGERS: Q&A;, discussion - OTHER (stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere) - wIndependence essay contest winners - Other wIndependence essays - ABOUT THIS SITE and its mission - The Win2Lin FAQ