Archive for the ‘Linux Packages’ Category
Open source video converter HandBrake and others.
Formally known as MediaFork, Handbrake is an open source, GPL- licensed, multi platform DVD to MPEG-4 converter. The most recent version, released 8 October, 2007 came out with many additional features. HandBrake 0.9.1 takes your DVDs and video sources like VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image , PAL or NTSC, AC-3 or MPEG audio tracks and and gives them back to you in major file formats like MP4, AVI, OGM and video formats like: the pro iPod MPEG-4 or H.264 and audio formats like : AAC, MP3, Vorbis or AC-3. Its worth mentioning that the ripped files can be played by Zunes and many other devices.
For Linux platforms, this final release is available for download as source code.
Two free Web Applications that serve as efficient video encoders are Hey!Watch and VidDownloader
Hey!Watch converts videos uploaded from your desktop as well videos on sites into wide variety of formats like H264, MP4, WMV, DivX, HD Video, Mobile 3GP/MP4, iPod, Archos and PSP. Above 10MB of upload per month, the service becomes commercial.
VidDownloader could be used to make a save and personal copy of videos found around the web. It picks-up videos from streaming sites like YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo etc and converts them to playable video formats and it gives it back for download in the popular AVI format, thus compatible with DivX.
Solutions from the Ubuntu Community
Installing Azureus on Ubuntu 7.10
Many would have noticed that whilst trying to install the famous BitTorrent client, Azureus on Ubuntu 7.10 from a terminal, it hang up with the response
Aborted (core dumped) azureus
This issue occurs with other p2p clients like aMule-AdunanzA. The Ubuntu community for now uses a patch to fix this issue. All you need to do is install the .deb patch and it would lead you to the complete installation of Azureus.
Installing aMule AdunanzA
For aMule AdunanzA the same error occurs whilst trying to install the aMule AdunanzA with the Auto-Installer. The easiest way to turn around this issue is using the cvs downloadable from this Website.
Free games for your Linux platform
Linux games for now are not up to what we find on Windows or Apple neither are they up to what we find on Xbox or PlayStation. Nonetheless it is good to know that they are good Open Source or free games available for various Linux distributions.
Linux Journal came out with a rather interesting list of free games for Linux. I tried out three of these games and can say they are utmost and run well even on a moderate pentium III workstation. To enjoy these games, arm your PC with OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) . Try them out.
AstroMenace
Deadly Rooms of Death
War Zone 2100
The Battle for Wesnoth
Torcs
BZFlag
Sauerbraten
There are certainly many more games for Linux out there. Help me extend the list.
Mythbuntu, the Windows Media Centre alternative
Mythbuntu, the Windows Media Centre alternative is an Ubuntu based Linux distribution that is dedicated to media. You can watch videos and record live TV (with the help of a TV tuner), listen to music, or browse pictures. It is simply an all-in-one PC and entertainment centre.
Mythbuntu is practically the core of Ubuntu without all the extra applications included in Ubuntu. It ships with the XFCE4 lightweight desktop, that can be easily replaced at any time with one of the Buntus desktop (Ubuntu,Kubuntu or Xubuntu) using the Mythbuntu Control Centre.
Mythbuntu is recognized as a community supported project by Canonical, it’s development cycle closely follows that of Ubuntu, thus, it is released every six months shortly after Ubuntu releases. The final release, Mythbuntu 7.10, is now downloadable as an .ISO that burns into a LiveCD.
So you can verify hardware compatibility before installing it. The LiveCD works as a MythTV front-end.
Opera 9.5 Beta for Linux
Opera 9.5 Beta is now ready for public test. This new version of the Norwegian browser comes a year after the previous, the version 9, the Linux version integrates Qt 4. Many major improvements have been made in this version including stability issues, better user interface with content blocking improvements, better support for CSS 3 and a new JavaScript engine amongst many others.
Opera 9 has Linux versions for i386, PowerPC and Sparc and is available for download for most Linux distributions
Gimp 2.4 comes with many new features.
Gimp the most popular Open Source image editor just released the 2.4 version. This new version comes with a bundle of new features and improvements, like Improved display when zooming in or out, better Scalable Brushes and Selection Tools, lens distortion filters and a lot more.
Most Linux distributions come with Gimp as a pre-installed, for example Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon†comes with a pre-installed Gimp 2.4 version. An update could be enough.
Gimp is also available in the Fedora and openSUSE repositories and for download as source code.
For beginners the Gimp User Manual is a recommend starting point.
