Automatix for Feisty Fawn Released

"Automatix2 is a free graphical package manager for the installation, uninstallation and configuration of the most commonly requested applications in Debian based Linux operating systems."

It's a great tool for installing commonly used applications and codecs and similar things.

Main Site: http://www.getautomatix.com/

Installation Instructions: http://www.getautomatix.com/wiki/index.php?title=Installation

 

I don't really see the point in Automatix anymore. I mean, Feisty is adding automatically downloaded codecs, and other such ease-of-installation nices.

 

DVD. You can't play DVDs without libdvdcss2, which isn't available from any of the Ubuntu repositories, so you have to add the medibuntu repos. This is pretty straightforward for someone such as you or I, but for a casual users, adding software sources, using wget to get some keys, and then dealing with transferring plugins to different media playing programs is a little much; it's much easier to just use Automatix to install your DVD and w32 codecs, along with the necessary plugins to view them in the popular players (i.e. Totem with the xine backend, VLC, etc.).

 

*Sigh* So until they make a nice little install DVD codecs button, users are going to continue to complain when they try and dist-upgrade?

 

problem is that libdvdcss2 is totally against the law in the USA, since it cracks the encryption on DVDs.

 

Unfortunately true, and this is the reason why it's not in the Ubuntu repos (although there are some other illegal codecs in the repos as well). There is a bit of an interesting discussion of the legality of the codec here.

 

The amount of software available to install with two clicks is great especially for the new user. http://getautomatix.com/wiki/index.php?title=Software_and_Tweaks

I installed Gaim, Azureus, Exaile, CTRLALTDEL, NTFS read/write, codecs, Acrobat Reader, GIMP, Google Earth, VMWare Player, and Wine by just selecting the boxes and hitting install. Most of that you can just do through Synaptic but is a lot easier in my opinion.

 

Is it really? I think if you own the DVD and you are not making a copy it is legal to read a DVD in any fashion. Imagine someone telling you to read a book in a certain way...you aren't plagarizing the book, just reading it randomly. That seems like a good analogy. At least it backs up the ethical side of it...

 

Unfortunately, it is illegal because you are circumventing the encryption whether or not you own the DVD in the first place.

 

The DMCA makes the act of distributing tools to break copy protection a crime (even trivial copy protection). It doesn't apply to non-US sites though, but that is why Ubuntu can't distribute it.

I personally don't like things like Automatix, because I prefer to do it myself, so I have minimal outside interference on the configuration of my system, minimal difference from the base distro.

As an aside, if you have an ntfs USB disk, install ntfs-3g, and install the "ntfs-config" package, which will allow you to enable automatic mounting of external ntfs-formatted USB drives. Just make sure you do the safe removal from Windows, otherwise it won't mount properly in Linux.

 

If this is so, how come Linux isn't big in the news, why hasn't DMCA issued takedown notices for Linux Mint, and why isn't (any) Debian distro under fire? Seems like there is something more to it...but I still agree with you.

 

"Creedy: Die! Die! Why won't you die?... Why won't you die?"
"V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof. " - V for Vendetta

I couldn't help it.. but it just sorta fits..

 

hah... I just re-read that graphic novel... unfortunate that the whole "head of the Finger" part of the storyline was changed for the film.

As for the DMCA... it's kinda like enforcing litter laws, at least in the case of DeCSS.

 

Haha... I actually just watched that movie last night; it's such a great movie.

Anyway, the big problem with libdvdcss2 is that you don't pay for it. From what I've gathered, it's not really breaking copy protection, but rather region protection, and therefore may actually not be breaking the law. But either way, the media companies are really upset about is the hit to the pocket book; with other OS' such as Windows and Mandriva, part of the price you pay goes to licensing certain included codecs (like mp3, w32, DVD, etc). Obviously, with a distro like Ubuntu, you aren't paying any license fees. So they can not only not package it with the OS, they legally can't provide it to you easily. But there are other legal alternatives, such as fluendo. They have paid the licenses and have agreements with the owners (such as Microsoft) and provide these plugins for the gstreamer engine, so you can pay for these codecs and legally have them anywhere in the world. Also, you can now get LinDVD through Mandriva to play DVDs legally, and here is a how-to on how to get it on Ubuntu (or other Debian based distros). Note that officially, LinDVD is only available to manufacturers, and not the general public, not even for sale at this time.

It is my opinion that in order for Linux to become more mainstream on systems from vendors (such as Dell), they may have to resort to these kinds of commercial (read: non-free) means, otherwise Linux will either be illegal or impractical to the majority of US customers.

 

Well, from my point of view, laws should be changed, not Ubuntu, with regards to DVDs at any rate. It's freaking last-gen technology as it is.

Oh well.

 

I completely agree. Unfortunately, most of the business world doesn't think the way you and I do.

 

What's the deal here guys? To be honest, I am a bit baffled by all this.

So does M$ have some special deal with RIAA/DMCA so that their cracking of the CSS is legal? Why is it just Linux that bears this burden? Windows reads DVD films out of the box...

 

I haven't used Linux Mint, but I'd wager to say that they download libdvdcss2 off of a foreign server if they can play CSS-encrypted DVD's out of the box. Region encoding pisses off the MPAA, but it's not illegal to get around it. They will try to ban "illegal" imports of out-of-region DVD's and region-free DVD players.

Microsoft, et. al. can play DVD's because they pay the per-copy royalty and signed the NDA, etc. that's necessary to decrypt DVD's, even though the cat is out of the bag. The only Linux that legally plays DVD's in the USA is Linspire, and that's if you buy their DVD app I believe.

 

Whoa...and I thought the only reason distros like Ubuntu didn't incorporate libdvdcss and mp3 abilities was because it is tied to the hip with non-free, non-open source stuff. I thought it related to the fact that they were closed and proprietary...

So the simple question arises - why hasn't the Linux world cut a deal and created for-pay licenses for libdvdcss? I would be willing to pay 5$ or whatever for my reading DVDs to be legit. If this isn't a possibility, it looks like FOSS OS-es like Ubuntu are doomed to failure....playing encrypted DVDs is an ESSENTIAL aspect to personal computing.

 

yeah... you can license a decoder from the MPAA, I presume, it's just that free Linux distributions aren't likely to do that.

 

Yup. libdvdcss and mp3's are well understood, they're just encumbered with patents and other legal issues (w00t GPL v3!). Licenses typically apply per copy, usually in the realm of $0.25 for each copy distributed last I heard. You can buy software like LinDVD or fluendo like notebook_ftw suggested should you wish to "legally" play the content. Companies like Mandrake and Linspire will sell you a fully-features Linux distribution, but it's not geeky enough for us What really needs to happen is the DMCA needs to be repealed on the basis of stifling use and innovation, and the sponsors of the bill need to play ro-sham-bo with me and my steel toed boots. I go first.

 

Linux Mint is an Irish distribution I believe, and so do not have to worry about the dvdcss law junk.

Thank the lord Australian laws do not ruin my Linux experience. Over here, if a DVD player is not sold region-free, the store is legally obliged to give instructions on how to make it so on request.

 

That would cause Ubuntu and the other free Open Source distros to cease being free and then they would be like Linspire.

I also would not mind paying a low price for some features like that, but I don't see it happening. It seems when any of the distros talk about a paid for version of their distro they jump the price to close to $100.

 

Thanks for further clarification Pita, Lysander and ftw.

@donec - I am not suggesting that everyone wanting to use Ubuntu or Debian be subjected to the fee. I am just offering to have a 5$ flat rate for people wanting to download libdvdcss so they can legally play DVDs in the USA and other countries with cruddy laws on intellectual property rights.

 

Oh yeah... huzzah for living in Canada.

 

The pay-for Mandriva 2007 has LinDVD, so it is legal. And unfortunately, a quick look at Intervideo's website shows that you actually can not purchase LinDVD separately, which means you'll have to have Mandriva for it. So therefore this pretty much gives everyone besides those users the shaft, and the FOSS Linux group likes to stay away from distros like those because, well, they're not FOSS. It's a huge problem, and it sucks, but it's the way it is. The problem is that Linux doesn't have enough leverage right now to get things like this taken care of, so we just have to swallow it and spread the word first, then fight the power later. It's just the way the world works.

 

I see thats not a bad idea if it could be worked out.

 

it would be cool if the fluendo guys could implement such a thing. their complete codec pack is 28 euro. It would be cool if they included a legal DVD decrypter... I would probably be willing to pay 30 or so euro once to never worry about the potential legalities of my codecs again.

 

Agreed. That would make me very happy.