10 Things You Should Do Immediately After Installing Ubuntu 8.10

The latest version of the popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, code named as Itrepid Ibex (Ubuntu 8.10), has been released to the public. You can download it here or even get a CD shipped to you absolutely free of cost.

In today’s Linux Gyan, we help you get-things-working once you have installed the Intrepid Ibex. Most people expect certain functions to work out-of-the-box in a modern operating system. Features like MP3 playback, DVD authoring and playback, DivX support, flash player etc to name a few. Unfortunately, due to certain ethical reasons, Ubuntu doesn’t provide such features out of the box.

Though the users are free to add these features themselves, it is always a pain in the neck to figure out all the various procedures involved and then apply it. This post will help you in getting all the required information on a single page (but you’ll still have to do the ‘applying them’ part yourself). Make sure that you book mark this page.

1. Add the Medibuntu Repository

Medibutu stands for Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu and is a repository of packages that cannot be included in Ubuntu due to legal reasons. We need to add this repository to enable MP3, DVD playback, install certain codecs etc.

Take a terminal and enter:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

Now we’ll enable all repositories (including Universe and Multiverse repositories) that Ubuntu provides. Take a terminal and enter:

sudo sed -i -e "s/# deb/deb/g" /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo apt-get update

2. Enable Playback of Encrypted DVDs in Ubuntu 8.10

Once the Medibuntu repository has been added as said above, take a terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

3. Playing MP3, WMA, Real and Apple QuickTime Files in Ubuntu 8.10

Once the Medibuntu repository has been added as said above, take a terminal and enter:

For a 32 bit machine:

sudo apt-get install w32codecs

For a 64 bit machine:

sudo apt-get install w64codecs

For a PPC machine:

sudo apt-get install ppc-codecs

4. Install Skype in Ubuntu 8.10

Once the Medibuntu repository has been added as said above, take a terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get install skype

5. Install Adobe Acrobat Reader in Ubuntu 8.10

Once the Medibuntu repository has been added as said above, take a terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get install acroread

6. Install Google Earth in Ubuntu 8.10

Take a terminal and enter:

wget http://dl.google.com/earth/client/current/GoogleEarthLinux.bin && chmod +x GoogleEarthLinux.bin && ./GoogleEarthLinux.bin

7. Install VLC Player in Ubuntu 8.10

VLC is the media player that is said to play all media formats under the sky. Install it by running the following command from a terminal:

sudo apt-get install vlc

8. Installing OpenOffice 3.0 in Ubuntu 8.10

Take a terminal and run:

echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu intrepid main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openoffice.sources.list && sudo apt-get update

9. Install Flash Plugin for Firefox in Ubuntu 8.10

The latest flash plugin (Flash player 10) can be installed using this command:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

10. Install Google Picasa in Ubuntu 8.10

F-Spot sucks if compared to Google Picasa. Run this command from a terminal to get Google Picasa:

sudo echo 'deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free' >> /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install picasa

What else do you do immediately do after installing a new distro? Share with us in the comments.