How-To: Compile and Install xine-lib 1.1.15 in Debian Lenny and Ubuntu 8.04

Xine is an engine which allows to play audio CDs, DVDs, VCDs, various audio and video formats like AVI, WMV, MOV to list a few. The last version of xine-lib is 1.1.15, released on August 14, 2008.

Installation in Debian Lenny
To compile from source and install xine-lib 1.1.15 in Debian Lenny you'll have to follow the steps below.

1. Enable the sources repositories
Make sure you have a line like the following in your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb-src http://ftp.ro.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

Then update the packages list as root:

apt-get update

2. Install the dependencies
As root, type:

apt-get build-dep libxine1

This will install the development packages and the tools needed to compile Xine.

3. Download the source, compile and install
Download the last xine-lib version from here, uncompress it and compile as usual:

./configure
make
make install

Last one as root.

xine-lib should be now installed in /usr/local/lib/.

Installation in Ubuntu 8.04
Ubuntu Hardy comes with libxine 1.1.11, so if you want to update to the latest version, you need to follow the steps above, with the exception of preceding the commands which need root privileges with sudo. For example:

sudo apt-get build-dep libxine1

./configure
make
sudo make install

With your user's password.

Video players using Xine
I can recommend Kaffeine and Xine-UI, both these players use the Xine engine.

Kaffeine 0.8.6

Updated: Sep 12, 2008

How-To: Install Video Codecs and DVD Support in Ubuntu/Kubuntu 8.04 'Hardy Heron'

Medibuntu is a project somewhat similar with debian-multimedia.org for Debian, providing packages which are not included in the official Ubuntu repositories due to legal issues. In order to make use of the packages included in Medibuntu (including the non-free video codecs w32codecs and libdvdcss2 for watching ecrypted DVDs), you will only need to follow several easy steps explained below.

1. Add the Medibuntu repository address to /etc/apt/sources.list
Edit as root the /etc/apt/sources.list file (e.g. sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list or kdesu kate /etc/apt/sources.list) and add the following two lines:

deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free
deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free

2. Update the packages list
Issue the following command:

sudo apt-get update

3. Install the w32codecs and libdvdcss2 packages
To install those two packages, just type in the command:

sudo apt-get install w32codecs libdvdcss2

It should be done now. The codecs will be installed in /usr/lib/codecs/ and the DVD library in /usr/lib/libdvdcss2.so.2.0.8.

Another way to install libdvdcss2 is to first install the package libdvdread3:

sudo apt-get install libdvdread3

And then running the command:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

As video players, I recommend SMPlayer and Kaffeine, the first using the MPlayer engine, while the latter uses the Xine engine. They both have subtitle support and many powerful features (like remembering video position and settings after closing the application in SMPlayer), and Kaffeine also reads DVD menus.

SMPlayer 0.6.0 running in Kubuntu 8.04

To install either of those, use one of the commands below:

sudo apt-get install smplayer
sudo apt-get install kaffeine

Updated: Sep 10, 2008 (Created: Sep 10, 2008)

How-To: Compile and Install the Battle for Wesnoth 1.4.3 on Debian Lenny

Note: This tutorial may also work in Ubuntu and other Debian-based distributions.

The last stable version of Wesnoth is 1.4.3, a maintenance release for the 1.4.x branch. This new branch features great improvements over the older stable, 1.2.8, like a whole bunch of new graphics, speed improvements, UI redesign to be more easier and intuitive, transparency effects, and many other.

In order to compile it, you will first need to install the necessary dependencies:

apt-get install libsdl1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-net1.2-dev pyste

The pyste package is required to get rid of this annoying error: configure: error: Could not find Boost headers version >= 1.33.

Next, download the source code from the official Wesnoth website. After you uncompress it, change the current working directory to wesnoth-1.4.3 and do the usual to compile:

./configure
make
make install

Wesnoth 1.4.3 - usual screen after starting the game

Wesnoth tutorial

Note: This tutorial also applies to the older 1.4.x versions.

Updated: Jun 11, 2008 (Created: Jun 11, 2008)

How-To: Compile and Install XMMS in Debian Lenny

Note: This tutorial may also work on Ubuntu and other Debian-based distributions.

Several major distributions like Debian or Slackware dumped support for XMMS and no longer include it in their repositories due to the fact that it's old, hasn't been updated for some time and uses the GTK 1.x libraries. XMMS was replaced by the newer Audacious, which uses the newer GTK 2.x libraries. To install Audacious, just type as root apt-get install audacious.

XMMS with default skin playing Guns N' Roses

Compiling and installing XMMS
However, if you want to compile and install XMMS on your Debian system, here is what to do:

First, install the necessary dependencies:

apt-get install libglib1.2-dev libgtk1.2-dev

Ubuntu users need to prefix this command with sudo. Next, download the XMMS 1.2.11 source from the official website. Uncompress it, change the current working directory to xmms-1.2.11 and follow the usual steps to compile it:

./configure
make
make install

The last one as root. It should be installed and ready to go now.

About dialogue

Audacious - the newer replacement of XMMS

Install the XMMS Last.fm plugin
Last.fm is the 'social music revolution', as the website is titled. It basically is a community of persons who like music and share their tastes, with information for many bands (open for anyone to edit), forums, groups and much more.

To install this plugin, first get the necessary development packages:

apt-get install libcurl-ocaml-dev libtaglib-ocaml-dev

Download the XMMS Scrobbler plugin from here, uncompress it and follow the usual commands in order to compile:

./configure
make
make install

Start XMMS and go to Options -> Preferences -> General Plugins tab. The plugin should appear there. Configure it with your Last.fm username and password and don't forget to tick the Enable plugin option in order to start it.

Last.fm plugin for XMMS

Updated: Jun 11, 2008 (Created: Jun 11, 2008)

Careful with That Command, Eugene

Updated: May 30, 2008

Not long ago, there were several discussions on UbuntuForums regarding a malicious command which was deliberately posted in the forums in order to make users damage their system if they typed it in a terminal using root privileges. The command is 'sudo rm -rf /' and means 'use root privileges to recursively remove, without asking for permission, the root directory / and its entire contents. I never tried it, but I DON'T recommend you to do so. It basically wipes out your Ubuntu (or Debian) installation. I think a workaround will soon be found for this, if it hasn't been yet.

The community's response to this was fast and efficient: in only several days, a huge number of users changed or added to their signature a warning saying to never use this command or any similar ones. A sticky thread explaining the dangers of using such a command was also available.

What amazed me was the solidarity and good intention of community members, which quickly mobilised and practically spread the word on not to use the above or any similar commands. I was really impressed.

The problem which arrives is that new Linux users are tempted to take such commands or scripts from all over the Internet and paste it brainlessly into the terminal, so they quickly complete whatever task they initially wanted to do. This I guess, should be treated carefully and probably such warnings on malicious commands should be available and easy to jump into, in order to reduce the risks at minimum.