[wacky.banana]

Chaps,

Now taking the plunge and installing FC3 onto a dedicatd box on my home network. I plan to use FC3 as my OS of choice across the whole network once I get to know it and its capabilities better, replacing Windows XP which I am looking forward to moving away from.

I have searched this forum for answers to the questions below and haven't seen what I am looking for. Essentially:

- What utility do I use for playing music/mp3's and where can I obtain a copy? I also need a tool for writing to CD's, say the Linux equivalent of Nero.
- Same question, but for DVD viewing and authoring/writing, and again for picture viewing/editing?
- I am looking for a Windows emulator or better so I can run a couple of essential Windows based programmes within Linux. Suggestions please.
- How do I manage a raid array within Linux?
- Virus & data protection: Happy to use the firewall security within Linux, linked to my dedicated hardware firewall running ipCop, but any suggestions I should be aware of? In particular what should I use as a virus tool that's similar to (or better than) Norton's Utilities (protection is the most important issue to me).

I know most of you have seen all this before. However I'm new to Linux and I am anxious to get it right first time so your expertise and patience is valued/much appreciated.

By the way, I want to do as much as possible using gui, rather than command line (quicker for me, I'm more interested in getting up & running quickly rather than getting anal about low level command line instructions unless absolutely necessary). Please bear this in mind when responding.

Many thanks

WB

[johnny_frog]

There's a bunch of stuff on the install discs...
There are CD/mp3 players/rippers included in FC3. K3b is in there as well for burning.
xine is my personal pref for watching DVDs... http://xinehq.de/
Gimp for pics included at install
Look at the Linux documentation project for info on raid.... and everything else... http://www.tldp.org/
Check the following for running windows in linux... http://www.winehq.com/

Virus scanning isn't the vital requirement that it is in windows have a look at fprot... http://www.f-prot.com/
or clam http://www.clamav.net/

Have fun

[wacky.banana]

Johnny,

Thanks, I'm on the links now.

Cheers

[Conrad747]

Actually, to be able to play mp3's you have to get the plugin for xmms. If you have setup your FC3 to get rpm's from freshrpms.net you will be able to use "yum install xmms-mp3" or you can just get the rpm off that site.
Xine, mplayer or totem-xine has DVD playback, Xine and mplayer did not work for me but totem-xine did.
DVD authoring - dvd::rip.
Johnny mentioned the rest. Good luck.

[websurfer]

To get almost full mp3 support, download the gstreamer-plugins package, that'll give you almost all music file support =) (At least on Debian based systems, I'm almost positive it'll do the same on Fedora)

[wacky.banana]

Guys,

Thanks. This is just the kind of info I'mlooking for. I had heard rumours of "compatability" issues with DVD/MP3's & Linux but wasn't clear on what they were.

Keep them coming.

WB

[johnny_frog]

The issue with DVD's on linux relates to the css encryption on most movie DVD's...

Due to legal issues , most of the DVD player software cannot be supplied with the unencryption library neccessary to allow you to watch these discs under linux.... however you can find the library with some searching on the net.... from the Xine site

" To be able to play back encrypted DVDs you need to have libdvdcss installed on your system (please check if this is legal where you live). If you do not understand what the term "encrypted DVD" means here: As a rule of thumb, every DVD you have to pay money for is most likely encrypted."

[lynch]

And the MP3 issue is with Red Hat/Fedora specifically. They thought they'd get sued for providing MP3 support.
lynch

[wacky.banana]

Johnny, Lynch,

Thanks & understood. Curious as to why the Windows environment doesn't seem to have fallen foul of the same legal issues you refer to, or am I missing something?

[lynch]

They pay royalties, maybe? And you're gonna sue M$? Pack a lunch.
This short guide shows how to get mp3 support forRed Hat (will work for Fedora, too):
http://www.linuxforum.com/linux-mp3.php(be sure it's the latest version of xmms)
lynch

[johnny_frog]

Like Lynch said.... it's partly a royalties issue....

Windows media player doesn't play encrypted DVDs out of the box, you need to download a codec which you may have to pay something for

[lynch]

When you get a DVD-rom or DVD burner, the "free" copy of WinDVD or PowerDVD that sometimes comes with it, has that codec. Windows Media Player must use it because I've seen WMP play movies after the other app gets installed.
lynch

[AvvY]

I don't know if you have already installed FC3, but FC4 is due for release on June13. just thought you may/maynot want to put it off till then to get the latest release.

Good luck tho, i really liked FC3.

Late,

[wacky.banana]

Lynch, Johnny, Thanks.

Avvy, not yet installed. Today was to be the day but other things got in the way. Where will FC4 be available from please?

Cheers

WB

[AvvY]

You will be able to download it from the fedora site at any number of the mirros - although if your downloading it on release date, it may not be available on all mirrors, and you could get slowish speeds because every other man and his dog will be trying to download it. if you can, id say wait a week after release date, but if u need it asap, u will still be able to download it from the official mirrors which are found on the fedora site.

Late,