Well i am wondering that there are not any kind of extra softwares for linux like they are many for windows . If i need some other specific softwares then plz tell me that from where i can download new softwares for linux. i am using mandrake 10.Are there not any kind of extra softwares for linux available except in linux cd. plzzz guide me . And tell me from where can i download wine and win4lin 3.0 and other emulators so that i may be able to run some softwares in linux for me . Also tell me how to install a software from wine or any other emulator and where the installed prograe goes and how to execute it. Regards. Javed

It should be noted that the Danish Minister of Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, has encouraged the use of deCSS for Linux. His point was that when you have bought a DVD, it is unacceptable that you can't view it because of copy restrictions. So, while it is illegal to copy it, it is perfectly legal in Denmark to use deCSS - provided you are a Linux user.
In a parliament session in November 2002, he was asked if he would comment on using deCSS for viewing DVDs on Linux. His reply was that one was allowed to decrypt the DVDs to the extent necessary in order to view it on a Linux system.

In suSE 9.1 you can change teh dvd/cdrom in the /etc/sysconfig/ide

Mine looks like the following make sure your mount point is correct though

# Path: Hardware/IDE
## Description: IDE device settings
## Type: string
## Default: ""
## ServiceRestart: boot.idedma
#
# Force DMA mode for selected device. Use pairs <device>:<dma_mode> separated
# by space - dma_mode can be "on" (enable default DMA mode), "off" (disable DMA
# mode) or any mode supported by hdparm (e.g. "mdma2", "udma5", ...)
# Example: "/dev/hdc:off /dev/hdd:udma2"
#
DEVICES_FORCE_IDE_DMA="/dev/hdc:on"

thanks you guys,

I am a newbie to linux and I have found every input that I get from this forum site very helpful. On the topic of DVD's looking purely at this site helped me enable playing DVD's on my computer.

One thing that I think should be added to the dvd is that to check for the name of your DVD drive device you should go to the Kmenu bar and access the system menu and then the file system menu then click on KDisk free I think that for newbies this is the easiest way to find that

Thanks guys keep up the good work, I am so happy that I am getting less dependent on MS windows now! For a while I thought that I would be condemned to playing windows on Ms windows computers!!

In my opinion DVD movie only gives delight if you DVD is original DVDs made by DVD CD Duplicator are not as good as the original one. That's the reason why I always buy from authorized seller.

Well from my standpoint, number one is DUMP SUSE. Forget Debian... and just go with a good Fedora Core distro... Of course you have to understand this comes from fighting with systems and distros over a number of years... I started my journey back in 1996 in earnest. I have maintained a LinDistro on at least one machine since. I recently lost my Win web machine to a conficker can of worms...(not from a web grab, but by being a 'good neighbor to an old friend' and plugging his 'stuck' external HD into my machine to try and retrieve info... DUMB BUNNY!!!) Did the only logical thing: decided to make the jump to Linux ONLY... a homebuilt box with 4core AMD and 4GB RAM, running FedoraCore 11 x86_64. Nothing 'commerce driven' per say. I do my business and my art site on it.
After some weeding out of the bugs (things I had forgotten to do during install or were due to bad media (crappy Memorex DVD's)... I got this puppy humming along. Now I may be missing a couple of Codecs (in more ways than one!) however, going through the install checklist is NO.1 for anyone planning on trying to make Linux 'act like WinSux'. Playing DVD's is now a more natural thing thanks to the hard efforts of those writing and packaging apps and drivers and Codecs. When I started out with Caldera 1.1 and then Mandrake 6,.. it was hoo-doo voo-doo sorting out all the depends and packages,.!
Now days it is a matter of following instructions and READING the info on the distro. ALSO, one should have materials on HOW LINUX WORKS there is documentation with most GOOD DISTRO's (the computer section of most major book stores have hard copy and if one uses ones search engine with the right question there are TONS of info on every subject of Linux somewhere on the web, just ask your question directly to the search bot!...) I have a fairly large library having gone through a lot of distros... I do have to say, FedoraCore 11 x86_64 for me has proven to be the most 'up front user friendly' distro I EVER used. And with the proper packages installed it plays DVD's and movie files of all kinds just fine. And I still get my research work and browsing of news done!
The end all do all of it is this: Research the Distro for you. Measure that against your ability to study, willingness to search for depends and your basic knowledge of UNIX and Linux. If you are worried you won't get to watch DVD's... buy a DVD player,.. and in the mean time: STUDY UP on Linux... and EXPERIMENT. Hey! What is the worst that can happen... you wind up where you started..??? And have to re-install???