i've never burned any cds or dvds on linux and i'm not exactly sure how it works. is everything done using cdrecord and dvd+- tools? do i need any drivers to do this? i just compiled a 2.6.14.3 kernel and i didnt see anything about recording cds/dvds or reading dvds for that matter. do i need to compile in any drivers to read dvds with my dvdrw drive?

i've been going off of linux dvd/cd burning tutorials that i've found on google, but they seem to be out of date. do i always need to use mkisofs to create an iso before burning, for example? i guess windows did this automatically and never said anything about it?

also, what's packet writing?

if anybody could answer my questions and maybe set me up with a current howto, i'd appreciate it.

Just get K3b...
Easiest thing I've set up ever.

As Mirari said, get yourself K3b or Gnome Baker - it's the easiest (and prettiest) way of doing things.


-jk

but burning software isnt going to do any good unless i have drivers, is it? "get k3b or gnome baker" doesnt exactly answer my questions.
bump

K3b and Gnome Baker are GUI frontends for a collection of burning / copying tools like cdrecord, cdrdao, dvd+rw-format, mkisofs, transcode etc. These are not drivers, but the programs that do the real job. The GUIs only make it a lot easier to use these cli tools. If you use some type of intelligent package management like rpm or deb through an installer like apt or yum these dependencies should be resolved automatically. If it turns out that for a specific task you don't have the right apps installed you'll have to google and visit the GUIs homepage for more specific info.

I think you're better off with some distro. I personally user Fedora Core 3 and it burns all my CD's just fine

A distro is a linux distribution. RedHat in your case. The distro itself is only a collection of software, and although most modern distros include cd burning tools in their cds whether or not you install them depends on the package sellections you make during setup.

Getting a distro doesn't mean youi're going to be able to burn cds (even if you have the necessary hardware). Youll also have to install the corresponding packages.

It wouldn't be a bad idea if slinky2004 added his distro in his profile so it would show up uder his user name. That way it is sometimes easier to give a more specific answer.