CrunchBang - Code, Design & GNU/Linux

"CrunchBang - A faster Ubuntu!"

Marius Nestor of Softpedia has written a review of CrunchBang Linux. I was pleasantly surprised when I read it, it's actually quite positive. Quote:

We took CrunchBang for a little test drive on one of our systems here at Softpedia, and we found it quite interesting and very fast. It includes the following applications:

• Epiphany web browser
• Firefox web browser
• Thunderbird e-mail/news client
• Liferea RSS reader
• gFTP FTP client
• XChat IRC client
• Pidgin instant messenger
• GIMP image editor
• Inkscape SVG editor similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw or Visio
• Eye of Gnome image viewer
• Agave palette designer
• Specimen font previewer
• Xsane image scanner
• OpenOffice.org office suite
• Totem movie player
• Rhythmbox music player
• Audacity audio editor
• PiTiVi video editor
• Kino video editor
• AcidRip DVD extractor
• Cheese webcam application
• Sound Juicer CD extractor
• Serpentine audio-cd extractor
• GnomeBaker CD/DVD writer
• ROX-Filer file manager
• Thunar file manager
• Xarchiver archive manager

It also includes a few text editors, a lot of system administration tools and other useful scripts. We've noticed that CrunchBang doesn't have a fancy boot splash, not even a cool boot screen like Ubuntu has, but it boots so fast that I think you don't even have time to see the boot splash.

In conclusion, our tests revealed that a torrent application is missing and we do believe that Brasero is much better that GnomeBaker when you want to write CDs or DVDs. CrunchBang is a fast and good looking Ubuntu remaster. It includes a lot of useful tools, scripts and applications. Give it a try!

The review also features a whole bunch of screenshots. The full review can be read at:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/First-look-CrunchBang-A-faster-Ubuntu-77535.shtml

Also, I've received a number of emails and comments regarding the initial release, most of which have also been positive. I'm still not convinced the distribution is fit for general consumption; however, it's nice to know that some people are enjoying it.

Regarding the actual feedback, something that has been mentioned on more than one occasion is the use of the modified Darkilouche theme. It's a trivial thing really and only cosmetic, however it does seem to cause a few issues with some applications; VLC for example, which is not installed by default, has issues with the playlist window, text is light on light. If I do make another release, I'm undecided on the matter, I'll more than likely change the current theme to something less problematic.

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - French Version

Va-va-voom! Yet more of these Ubuntu images, thanks to Alexis Metaireau the images have now been translated into French. Merci beaucoup Alexis.

The full French set can be witnessed in this random demonstration. The code to display the images is below, simply copy & paste into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/fr/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Installez Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/fr/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Installez Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Polish Version

More random Ubuntu advocacy images, this time translated into Polish. MeanMachine was kind enough to perform the translation, thank you MeanMachine :)

The full image set can be seen on this demo page. As with all the translations, I've made the images available from my file server. The code for the images is below, simply copy & paste the code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pl/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Rata Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pl/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Rata Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Also, believe it or not there are more translations on the way, I'm working my way through them and hope to post an update for each as I do. French and Serbian translations coming soon.

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Romanian Version

These images keep on rolling. Thanks to Tache Ionut Madalin they're now available in Romanian. That takes the language count to 7. w00t!

The complete Romanian set can be viewed in this random rotation demo. As with all the translations I've made the Romanian images available from my file server. Copy & paste the code below into your HTML/blog template where you'd like the random image place to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ro/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Ia-ti Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ro/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Ia-ti Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

PHP Function: Word Filter

So, last night I was mainly experimenting with Whird, more specifically I was trying to build an internal search feature. This is something I've been putting off for long enough, and I'd really like to get it coded up. I didn't finish it last night, but at least I've made a start.

Anyhow, during my experimentation I wrote this little PHP function for filtering words out of a string. Basically the function takes 2 strings as arguments before filtering words out of the first string based on words found in the second. I've posted it below for future reference:

function word_filter($string1,$string2){
    $string1 = trim($string1);
    $string1 = preg_replace('/s+/', ' ', $string1);
    $string1 = explode(" ",$string1);
    $wordcount = count($string1);
    $i = 0;
    while ($i < $wordcount) {
        $string = $string1[$i];
        if (strstr(strtolower($string2),strtolower($string))) {
            $string1[$i] = "";
        }
    $i++;
    }
$string1 = implode(" ",$string1);        
return($string1);
}

Example usage

This is probably not the best example, but this:

$poem = <<<EOD
<p><em>GIVE me women, wine, and snuff <br />
Untill I cry out "hold, enough!" <br />
You may do so sans objection <br />
Till the day of resurrection: <br />
For, bless my beard, they aye shall be <br />
My beloved Trinity.</em></p>
EOD;

$common_words = 'and be but do for is it may me my not of the they there so was you';

echo word_filter($poem,$common_words);

Would output something like this:

GIVE women, wine, snuff
Untill cry out "hold, enough!"
sans objection
Till day resurrection:
For, bless beard, aye shall
beloved Trinity.

John Keats would be proud, not! Please feel free to optimise, or let me know if a one line equivalent already exists :)

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Japanese Version

The Ubuntu advocacy images are now available in 6 different languages. Yuya Saito has done a great job converting the images into Japanese. How cool do these look? Thank you Yuya :)

You can witness the entire Japanese set in all their glorious randomness on this demo page.

As with the other translations, I've mirrored Yuya's images on my file server, simply copy & paste the following code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the magic random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/jp/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/jp/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Also, I'd just like to say a BIG thank you to everybody who is helping out by translating the images and spreading the word — the translations and links are appreciated not only by me, but also by the webmasters and blog authors who are using the images and spreading the Ubuntu love. So, THANK YOU :)

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Dutch Version

So, I'm beginning to wish I'd named the original post something else, I had no idea that so many people would help out with this. Anyway, Vincent of the Xubuntu Blog has very kindly translated the images into Dutch. Thanks Vincent :)

You can see a Dutch Ubuntu randomness demo here. The code for the Dutch images is below, simply copy & paste the code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/nl/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Neem Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/nl/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Neem Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Italian & Portuguese

I think I've said this before, however I'll say it again, the Ubuntu community rocks! For me, it is the main reason why I use Ubuntu, albeit a modified version.

Portuguese images

Anyway, while I've been tucked-up in bed and snoring my head off, Miguel Wahnon Monteiro has very kindly translated the Random Ubuntu Advocacy images into Portuguese. He is also hosting them from his domain. Thank you Miguel :)

I've also uploaded Miguel's translated images to my file server, to ease/share any load. You can see the demo here. The code needed to display the images is below:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pt/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Comece Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/pt/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Comece Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Italian images

Also, Davide Pedrelli has been busy translating the images into Italian. He has also put together a couple of modules for the Joomla platform 1.0x. I'm not familiar with Joomla, but if Davide's site is anything to go by, I'm sure the modules work well.

As with Miguel's images, I've uploaded Davide's Italian versions to my file server. You can witness the demo here, and the code needed to display the images is below:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/it/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://www.ubuntu-it.org/index.php?page=Ottenere_Ubuntu" title="Installa Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/it/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Installa Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Finally, Aldo Latino has also translated the images into Italian, before converting them into a rather nifty animated gif. Nice work, thank you Aldo :)

Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Now in Spanish

It's only been a few hours since the original post, however Marcelo Ramos has already translated the Ubuntu advocacy images into Spanish. He has also translated the Javascript and is hosting the translated images on his domain. Good stuff, thanks Marcelo :)

Update

For the sake of posterity I've now mirrored Marcelo's Spanish images on my file server. You can see a demo here. The code needed to display the Spanish images is below, simply copy & paste it into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/es/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Descarga Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/es/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Descarga Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Random Ubuntu Advocacy

I've received a few emails in the past couple of weeks regarding the availability of a replacement image for the Ubuntu Christmas Campaign image. Feeling a little guilty at not having had something ready, forward planning is something I need to work on, I've now created a set of Ubuntu advocacy images designed to be displayed randomly.

The images are based on a set of Ubuntu banners that I created last year. The images are exactly the same size, dimensionally, as the Christmas image, and therefore replacement should be a simple operation.

The image pool

Demo of random display

You can witness the randomness in action on this demo page.

Get the code

Copy & paste the following code into your HTML/blog template where you would like the random image placement to occur:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/ubuntu_199_164.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/getubuntu" title="Get Ubuntu!">
<img src="http://crunchbang.net/advocacy/199_164_ubuntu.png" alt="Get Ubuntu."></a>
</noscript>

Image sources

The original GIMP files can be downloaded from:
http://crunchbang.org/misc/199_164_ubuntu_images.tar.gz

MD5: 13c01d306c1e0c5256b6b0f40b6ff788

Please feel free to modify/translate.

License

The images contain logos that may be trade marked and/or copyrighted. Please refer to the authors/policies for further details. Other than that, the images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales.

Updates

• 02/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Serbian Version
• 02/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Russian Version
• 01/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Elvish Version
• 01/02/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Turkish Version
• 31/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - French Version
• 30/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Polish Version
• 29/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Romanian Version
• 28/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Japanese Version
• 27/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Dutch Version
• 26/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Italian & Portuguese
• 26/01/2008 | Random Ubuntu Advocacy - Now in Spanish

Me++

Today is my Birthday. Tonight I celebrate by going out and eating half a cow. Good day for me, not so good for the cow. Currently, I am sat here typing this trying to get my feeble mind to compute whether or not it is in fact my 34th Birthday. I know I'm only 33 years old, but I figure that Birthdays work like arrays and actually start at 0.

Anyhow, Becky very kindly bought me 2 new tyres for my motorised bicycle, a new Technicals jacket and 2 DVDs — 300 and Re-Animator deluxe 2 disc edition. I've been thoroughly spoiled :)

CrunchBang Linux 7.10.01 Release Notes

Update: CrunchBang Linux 8.10.01 is out now!
See: http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/release-notes/8.10.01

A few weeks ago I decided that it might be fun to attempt to remaster Ubuntu. I've been using Ubuntu for a number of years and while I think the distribution is great, my set-up does differ a fair amount from the standard Ubuntu installation. So, remastering Ubuntu into a distribution that more closely matches my set-up seemed like a logical thing to do.

It should be noted that my remastered version of Ubuntu is intended for my own personal use. I had no intention of releasing any disk images when I started this project; however, now that I've produced a working copy, I've decided to release the disk image under the premiss that someone may find it useful. If you do decide to download, please pay special attention to the disclaimer below.

Introducing CrunchBang Linux 7.10.01

CrunchBang Linux is the result of my remastering attempt. It's a desktop distribution based around the lightweight Openbox window manager. The distribution has been built from a base Ubuntu 7.10 installation. The installed applications are mainly GNOME flavoured. A full manifest for the distribution can be found at:
http://crunchbang.net/pub/linux/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso.manifest.txt

This is the first, and possibly last, release of CrunchBang Linux. Therefore you should expect to encounter numerous issues and a wide variety of erroneous bugs. I'd really appreciate feedback regarding bugs and any other issues, please send feedback via my contact page.

Differences between Ubuntu and CrunchBang

• CrunchBang utilises the lightweight Openbox window manager
• ROX-Filer and Thunar are used as file managers instead of Nautilus
• Epiphany used as default web browser, Firefox remains available
• Out-of-the-box support for multimedia. MP3, Adobe Flash, DVD playback etc.
• Sans brownness. CrunchBang uses a modified Darkilouche GTK theme and Tango icons

Screenshots

Download

See below for a list of available files:

• ISO image [540M]
  http://crunchbang.net/pub/linux/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso
  http://www.dropshock.com/pub/crunchbang-linux/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso - Mirror One
  ftp://ftp.botux.net/pub/crunchbang/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso - Mirror Two
  http://stas.nerd.ro/pub/cbl/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso - Mirror Three
• MD5 sum
  http://crunchbang.net/pub/linux/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso.MD5SUM.txt
• README
  http://crunchbang.net/pub/linux/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.README.txt
• Package Manifest
  http://crunchbang.net/pub/linux/crunchbang-7.10.01.i386.iso.manifest.txt

Disclaimer

CrunchBang Linux could possibly make your computer go crunch bang! Therefore CrunchBang Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Ubuntu Logo GIMP Brushes

I couldn't find any Ubuntu logo GIMP brushes on the Ubuntu Wiki Artwork/Official page, so I've created some. The brushes are quite large, but now that GIMP supports scalable brushes they can be easily scaled down in size.

There are 3 brushes, colour, shaded and mono, see the example image below:

Get the brushes

Download the tarball from the address below and extract to ~/.gimp-2.4/brushes.
http://crunchbang.org/misc/ubuntu-logo-gimp-brushes.tar.gz

Alternatively, if you're an Ubuntu user you may find it quicker to use the command line, follow these instructions:

1. Open a new terminal window and move into your GIMP brushes directory:

cd ~/.gimp-2.4/brushes

2. Download the tarball with the following command:

wget http://crunchbang.org/misc/ubuntu-logo-gimp-brushes.tar.gz

3. Extract the tarball:

tar xvf ubuntu-logo-gimp-brushes.tar.gz

4. Clean up, delete the tarball:

rm ubuntu-logo-gimp-brushes.tar.gz

Enjoy :)

Note*
The Ubuntu logo is protected by copyright and/or trademark. Please refer to the Ubuntu Trademark Policy for details.

"That free thing off the internet…"

So, last night I enquired, "How did you get on with the Ubuntu CD that I gave you for Christmas?" To which I received the reply, "You mean that free thing off the internet, I didn't try it because I read that it would break my computer."

I didn't push the issue, sometimes it is neither appropriate or warranted; however, what I would like to know is this, do you think ignorance is bliss?

Tinkering & Secret Software

I've just finished listening to the latest LugRadio podcast, Episode 9 of Season 5. I've always enjoyed the podcast and this season the guys have produced some of their best shows to date.

I found today's show especially interesting as Stuart Langridge openly discussed his thoughts and ideas on the subject of software tinkering [listen to a 2 minute excerpt]. Much of what Stuart said sounded strangely familiar, I also write lots of personal scripts to perform specific tasks. I'm also guilty of hard-coding paths and producing code that'll probably only run on my own Ubuntu based systems. I tend to class these scripts as secret software, probably because they really aren't fit for general consumption, not to mention that they're embarrassingly bad :)

Anyway, Stuart's New Year resolution is to post more of his personal scripts and software on his blog, and not worry too much about whether the software is fit for general consumption. I think this is a brilliant idea and I'm going to follow suit, so look out for some of my shockingly bad secret software, it'll be appearing on a blog near you soon.

Parsing RSS feeds with PHP & SimplePie

Tonight I have mainly been playing around with SimplePie, a PHP class for parsing RSS and Atom feeds. To quote the SimplePie site:

SimplePie is a very fast and easy-to-use class, written in PHP, that puts the "simple" back into "really simple syndication". Flexible enough to suit beginners and veterans alike, SimplePie is focused on speed, ease of use, compatibility and standards compliance.

I'm totally impressed with SimplePie and I'll certainly consider using it within future web projects. I performed a quick test with it tonight by parsing a couple of feeds and displaying the results on my philipnewborough.com domain, it worked a treat. Good stuff.

Apache, MySQL & PHP on Ubuntu

Lately I've been performing lots of fresh system installs, a result of testing my Ubuntu respin. Restoring my personal data after such an install is simple enough, but having to reinstall my Apache, MySQL & PHP set-up requires a little more effort. So, for future reference I've decided to record the process. By following the instructions below I should be able to get my development server up and running within minutes.

AMP install instructions

1. Open a terminal and issue the following command to install the three main packages:

sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server php5

This will install the following packages:
apache2 apache2-mpm-prefork apache2-utils apache2.2-common libapache2-mod-php5
libapr1 libaprutil1 libdbd-mysql-perl libdbi-perl libmysqlclient15off libnet-daemon-perl libplrpc-perl libpq5 mysql-client-5.0 mysql-common mysql-server mysql-server-5.0
php5 php5-common

2. Get some additional packages:

sudo apt-get install php-pear php5-gd php5-mysql php5-imagick phpmyadmin

This will install:
libgd2-xpm libmcrypt4 libt1-5 php-pear php5-cli php5-gd php5-imagick php5-mcrypt
php5-mysql phpmyadmin

3. Enable URL rewriting:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

gksudo gedit  /etc/apache2/sites-available/default

Edit line 12 to read, "AllowOverride All". Save and exit.

4. Create a symbolic link to my working directory:

sudo ln -s /home/username/htdocs /var/www/htdocs

5. Finally, restart Apache:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Pandora to Stop Streaming to the UK

I've spent many hours listening to music on the Pandora service, it has to be one of the best, if not the best, music services available. I'm gutted that the service is now blocking access from the UK. For posterity here is the email announcement in full:

hi, it's Tim,

This is an email I hoped I would never have to send.

As you probably know, in July of 2007 we had to block usage of Pandora outside the U.S. because of the lack of a viable license structure for Internet radio streaming in other countries. It was a terrible day. We did however hold out some hope that a solution might exist for the UK, so we left it unblocked as we worked diligently with the rights organizations to negotiate an economically workable license fee. After over a year of trying, this has proved impossible. Both the PPL (which represents the record labels) and the MCPS/PRS Alliance (which represents music publishers) have demanded per track performance minima rates which are far too high to allow ad supported radio to operate and so, hugely disappointing and depressing to us as it is, we have to block the last territory outside of the US.

Based on your email address, we believe you may be listening from the UK. If you are in fact listening from the U.S., please disregard this email.

It continues to astound me and the rest of the team here that the industry is not working more constructively to support the growth of services that introduce listeners to new music and that are totally supportive of paying fair royalties to the creators of music. I don't often say such things, but the course being charted by the labels and publishers and their representative organizations is nothing short of disastrous for artists whom they purport to represent - and by that I mean both well known and indie artists. The only consequence of failing to support companies like Pandora that are attempting to build a sustainable radio business for the future will be the continued explosion of piracy, the continued constriction of opportunities for working musicians, and a worsening drought of new music for fans. As a former working musician myself, I find it very troubling.

We have been told to sign these totally unworkable license rates or switch off, non-negotiable…so that is what we are doing. Streaming illegally is just not in our DNA, and we have to take the threats of legal action seriously. Lest you think this is solely an international problem, you should know that we are also fighting for our survival here in the US, in the face of a crushing increase in web radio royalty rates, which if left unchanged, would mean the end of Pandora.

We know what an epicenter of musical creativity and fan support the UK has always been, which makes the prospect of not being able to launch there and having to block our first listeners all the more upsetting for us.

We know there is a lot of support from listeners and artists in the UK for Pandora and remain hopeful that at some point we'll get beyond this. We're going to keep fighting for a fair and workable rate structure that will allow us to bring Pandora back to you. We'll be sure to let you know if Pandora becomes available in the UK. There may well come a day when we need to make a direct appeal for your support to move for governmental intervention as we have in the US. In the meantime, we have no choice but to turn off service to the UK.

Pandora will stop streaming to the UK as of January 15th, 2008.

Again, on behalf of all of us at Pandora, I'm very, very sorry.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

Sad news :(

DVD Playback on Ubuntu Gutsy

This afternoon, while doing nothing in particular, I decided to listen to one of my Jools Holland DVDs. I popped the DVD into my laptop and started Totem, only for Totem to spit out an error message. The error message told me that I didn't have the correct plugin to handle DVD playback and pointed me in the direction of this page: http://www.gnome.org/projects/totem/#codecs

I checked my system to make sure I had the listed plugins and found that I already had them. I then realised that I hadn't actually tried to playback a DVD since upgrading Ubuntu from Feisty to Gutsy. I guess something has changed since the upgrade as DVD playback now requires a little hack. For future reference here is what I did to enable DVD playback on my system:

1. Open a terminal and install the following packages:

sudo apt-get install totem-xine libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdread3

2. Issue the follow command to download and enable to libdvdcss2:

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

The output from the command should look similar to this:

corenominal@kermit:~$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh
--18:20:22--  http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/groups/dvd/deb/libdvdcss2_1.2.5-1_i386.deb
           => `/tmp/dvdcss-Cc6164/libdvdcss.deb'
Resolving www.dtek.chalmers.se... 129.16.30.198
Connecting to www.dtek.chalmers.se|129.16.30.198|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 25,178 (25K) [text/plain]

100%[====================================>] 25,178        33.15K/s             

18:20:23 (33.05 KB/s) - `/tmp/dvdcss-Cc6164/libdvdcss.deb' saved [25178/25178]

Selecting previously deselected package libdvdcss2.
(Reading database ... 62172 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libdvdcss2 (from .../dvdcss-Cc6164/libdvdcss.deb) ...
Setting up libdvdcss2 (1.2.5-1) ...

Processing triggers for libc6 ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
corenominal@kermit:~$ 

Now, I'm no expert, but as far as I can tell the libdvdcss package is required for DVD decryption. And as I understand it, the reason that Ubuntu can't play DVDs out-of-the-box is due to legal restrictions, although I'm not sure those restrictions apply here in the UK. Anyhow, geography aside, it begs the question, should DVD playback require this much effort?

Happy New Year

I'm happy to report that this new year has started in a most excellent fashion. Firstly, I've got myself a brand new fiancee. Secondly, I've successfully managed to remaster my own Ubuntu distribution. More on that soon, for now though, Happy New Year! Have a good one :)