Linux Guide: Multimedia: Flash, Realplayer, and Ogg Theora
From AnarchismToday.org Wiki
This guide is designed to help new users of Linux-based Operating Systems configure their computers for maximum accessibility to the different streaming media formats on the web. This guide will be most applicable to users of Debian or Ubuntu based operating systems and their many offshoots, and users of Mozilla Firefox, and Konqueror.
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64-Bit Linux
Support for 64-bit Linux is growing. There are now plugins for flash and java native to 64-bit Linux-based OSes, as well as free alternatives. That said, other applications, RealPlayer being one example, only have 32-bit versions available. Fortunately, there is a 32-bit compatibility layer and a plugin wrapper that can enable you to use the 32-bit plugins. To install the 32-bit compatibility layer and plugin wrapper, run the following:
sudo aptitude install ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk lib32nss-mdns nspluginwrapper
Flash:
Ubuntu Method
The easy way for Ubuntu-based OSes:
Open a Terminal and enter the following:
sudo aptitude install flashplugin-nonfree
Manual Method
I prefer to use the manual method, for maximum control.
You can download a .tar.gz of the plugin from the flash website, and extract the file libflashplayer.so.
If you only want flash for one user, place the file in ~/.mozilla/plugins/
The tilde denotes the users home directory.
If you want it available for all users, place it in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
You will need root access to install it for all users.
Realplayer
Download the binary installer from Realplayer's website.
Make it executable, either through a GUI or from a terminal, by typing:
chmod +x RealPlayer11Gold.bin
If you are using a 64-bit Operating system, you will need to have the the 32-bit compatibility layer installed.
sudo aptitude install ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk lib32nss-mdns nspluginwrapper
If you want to install it for one user, simply execute the file as that user. If you want to install it system-wide, precede this command with sudo.
./RealPlayer11GOLD.bin
Ogg Theora
The video tag in the new HTML 5 standard allows embedding free ogg theora video, without requiring users to download any plugins. This requires an HTML 5 compliant browser, like Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 or later.
There only seem to be 32-bit versions currently available, so 64-bit users will need to install the 32-bit compatibility layer:
sudo aptitude install ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk lib32nss-mdns
Konqueror
Konqueror is the browser included in KDE. It is able to search for and utilize plugins installed for Firefox.
Open Konqueror, go to the settings menu, select Configure Konqueror.
In the list view on the left, select Plugins. Then click the Plugins tab at the top.
Click "Scan for Plugins."
Any plugins properly setup for Firefox should now function with Konqueror.
