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How-to site Tech-Recipes.com has been on a bit of a Linux streak lately and ferrets out a two-command, no-repository solution for installing DVD playback. Enter these in your terminal:

sudo apt-get install totem-xine libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdread3
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh

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RK Launcher is a free application that will allow the user to have a visually pleasing bar at the side of the screen that is used to quickly launch shortcuts. With support for themes, PNG’s and ICO’s and with smooth amazing animations, RK Launcher is a versatile and great taskbar replacement.
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“Free open-source app PCMan is a powerful tabbed file manager. PCMan has a leg up on Nautilus as it provides tabbed browsing, a sidebar directory tree, a full address bar, and it loads much faster. In fact, PCMan’s file manager is very similar to Xplorer2 for Windows.”

PCMan is widely available in most repositories and can be installed in Ubuntu with the following command:

sudo apt-get install pcmanfm

Lifehacker Link

So far I have tried many methods to get my Laptop’s headphones’ jack to work under Gutsy Gibbon, but the results have been mixed and sometimes did not work at all. Well, the question now is: Could this be the much elusive fix to the Intel ICH8 Family (r3) Sound Card Problem?

Update: It finally worked (12-11-07)*!

–Step 1:

Go to ‘System’ > ‘Administration’ > ‘Software Sources’ > ‘Updates’ tab, and check ‘Unsupported updates (gutsy-backports)’.

Then go to Terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-generic
(Source)

–Step 2:

Go to Terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install alsamixergui

Then add the line:
options snd-hda-intel model=vaio position_fix=0
To:
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

*Results may vary!

Go to Terminal and type:

gksu gedit /etc/gdm/PreSession/Default

Then change line 61 from #dab082 (peach) to #4483B9 (Or any other Color HEX)
Source Link

I just got me a set of these nice little portable speakers for my laptop, and I must say that they’re simply very good! Sound, quality of the materials, etc. Here’s a forum thread from the Ubuntu Forums that helped me get them to work under Ubuntu 7.10:
Forum Thread

“Avant-Window-Navigator(AWN) is a dock-like bar which sits at the bottom of the screen. It has support for launchers, task lists, and third party applets. This is a really nice application, not only for the eyecandy, but also for productivity.” (Source)
Instructions Link

“…these are some of the things that change my everyday use of the computer, so I feel they are worth mentioning. Some of the below features are provided by Gnome, some by Compiz Fusion. All are not exclusive to Ubuntu, but as that’s what I have installed at the moment I’ll demo them on that.” (Source)
WordPress Link

Google has released Picasa 2.7 Beta for Linux. This release features include upload to Picasa Web Albums, save edits to disk, folder hierarchy views, improvements to Import, better RAW support and many other enhancements. This HOWTO shows how you can install Picasa 2.7 Beta on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. phorolinux.com
Instructions Link
Google Link

In an attempt to find a good Unix reference for you FOSSwire readers, I was unsuccessful at finding a decent one on the Internet. So, why not make one?
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