VLC (VideoLAN Client)

[patnliz]

Hi All,

 

I am quite new here and have a Dell Dimension XPS D233. Its an old box now running Mandriva 10.2 (2005) LE. I have bought an ethernet card but its not arrived yet and I want to install VLC and at:

 

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

 

 

I get the following instructions to install it on Mandrake. Is urpmi a utility that comes with the Mandriva installation or do I need to download and install it? Is it optional on the install? What are contrib and plf? Are they on the install too?

 

I have alternative access to the internet.

 

To install the latest VLC packages, add the following sources for either Mandrake 9.1, 9.2 or Cooker (you can use Easy urpmi for that):

 

contrib from the core distribution;

plf (Penguin Liberation Front) from the external add-ons.

 

Then install the required packages with urpmi:

 

# urpmi libdvdcss2 libdvdplay0 wxvlc vlc-plugin-a52 vlc-plugin-ogg vlc-plugin-mad

 

 

 

Thanks again in advance

Pat

[spinynorman]

Urpmi is included in the distro. Contrib and PLF are sources of unofficial, but generally trusted, rpms.

 

You can use the Easy Urpmi link at the top of the page to set up your sources for urpmi. :)

[patnliz]

Thanks for the reply spinynorman,

 

Another quick question, which may sound a tad silly but I'll persist nonetheless. It looks like I need access to the internet from the box I want to install it on. Is this the case? Do contrib and plf (Is the free one OK to use for VLC?) require much disk space?

 

Thanks in advance again

Pat

[spinynorman]

It's easier if you can access the internet from the machine in question, but you can download the rpms to cd on another machine, then identify the cd or a folder on the new machine as a source.

 

I would wait for your new card if you can, and then install the latest updates before you install anything else, which may save you some problems.

 

If you have space problems, you can use compressed indexes - see the Easy Urpmi page, just before step 3.

 

The free/non-free PLF sources are distinguished by restrictions on the distribution of software in the non-free version. There is no charge for the non-free one. If you live in a country which is affected by these restrictions (principally USA), you can choose whether to use the non-free stuff. Those of us in the free world would select both... :P

[adamw]

Nope, that's not it. The stuff in plf-free is Free Software (as in, what the FSF cares about). It can include free software with patent problems; libdvdcss2 is in plf-free, for instance. The stuff in plf-nonfree is software that's not under a Free Software compliant license. pine is in plf-nonfree for instance; there's no patent / DMCA / whatever problem with pine, but its license isn't considered to be free software compliant.

[spinynorman]

Thanks, Adam, for clarifying the situation. :unsure: