Fedora, DVD Playing via VCL

I wasn’t able to stay asleep last night after sleeping for awhile. I got my laptop out and worked on some things and read up on some things, then finally decided to go downstairs, make coffee, when it wasn’t such an indecent hour to be up (5-something).

I got the coffee going, which means grinding the coffee then brewing it: Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill, currently grinding Starbucks Sumatra (my favorite) in ourCuisinart FlavorBrew® 10-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker, black/SS.

Then I went to the desktop computer and worked on trying to get the media player in Fedora to play a DVD, which I couldn’t make happen with the info I found, but eventually gave up and got VCL installed instead. Immediately able to watch a DVD.

I learned a few things about how to do things in Fedora (root, for instance, which I never did find a decent line in any information online on how to just basically login anything as “root” … I figured it out on my own how to do it in Terminal, which is just one of those silly things, to me, that people reference using “root” but not how you start it. Always general reference to it as if anyone using that tutorial would automatically know how to do that, though a basic linux newbie might be computer savvy and figure things out and understand things well beyond beginning linux about something linux, just not “how to work from the beginning in an actual linux environment … you know, like someone who has done some in Python, also has used Knoppix for something in the past … understands lots of computer things, just not “how to use ‘root’ ” and then how it’s compared to “admin” in windows is really weird, ’cause in my experience no Windows profile is any good unless it’s “admin” status ’cause you can’t do squat with lots of things in a limited account, which is the “recommended” account for basic computer use. Yeah, in Windows that means some programs won’t run, certain things won’t install (simple little things that aren’t dangerous to the computer) on and on it’s been such my experience, but the fact is that things in Fedora are not so limited for the basic user. FWIW so the comparison is poor. I may have a different perspective on it than others have, this whole thing is my PERSONAL OPINION, not an overarching statement of fact.

Back to Fedora in general, I’m looking forward to learning more and tweaking it all up, and seeing how much better, hopefully, the desktop can be in Fedora, as opposed to the dual installed Win XP that’s been on it for so long now. I don’t know how friendly it’ll be with filesharing, and I do have to do something with the XP … or that computer, it’s too ancient compared to my Vista laptop which I hope to upgrade to Win 7 soon, I have to explore so much of this, and also put Fedora on the older laptop eventually, if hubby ever gets a new computer, it’ll be interesting to see if it can be a linux only computer better than the XP thing it has been.

I need to figure out how to dual boot my laptop too without having to move everything, which I do have to do anyhow probably. The other thing is, the half-plan has been to get me a new laptop and give this one to hubby, maybe. In that case I’ll back up everything to another drive, and re-install and then upgrade this one, and maybe at that time partition for Fedora on this laptop or not. I doubt hubby cares what OS he uses. I’ve tried and tried to convert him to free software, not cracked stuff, I mean GNU, etc. free. He could use it, he could convert companies he’s with to see the light as well, but he doesn’t. Whatever.

The main thing is he needs a decent program that can do what he wants to use Business Contact Manager for. Outlook w/Bus. Contact Manager is such a resource hog, I hate it. I hate having it on any computer I have worked on (not used, just worked on) with all the complaints lodged when it’s in use, I don’t know why the light isn’t seen as to what is what with that. Anyhow I need to find something else that will work that isn’t so proprietary, also he wants it since it’ll share info with Neat Receipts … which is just another chink in the armour he wears. Nice thing (the scanner), but still, wish there were another way to use it. I’ve never looked into it since I haven’t had to use it, but I suppose I should.