Comments on: Why Doesn’t Ubuntu Play MP3s?

By: Al_Gordo

Al_Gordo — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 20:09:54 +0000

Thank You All.
The info on mp3s not playing, helped out a great deal

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:05:42 +0000

And you learn more as well.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 05:00:39 +0000

Microsoft just lost $1.5 billion in a lawsuit due to patent infringement because they apparently didn’t properly license the mp3 format. Ubuntu is smart to stay away from this nasty little format! It only takes a few clicks to get it installed – there’s numerous guides online to help you through it.

Ubuntu does have an automatic updater – I know, because I just installed 130 updates using it.

I just reinstalled Ubuntu, and let me tell ya, it gets easier every time. In under five hours I defragged my Windows drive, repartitioned the drive, installed Ubuntu over the old version, installed kubuntu-desktop and xubuntu-desktop, installed all appropriate codecs (DVD, mp3, flac, etc), got my nvidia card running, and got Beryl (a 3D window manager) running. I’ve had much more difficult Windows installations, that’s for sure! Ubuntu is rockin’ – the only problem is I keep breaking it because I always get a little carried away in tinkering with it. It’s worth it though.

By: bilbo

bilbo — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:15:24 +0000

install automatix. it will take care of that missing feature. Patent, Patent whatever. Rest assured it is an RIAA thing.

By: Windows Admin Tools

Windows Admin Tools — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 02:08:55 +0000

Yep. It is the patent problem. I can’t remember te name of the company that has patents related to MP3, but I know that it was always a concern when I used to program for a P2P company – they were worried about adding player functionality because of the patent (You would have thought that the record companies would have been a bigger threat in their minds)

By: Paul Betts

Paul Betts — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 23:37:01 +0000

Also:

Ubuntu of course has an automatic update, it’s the orange * icon in the corner. You should also check out Amarok and Banshee, two of the best music players on Linux. (sudo apt-get install amarok banshee)

By: Paul Betts

Paul Betts — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 23:31:19 +0000

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RestrictedFormats

Ubuntu doesn’t “support” patented formats but rest assured, you can play any format you can in Windows.

By: Answer

Answer — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:18:19 +0000

Ubuntu linux doesn’t support patented formats. Ubuntu can only legally distribute mp3 decoding software if they will pay licensing costs or make contract with fluendo http://www.fluendo.com/resources/fluendo_mp3.php