linux and dvd ripping questions

[eastyy]

getting fed up with windows and i have heard about linux so may try it i know very little about it so there is there anything i have to know about before installing ? and which version is the most user friendly secondly i am planning on putting my dvds up in the attic and burning them on to my drive so i can watch later came across several programs that rip dvds as is to vob files (so basically its a 1 to 1 copy of it on the hardrive ) was wondering if there is any simple programs that rip it to a movie ? (and preferably keep all stuff like audio commentaries and extras intact )

[Baseley09]

This guy reviews and gives tips on the latest Linux distros

http://www.youtube.com/user/Linux4UnMe?feature=g-all-c

Ubuntu seems to generally be the most popular, easiest to get on with if you are familiar to windows.

[speedlolita]

Yeah, Ubuntu has a noob friendly package manager that works great.

Linux Mint is another one that's pretty good too.

I can't stand not being able to use backspace to go back a page whilst using an internet browser - that's my main reason for keeping Windows on my laptop. For a desktop though I couldn't live without Windows and dual booting is pretty stupid really.

[kryss]

Ubuntu 10.04 is the best for me. There are program to rip discs but I can't confirm they work (and technically it's against forum rules to discuss).

[speedlolita]

That's the LTS build currently so yeah go for that.

I'm not sure that disc ripping software is illegal though..

[FelixofMars]

technically any kind of backup is illegal of copyrighted material even if you own it.

[smouty]

technically any kind of backup is illegal of copyrighted material even if you own it.

I doubt that is the case or iTunes would be illegal.
I think the correct phrase is format shifting not backup

[eastyy]

thanks for the advice how about when it comes to drivers are they failry simple to set up or do i really need to download everything in advance ? (like my d link usb dongle drivers) and are there many linux compatible games ?

[kryss]

Ubuntu has worked better than windows for me, unless I upgrade to the next version which always messes something up.

Speedlolita: isn't 11.04 the latest LTS version? I HATE the executable bit-nonsense they introduced with 10.10, it messed everything up. Well, if everything was "my PD downloads".

[speedlolita]

The latest LTS release is Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), released on 29 April 2010, while the latest normal release is Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot), released on 13 October 2011.

LTS means long time support.

[monel]

Really interested in Linux for the future, how easy is it to set up a dual boot setup with Windows?

[speedlolita]

Extremely.

[monel]

Thanks speed.

[speedlolita]

Lol that's probably not much help.

What I mean is, if you can repartition your current install or do a clean install of Windows then Ubuntu will give you the option of installing the existing remainder of the HDD or another HDD and install itself there and install GRUB which is a bootloader and will allow you to boot either Ubuntu or your other OS - in this case windows.

[monel]

That is very helpful, thanks, I wasn't joking in the original post either- just wanted to know if it was hard. Am I right in thinking certain popular packages will only function on Windows so it's best to dual boot to be able to use them? And would you guys install Linux on a separate drive or is a partitioned drive essentially the same thing? I just want to simplify it- noticed Windows is taking ages to boot lately, too- somethings wrong.