It started with Nero Linux  4 Trial. Nero would have been our first choice if it would have been Windows. But since neither the Windows is free nor Nero, we have been looking for a software that could take over Nero role for burning CDs and DVDs efficiently.

We didn’t find one that good but came out with some wares that can do what they are really better than that. But still we found some of them worth satisfying.

Heres the list:-

1) Brasero Disc Burner.

2) K3B Cd and DVD Kreator.

3) Gnome Baker.

4) XfBurn.

5) Nautilus Cd/Dvd Creator.

Brasero CD/DVD Burner

Brasero was developed by Philippe Rouquier & Luis Medinas. Brasero is an application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome Desktop. It is designed to be as simple as possible and has some unique features to enable users to create their discs easily and quickly. It is licenced under GNU-GPL & is a free software. It is available in Add/Remove and Ubuntu Software Center for installation in just 1 click.

Features:

• Supports multiple backends: cdrtools, growisofs and libburn

Data CD/DVD:

• supports edition of discs contents (remove/move/rename files inside directories)
• can burn data CD/DVD
• automatic filtering for unwanted files
• supports multisession
• can write the image to the hard drive
• can check disc file integrity

Audio CD:

• write CD-TEXT information
• supports the edition of CD-TEXT information
• can burn audio CD on the fly
• can search for audio files inside dropped folders
• full edition of silences between tracks

CD/DVD copy:

• can copy a CD/DVD to the hard drive
• can copy CD and DVD on the fly
• supports single-session data DVD
• supports any kind of CD

Others:

• erase CD/DVD
• can save/load projects
• can burn CD/DVD images
• song, image and video previewer
• device detection
• file change notification
• a customisable GUI
• supports Drag and Drop
• can search for files
• can display a playlist and its contents
• all disc IO is done asynchronously to prevent the application from blocking

K3B:  Cd/Dvd Kreator

The KDE tool for CD/DVD creation is called K3B aka KDE Burn Baby Burn! It is a free software CD and DVD authoring application for GNU/Linux operating systems designed for KDE. It provides a graphical user interface to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks such as creating an Audio CD from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct disc-to-disc copies. The program has many settings which can be customized by advanced users. The actual disc recording in K3b is handled by the command line utilities cdrecord or wodim, cdrdao, and growisofs.

To install K3b open your Ubuntu Software Center (Applications->Ubuntu Software Center) and type k3b in the search field. Double click the search result and select the Install button. When installed close your Ubuntu Software Center and K3b can be found in your Sound  & Video list (Applications->Sound & Video)

Features:

• Data Cd/Dvd burning.
• Audio CD burning.
• CD tect support.
• Built in CD/DVD Rip.
• eMovix CD/DVD .
• Mixed mode CD (Audio and Data in one).
• Multisession CD.
• Disc to Disc CD /DVD copy.
• ISO image support.
• Erase CDs/DVDs
• Ripping Audio CDs/DVDs , Video CDs/DVDs.
• Video CD/DVD authoring.
• CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW  support.
• K3B can also burn data CDs that support Linux/Unix based OS, Windows, DOS file systems.

GNOME Baker: The Gnome Weapon

GNOME Baker is a free CD/DVD authoring application build for GNU-Linux operating systems. This application has been built for the GNOME Desktop Environment. It requires a recent tools for the burning process like cdrecord, readcd , mkiofs etc. For DVD burning ,it requires gravisofs. It needs gstreamer 0.8 for audio processing. Goto Ubuntu Software Center or Add/Remove programs to install Gnome Baker.

Features:

• Create Data Cds/Dvds.
• RW Disks.
• Burn CDs/DVDs.
• Copy Data CDs/DVDs.
• Copy Audio CDs.
• Support Multisession Burning.
• Record-to & Burn ISO image to CDs/DVDs (including Bootables).
• Supports Drag ‘n’ Drop feature.
• Create Audio CDs from existing WAV, FLAC,MP3 Files.
• Gconf integrated for Storage of Application Settings.
• Can burn Cue/Bin files.
• Format  DVDs.

Xf-Burn

XfBurn is a simple CD/DVD burning tool based on libburnia libraries. It was developed to be the default burning application for the Xfce Desktop Environment. It can erase CD/DVD-RW, burn and create ISO images, audio CDs, data CD/DVDs. It has a simple GUI, drag n drop / copy – paste feature enabled. It is a freeware and is licenced under GNU -GPL for Linux based operating systems basically for the Xfce Desktops. It is available in Ubuntu Software Center or Add/Remove programs for the  installation.

Features:

• Blank CDs/DVDs.
• Burning Data CDs/DVDs.
• Create ISO images.
• Burn ISO CDs /DVDs.
• Audio CDs.
• Simple GUI.
• Copy n Paste feature .

Note : It a stable release but is undergoing constant development so keep an eye on the updates for more features.

Nautilus Cd/Dvd Creator

The Nautilus CD Burner package provides an easy method to write files to a CD or DVD burner through GNOME – by just drag-and-dropping files using the GNOME file manager aka Nautilus.

Features:

• Create Data Cds/Dvds.
• Burning .ISO images.
• Nautilus File manager Integration.
• Drag n Drop support.
• CD-RW & DVD-RW support.
• Duplicate CD/DVD

Enjoy!

As we all know that Ubuntu Karmic/Jaunty and other versions come in a limited 700 mb CD, that means to have a computer running properly with Ubuntu requires an Internet connection. Sometimes, we come across hard-drive failures etc., so this creates a problem of downloading all the updates and applications again. Moreover, internet is not available everywhere. So, to solve this, we have an application that will do just fine. APTonCD is a tool with a graphical interface which allows us to create one or more CDs or DVDs with all of the packages we’ve downloaded via ‘apt-get’ , ‘synaptic package manager’, ‘ubuntu software center’ and ‘add/remove’, creating a removable repository that we can use on other computers also. APTonCD also allows you to automatically create media with all of the .deb packages located in one specific repository, so that we can install them into other computers without the need for an Internet connection’. It also serves as a backup to our installed applications, programs and updates.

Download:

all.deb : click here

tar.gz : click here

Installation:

Option 1) If you have downloaded the .deb file (recommended), you just need a double click to go . Easy, isn’t it

Option 2) For the second one, you can easily compile the downloaded source code (tar.gz file) using the following commands in terminal:-

$ tar -xvzf aptoncd-*.tar.gz
$ cd aptoncd/
$ sudo make install

How to Create an APTonCD image :

It creates an image of desired size from packages downloaded via Synaptic Package Manager / Apt-get. It requires Administrator privileges. Don’t worry, just type in the admin password and go.

Note: External packages that were not installed can also be put in the image file.

Steps to create APTonCD image:

1) Selecting installed packages:
By default, all the packages saved in /var/cache/apt/archives/ directory . We have the option to add/remove the packages for APTonCD media just checking/unchecking  them on the list. When we add/remove a package,the total file size is automatically updated.

2) Adding external packages:
We can also add those packages to the APTonCD image that weren’t installed on the system. There are two ways to do this: we can use the ‘Add Package’ button then find and open the .deb package to be added. The other way is simply drag-and-drog the package from hard-drive to APTonCD window.

3) Destination folder for image:
By default, the image generated by APTonCD is saved in /home/user/aptoncd directory . It can be changed by using the option ‘destination folder’ .

4) Burning Created Image:
When an APTonCD image is successfully created, we can burn it into CD/DVD

How to Restore APTonCD :

It restores an image from an already created APTonCD media and allows to select and install packages offline. This also requires Administrator privileges. Also, restoring a .ISO image created using APTonCD is also same.

Steps to restore a created image:

1) Open CD/DVD:-
Put the CD/DVD created by APTonCD in the drive.

2) Selecting packages to recover:-It shows a list with all packages available to restore. By default, all packages are checked, but you can just uncheck the packages at will.

3) Copying files to another system:-
The packages selected are copied from the APTonCD media to /var/cache/apt/archives/ directory.In this way,the packages are available and you can install them using apt-get or synaptic without need to download them.

It’s an easy way to get all the required softwares and packages to run Ubuntu just fine.

Note: By default, latest versions of all softwares are restored.

Njoy !!!

Ubuntu is considered as one of the most user-friendly Linux distributions  available today. But still, there are some hidden functions and settings that will improve your Ubuntu experience to a great extent. Though you don’t need a third-party program to unlock them, you just need Ubuntu Tweak. It will save a lot of time of yours as this application gives you a UI to control and configure your system settings yourself. Ubuntu Tweak makes it easy to change hidden system and desktop settings. Unfortunately, it is only for GNOME desktop environment. This is still under heavy development and a very good utility for Ubuntu users. Tweak is more or less like Ubun-student but a bit more stable and reliable with lesser bugs.But this application is also going heavy development, so watch for updates and latest releases regularly. It was basically build for the new Ubuntu users to help them getting a experience. We recon this a must have for your Ubuntu Desktop and we are sure that it will improve the usability of your Ubuntu desktop significantly.

Changes OverView:

• Support of Ubuntu 9.04 and before DROPPED.
• Use all native icon in UI.
• Migrate from policykit to policykit-1, no C code any more.
• Support dynamic-module, only load module what desktop supports.
• Redesign the sidebar and titlebar.

New Features :

• Application Center: improve from Add/Remove, supports online data sync.
• Add the option to disable user list in gdm.
• Add indicator-session dialog control.
• Improve the computer page, add “Change Hostname” feature.
  Source Center: improve from Third-Party Source, supports online data sync.
• Add the menu and button icon options to gnome settings. – Add the show desktop icon again.
• Update Manager: a simple but more human-readable update manager.

Lets move to the Old native way i.e the Terminal way to  Install (Refer Screenshots For Help)

Note : An easy way to add sources of Ubuntu-tweak(work since Ubuntu 9.10): Go to System / Administration / Software Sources, click on Other Software tab, click Add button, and enter

ppa:tualatrix/ubuntu-tweak

This will add the PPA repo and the GPG key automatically. You can also do it from command line by running:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ubuntu-tweak

To add the source of Ubuntu Tweak on your machine: Open your terminal, first import the key:

sudo apt-key adv –recv-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com FE85409EEAB40ECCB65740816AF0E1940624A220

type the command to run gedit to modify the sources.list:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

For Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

Or Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Or Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu karmic main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

Then update the source and install or upgrade Ubuntu Tweak:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

If you have installed, just type:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

and done.

We are good to go. Launch Ubuntu Tweak : Goto Applications > System Tools > Ubuntu Tweak

Ubuntu Tweak is a good ubuntu manager and will help you a lot with it . It will surely improve you Ubuntu experience by making things easier and faster .

Note : The latest release(Tweak 0.5.x) is only for Ubuntu-Karmic users. Older versions of ubuntu support the previous builds.

Here are couple of screenshots of the Interface (Ctrl+Click) xoxo Njoy…!!!

Ubuntu Studio:  is a multimedia editing/creation derivative of Ubuntu. It is built for audio, video and graphic enthusiasts or professionals. But as it is free and open-source, everyone is free to use. It is an officially recognized derivative of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, which is explicitly modified for general multimedia production. The original version, based on Ubuntu 7.04, was released on May 10, 2007. The main aim was to assemble suites of applications aimed at creative people. Suites including the best open-source applications like Graphic design and modeling applications i.e. GIMP and Inkscape . Blender, Kino, and Stopmotion etc are included for video creation; and Audacity, BEAST, Fluidsynth etc. for audio.

Features

The Real-time kernel was introduced first in Ubuntu Studio 8.04 which was modified for intensive audio, video or graphics work later on. The scheduler allows applications to request immediate CPU time, which can reduce audio latency to a great extent improving PC performance while performing tough jobs. The 8.10(Intrepid Ibex) release lacks this real-time kernel, but it has been re-implemented in the 9.04(Jaunty Jackalope) release, and stabilized with the release of Ubuntu studio 9.10(Karmic Koala).Ubuntu studio offers a lot of programs that can be used for Graphics editing , audio and Video editing at par. These include GIMP, Audacity, Inkscape , Hydrogen, Kino and many more. Ubuntu Studio also includes custom artwork and a blue-on-black theme, as compared to Ubuntu’s default brown and orange. It gives a fresh new look to your desktop. It is available in both 32 and 64 bit versions.

Those who don’t wanna go into history books what it simply does is to provide you with most impressive Open source tools for your Multimedia  requirements like sound video and graphics.

Download:-

Ubuntu Studio 9.10

HTTP Torrent (x86 Intel)

HTTP Torrent (x64 AMD)

Ubuntu Studio 9.04

HTTP Torrent (x86 Intel)

HTTP Torrent (x64 AMD)

For more ,visit here.

Softwares included:

1) Audio

• Ardour – a hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation application.
• Audacity – a digital audio editor application
• BEAST – music composition and modular synthesis application
• Creox – A real-time guitar effects program
• Fluidsynth – Software Wavetable Synthesizer
• Hydrogen – an advanced drum machine
• JACK Audio Connection Kit – a sound server daemon that provides low latency connections between applications for both audio and MIDI data
• Jack Rack – Virtual rackmount of LADSPA DSP effects plugins for use with JACK.
• JAMin – the JACK Audio Connection Kit Audio Mastering interface
• LilyPond – a program for engraving sheet music
• Mixxx – a digital DJ-style mixing program
• MusE – a MIDI/Audio sequencer using JACK and ALSA
• Patchage – GUI access to patch MIDI and Audio software together for JACK.
• Pure Data
• Rosegarden – a digital audio workstation program.
• Timemachine – Records the last 30 seconds of sound to the hard drive, so a ‘one off’ sound can be captured.
• TiMidity++ – a software synthesizer that is able to convert from MIDI to various formats
• ZynAddSubFX – a complex yet easy to use subtractive, additive, FM synthesizer with DSP effects, and exceptional software synthesizer

2) Video

• PiTiVi – a video editing program
• Kino – a non-linear digital video editor
• Stopmotion – a stop-motion animation movie creator
• VLC media player – a free software media player
• Xjadeo .

3) Graphics

• Agave – a color scheme generator
• Blender – a 3D animation program
• Enblend – an image compositing program
• FontForge – a typeface (font) editor program
• GIMP – a raster graphics editor
• Inkscape – a vector graphics editor
• Scribus – a desktop publishing application
• Synfig – a 2D vector graphics and timeline-based animation program

Installation:

There is currently no live version available of Ubuntu Studio, and consequently, no graphical installer. In addition, the disk image is 1.45 GB, too large to fit on a standard CD, and so the recommended installation medium for Ubuntu Studio is a DVD or USB drive . Ubuntu Studio can also be installed on a pre-existing Ubuntu system by installing the “ubuntustudio-desktop” package from Synaptic Package Manager or via APT(Advanced packaging tool).

The Synaptic way :

Just goto System >Administration >synaptic Package Manager and open it .

Then type in search box “Ubuntu Studio ” and select all the packages and mark all of them for installation that start with the name ” Ubuntu Studio” like Ubuntu-studio-wallpapers, Ubuntu-studio-audio,menu,sounds,look,default-settings,audio-plugins,icon-theme,gdm-theme,controls etc. and mark all of theme for installation.

Now, apply changes and wait a little .

Finally , restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Alternatively, a Dedicated installation :-

The first step is to download the file i.e. .ISO image of Ubuntu studio for which you can use the above links.Now, after the download , burn it into a DVD or you can use UNetBootin for creating a USB installer Disk (read here) and boot from it. The installation procedure is totally same as that of basic ubuntu OS.

Just basic Steps:-

1)Select your language and start with the installation.

2)Select the “Install Ubuntu Studio” option and then press enter .

The installer will scan your Source and your hardware after that.

3)The system will ask you for your username and password you want to set up .

4)The installer will ask for Partitioning.Here, i have used default partitioner set-up. If you want to go with the Manual partitioning , you can refer here. After all seetings have been done, press enter to continue and now your system will be installed with proposed changes.

5)It will finish the installation and then prepare it for first use.

6)After all work is finished ,the system will be restarted by pressing enter .

7)Lastly, type in your Username and password(if any)and enjoy your Ubuntu Studio 9.10 on the go

Enjoy a brand new Ubuntu with improved looks and performance

Experience a Media Center at home with Ubuntu Studio

A very Happy New year guys. Enjoy…!!!

Wubi (Windows-based Ubuntu Installer) is an official Windows-based free software installer for Ubuntu.It can bring you to the Linux world with a single click. It allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way. Trying Ubuntu out has never been easier.

For history freaks Wubi was born as an independent project but after 8.04 alpha 5 , it started coming within the iso. The goal of the project is to assist a Windows user unacquainted with Linux in trying Ubuntu without risking any loss of information due to disk formatting or partitioning .Wubi can also uninstall Ubuntu from within Windows. It adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows the user to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed within a file in the Windows file system (c:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk), as opposed to being installed within its own partition. This file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk.

While Wubi does not install Ubuntu directly to its own partition this can also be accomplished by using LVPM, a Loopmounted Virtual Partition Manager, to transfer the Wubi-generated Ubuntu installation to a dedicated real partition. The creation of Virtual partition and installation of Ubuntu in it saves your data in c:\ drive and it deosnot let any change happen to your system ,its just that it takes some part of your disk space .

Wubi also creates a swap file in the Windows file system (c:\ubuntu\disks\swap.disk), in addition to the memory of the host machine. This file is seen by Ubuntu as additional RAM. A related project named Lubi (Linux based Ubuntu installer) is also present which lets you install Ubuntu in Linux host machine. After installation , you will be able to dual boot b/w your own previous Linux and Ubuntu.

Caution:-  : Wubi sometimes can create problems with certain hardware and hangs out . The only option at that time to regain your system is hard reboot (CPU reset or UPS shutdown )

Hardware Support :- intel x86_32 bit version of ubuntu and x86_64 bit versions are supported.

Installation procedure :-

1) The first step is to get your Ubuntu installation Iso image. You can get your copy here . To read more about Karmic koala – Ubuntu 9.10 , please read our previous post.

2)Once you have your ubuntu copy, then burn it into a CD or install via USB drive. For using USB, you will need Unetbootin(Universal Netboot Installer) which you can get it here .After running this software select the option “Diskimage ISO” & just give the location of the image file you downloaded.

3)Now , insdert your CD or USB into your computer. Then , open My Computer on your Windows and goto the Installation CD directory os USB drive. Double click Wubi.exe .You will see an ubuntu menu like this one.

4)Now click “Install inside Windows” .You will get option to select destination , desktop environment , username /password etc.

Note:You must have about 6 gb space free for installation , rather the installer asks for only 4 gb but for a better experience, it is recommended to have larger space.

5)After making all the desired settings, click Install .

6)Last step is completing installation .Just click reboot.

Our work here is done.Now, its all upto ubuntu now. Go get a cup of coffee and relax on your chair as after a while you will see Ubuntu getting installed itself.

Installation will start by itself . All seetings that you have done previously will now take effect.

The installer also shows you what you can do with Karmic. Its a really nice OS which can give you a realtime Computing experience.

After completing installation , your computer will reboot by itself .

Now, if you want to see ubuntu in your system , just goto control panel and see

While you select your os vis dual boot as shown above, you will go across grub 2.0 . Just press enter and enjoy ubuntu experience.

If you want to uninstall wubi , its also easy.Just goto Ubuntu folder in your c:\ drive and open it .Double Click the Uninstall-wubi icon and done.

If you want to do a dedicated fresh install , then you should refer our post Landing on Planet Ubuntu .

We are sure ubuntu will give a full computing experience and that too for free.

Happy linuxing to all our users .

Njoy.!.