Multimedia codecs

Please note that Xubuntu comes with very limited multimedia support. The reason for this is that many popular multimedia formats are not free; they are protected by patent or license restrictions. To prevent problems, Xubuntu ships without support for these formats. Please consider using and supporting open and free multimedia formats such as Ogg Vorbis (Audio) and Ogg Theora (Video).

If, however, you still want to use restricted multimedia formats, you will need to install codecs the repositories. Follow these instructions to enable the Medibuntu repository.

A multimedia codec is a small piece of software which allows you to watch videos or listen to music of a specific format. There are many different multimedia formats and so you may need to install several codecs. Xubuntu includes many codecs by default.

The multimedia applications in Xubuntu use the Xine backend.

Other applications, such as Mplayer and Totem-Gstreamer, do not use the Xine backend. Due to patent and copyright restrictions, codecs for these programs are not included at all in Xubuntu. For more information on these read the Restricted Formats wiki page.

To install extra codecs for xine and some other restricted items, issue the following command on the terminal:

You may also use Synaptic Package Manager to install these packages (see Chapter 11, Engadir, Eliminar e Actualizar Aplicacións).

[Warning]

Some of these packages may not be permitted in some countries: you should verify that you are permitted to use them before installing them.