There is a command line utility available on all Ubuntu derivatives called cclive. If you install it (sudo apt-get install cclive), you can give it a YouTube URL and it will download the video on it. I love using it for backup purposes - I upload a video from the camera, perform all my changes on YouTube, and then cclive the outcome for posterity. Just in case YouTube "forgets" about my latest cam ride.
There is also a GUI for cclive, called Abby. Abby is more than just a frontend for cclive, though, it also helps with pages that have multiple videos on them - playlists or RSS feeds. Abby is hosted on googlecode and written in QT/C++.
I started surfing, so I decided to scour YouTube for surf instruction videos. There is a set of 12 introductory videos by two Australian pros on there, so I decided to download them to take them to the beach. My N900 gladly displays YouTube videos on its gorgeous screen. Unfortunately, though, the T-Mobile coverage is fairly bad, so a downloaded video was the only real option.
Showing posts with label apt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apt. Show all posts
2010-08-22
A Tale of Broken Packages
Now, you are probably going to think this is about mishaps with a shipping company. Boohoo! My UPS package arrived damaged... Sad Face... None of that: UPS is reliable as ever, as are the other shipping companies (FedEx, DHL, USPS, what have you). No, the packages I am talking about are Linux/Ubuntu packages.
One of the major advantages of using a distro like Ubuntu is that someone else figures out what works with what and makes packages available for you to download and install semi-automatically. It's really easy and a lot more fun than the super-crappy way you install software on Windows. Instead of downloading an installer that tells you to shut down all applications before starting and then goes through a hundred screens of questions that you really don't care about (Where do you want the software installed? Do you want the software to report usage statistics?), in Ubuntu you just say, "I want Amarok," and there it is.
Sure, the whole system could use improvements. For instance, it would be more than just nice to add user ratings to the packages, so that you can see which one of the zillion alternatives is rated best. Also, it would be nice to know the size of the download before you get started. Finally, it would be great if there was a meta-server that lists major available repositories, and you'd just check the box next to the ones you'd like.
What I am going to be complaining about here, though, is more basic. I expect the download of a piece of software to give me a package that (a) doesn't break my system, (b) doesn't cause security problems, and (c) does something useful. While (a) and (b) have not been violated yet, I just got a package that clearly violates (c) big time.
One of the major advantages of using a distro like Ubuntu is that someone else figures out what works with what and makes packages available for you to download and install semi-automatically. It's really easy and a lot more fun than the super-crappy way you install software on Windows. Instead of downloading an installer that tells you to shut down all applications before starting and then goes through a hundred screens of questions that you really don't care about (Where do you want the software installed? Do you want the software to report usage statistics?), in Ubuntu you just say, "I want Amarok," and there it is.
Sure, the whole system could use improvements. For instance, it would be more than just nice to add user ratings to the packages, so that you can see which one of the zillion alternatives is rated best. Also, it would be nice to know the size of the download before you get started. Finally, it would be great if there was a meta-server that lists major available repositories, and you'd just check the box next to the ones you'd like.
What I am going to be complaining about here, though, is more basic. I expect the download of a piece of software to give me a package that (a) doesn't break my system, (b) doesn't cause security problems, and (c) does something useful. While (a) and (b) have not been violated yet, I just got a package that clearly violates (c) big time.
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