The criteria used by Canonical for the Ubuntu distribution of GNU/Linux is: only software that is both Free and in no way encumbered by intelectual property is included initially.  The user can overide this or course, and install whatever he/she wishes to. To be sure, through the Ubuntu repositories there are a lot of very useful things that are not Free(as in Freedom), and/or are acknowledged as I.P. challenged in the U.S. The end-user can make an informed decision as to whether or not these things are wanted.

Immediately after install you can play only .OGG audio and video files.  This is a completely Free audio/video file type and the codec used to do the encoding/decoding is also Free.  Every default installation of Ubuntu comes with a .ogg video file you can play right after installation to test the system, just navigate to the home folder of a user and into the provided Examples folder and you will see the file 'Experience Ubuntu.ogg'.  This is a video of Nelson Mandella speaking a bit about the meaning of the word Ubuntu.

In order to play .MP3 music files, .MPG/.AVI video files, or almost anything other than .OGG, you will need to install various codecs to tell the audio and video systems how to deal with the information in those files.  Please understand that before you follow this how-to and install these codecs you must realize the possible legal impact of using programs and processes that may utilize proprietary methods or may utilize non-proprietary methods on information stored in proprietary and non-licensed types of data.  You can go to the bottom of this page for a more in-depth disertation of the types of intelectual property rights that you may be trampeling on when using these codecs.

If you have decided, on your own, to install the Free Software codecs in order to enjoy your multimedia files then you will find the way to accoplish this is very simple.

  You must first allow the universe and multiverse(I.P./copyright restricted) repositories to be used.  This is done simply using the Software Sources application located under [System] => [Administration] menu and make sure that the 2nd and 4th boxes are checked as you see has been done in this example.  Whether you are just now checking these options, or already had them selected, you should now use the Update Manager and check to see if you are still current on all software you have installed.  We are about to install some new software, and it is always best to make sure everything is fully updated before doing so.

Now you can use either the Add/Remove function located at the bottom of the [Application] menu or the Synaptic application located towareds the bottom of the [System] => [Administrator] menu.

In Add/Remove: Use the Show drop down located at the top-center of the window and select 'All Available Applications', then in the search box on the top-right type: Ubuntu Restricted Extras.  If you are using Synaptic you will want to use the search function and search for: Ubuntu Restricted Extras.  Either way you will be able to now install the Ubuntu-Restriced-Extras meta-package. This will install the Adobe non-free Flash plugin, all the codecs you are likely to need, as well as the Sun Jave Runtime, support for .rar files, non-encrypted DVDs, and the microsoft core fonts so web pages and text documents designed by windows-centric people will display correctly on our systems.

You will need to be present for the Java installation, since you have a EULA you will need to agree to.  If you want to be able to also play commercially bought, encrypted DVD Movies, go to Multimedia Page 2.

Explanation of Intellectual Properties issues:

** Coming soon...for now look on this site, in the Online Movies area, page 1. A link to a lecture by Richard Stallman is there and should server as a primer on the issues faced by Free and Open Source Software in the Unitied States.