Sadly, Just Say No to Microsoft is largely bereft of details on using Linux for media playback. I left the book expecting a free and easy transmission; the kind that never really happens. In my case the hiccup flagged itself quickly enough... I couldn't play music. Of course, as with all of the issues I tend to encounter there is a reasonably simple solution.

Media playback is likely the only difficulty you'll encounter while using as friendly a Linux distribution as (K)Ubuntu, and once the ins and outs of software downloading are understood it's relatively simple. In fact, compared to installations and codec downloads in Windows, it's a stroll in the park.

Thanks to the relative lack of cover in the book, a dead-of-night phonecall was made which earned me the incisive quote, "What? No... you don't install anything in Linux." In Debian based Linux, programs are downloaded by the OS itself, which simplifies the process immensely.

Simply typing "apt-get install vlc libdvdcss2" into the console prompts a download of Videolan. Videolan also behaves in the same way on both platforms, meaning that there's no mental jump to be made from one to the other.

This is where the multimedia section gets a little tricky though. While you will be capable, at this point, of playing open source formats such as .ogg (audio) and .ogm (video) you will now need to download libraries to allow playback of "restricted formats". More information on the use and legality of restricted formats is available via the Ubuntu wiki, here.

Videolan, graceful functionality

Of course, for those living in a region where it is legal, MP3 playback can be enabled with, "sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.8-mad". The same applies for most other media types, excluding DRM protected WMV files, which are incomprehensibly awkward. Instructions for the installation of other non-free formats are available through the Wiki linked above; none of it is strays far enough from the above to be difficult and certainly nothing to cause trouble for anyone willing to put in a little effort.