I recently started messing with a few other distributions and was frustrated with (K)Ubuntu's lack of mplayer and codecs. Although it is possible to find a good repository for apt-get to pull in those files, I found a much easier way to handle pulling in all of these files, including Audacity (a good sound editor), and the mplayer plugin for Firefox.

 

Automatix is a script for (K)Ubuntu that pulls in a ton of different files according to what you opt for. For example, from the above link:

 

Quote:Capabilities:1) Installs multimedia codecs

2) Installs all Firefox plugins (java, flash, etc) (except Adobe reader and mplayer)

3) Installs RAR, ACE and UNRAR archive support

4) Installs skype

5) Installs Acrobat reader 7 and firefox plugin for the same.

6) Installs Gnomebaker (CD/DVD burning s/w for GNOME)

...

 

Please forgive me for linking to another board, but this was invaluable in my opinion, and will benefit new (K)Ubuntu users. Please note that Kubuntu users have three additional packages to install before installing Automatix.

 

Enjoy!

Tom