axeorcat

Install Sun’s JDK

You will need to accept the license manually so first you may need to set debconf to use an interactive confirmation method
dpkg-reconfigure debconf
If you do not do this, installation may fail with the error “sun-dlj-v1-1 license could not be presented”
Next install the software
sudo aptitude install sun-java5-jdk
We’re not quite there still because default Ubuntu comes with gcj installed so you need to tell it to use Sun’s JVM as an alternative.
By default, about 80 of the executable files under /usr/bin are actually symlinks to files under /etc/alternatives which are managed by update-alternatives
sudo update-alternatives --config java
After selecting Sun’s JVM, the symlink under /etc/alternatives will change from
java -> /usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj/jre/bin/java
to
java -> /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun/jre/bin/java
If you still have problems with gcj getting in the way you can remove it with apt-get remove -purge java-gcj-compat

Multimedia players/codecs

Ubuntu wiki page. (if using adept make sure you tick unsupported and proprietary software boxes, and select packages from all)

Amarok has no sound
Easily fixed by installing “xine extra plugins” (libxine-extracodecs)

totem cannot play back xvid AVIs etc
Easily fixed by installing gstreamer plugins packages.

install realplayer so I can watch BBC news ;)
dpkg -i realplayer_10.0.7-0.0_i386.deb Now it works nicely in Firefox after a restart.

Configuration

KDE hotkeys
For some reason this is under “System Settings”->“Regional and Accessibility”

_ Change KDE single click to double click_
Compulsory for selecting multiple files. Do this in mouse settings.