Why Automatix When There Is Easy Codecs Installation On Ubuntu Feisty?

Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04 introduced a new feature to aid in the installation of codecs called Easy Codecs. We on the Automatix team applaud The Ubuntu developers on making codecs installation easier on a distro that aims to be free in both senses. You may be wondering why there is still a need for Automatix at this point. This page is here to answer that question in detail.
What Is Easy Codecs Installation On Ubuntu Feisty?

Easy codecs installation is a feature in Ubuntu 7.04 which aims to automate the installation of certain codecs when a user tries to play an unsupported file. ECI works by asking the user if they want to install some of the unsupported gstreamer codecs to activate playback ability. ECI requires the user to keep the Totem-gstreamer engine in order to function. If you replace Totem-gstreamer with Totem-xine this feature will not work.

What Is ECI Missing That Automatix Offers?

Let us start here by saying that most Ubuntu users prefer Totem-xine over Totem-gstreamer. Totem-gstreamer has made great strides in quality over the past few years but is still not at the same overall level of the xine backend. Video playback with gstreamer both from DVD’s and on the web are still not up to par with its xine counterpart (though they can co-exist harmoniously and Automatix makes careful choices to make sure that the end user gets the ultimate in terms of offline and online multimedia experience). Most users also prefer to add MPlayer and it’s Firefox plugin for web video playback over Totem’s offering which comes installed by default on Ubuntu. ECI does not provide these options. Hence, the user will still be required to install and configure both MPlayer and its plugin to make them work correctly with browsers. Automatix does these things for you with a simple click of a mouse.

Here are SOME codecs that Automatix installs that you will not get with ECI.

* gstreamer10-fluendo-mp3
* gstramer10-gl
* gstreamer10-gnonlin
* gstreamer10-plugins-bad (ECI does install gs10-plugins-bad-multiverse)
* gstreamer10-plugins-ugly
* gstreamer10-plugins-ugly-multiverse
* gstreamer10-sdl
* lame (MP3 decoder)
* sox
* mjpegtools
* vorbistools
* mpg321
* libxine-main1
* libxine-extracodecs
* faac
* faad
* alsa-oss
* oss-compat
* libdivx0-binary(i386 only)
* libdivxencore0-binary(i386 only)
* libdivxdecore0-binary(i386 only)
* libk3b2-mp3
* beep-media-player-wma (If you have Beep Media Player installed)

This means you will get much better overall multimedia support with Automatix than by using ECI.

Codecs already installed by ECI will still be installed if choosing to use Automatix afterwards.

What Other Things Can Automatix Do?

Automatix is more than a multimedia and codecs installer. It is a tool to help the end user tweak their entire system quickly and easily for the most efficient use. Here is a list of things Automatix can do besides just install codecs and multimedia applications.

* Automatix can install and configure video card, printer, wireless, and webcam drivers
* Automatix can install and configure NTFS read and write support.
* Automatix can install and configure web browsers and plugins.
* Automatix can install and configure fonts for better web and document compatibility with other platforms. (Windows and Mac).
* Automatix can install extras not found any where else like Nautilus Scripts (some of which have been written by Automatix devs).
* Automatix can install and configure software not found in the Ubuntu repositories.
* Automatix sometimes replaces packages found in Ubuntu Universe/Multiverse with ones that are less buggy and of better quality from the developers web site and hosts them on its own site.
* Automatix can install and configure virtualization software like VirtualBox and VMWare Player.
* Automatix can install and configure Wine (Direct from the developers repo so it is much newer than what is in the Ubuntu repositories).
* Automatix can install commercial software like CrossOver Office.
* Automatix on AMD64 can safely install a 32-bit web browser, alongside your current 64-bit web browser, and have all the standard codecs (Adobe Flash 9, Sun Java 6, RealPlayer 10, Acrobat Reader 7, MPlayer).
* Automatix on AMD64 can also install a variety of 32-bit software like Skype, Swiftfox, RealPlayer 10, Adobe Acrobat 7, and Google Earth.

We could keep going but we think you get the point. Automatix does so much more than install codecs. In fact Automatix does much more than what is listed above. If you want to know everything that Automatix can do for you just visit the Software and Tweaks page for more details.