Playing mkv files is as easy as 1-2-3 with VLC and Mplayer

I got a video in the Matroska file format — something that doesn’t usually happen to me. I would often get files in avi though. Or mpeg. I know I used to watch anime with mkv extensions but recently I haven’t. I did a fresh install of Ubuntu Hardy Heron so I didn’t have VLC yet. I tried looking for matroska gstreamer plugins, etc. on Synaptic and yet I found none. I was able to play it using Mplayer but I also wondered what else I could use to play the video. I installed VLC via Synaptic and voila~! I could watch the video already.

If you are new to Linux and are just using the applications installed by default, you might encounter some difficulties. But if you’re the type who will search for the packages which will let you do whatever you want, you’d be fine. Totem seems to lack that ease of use when it comes to new users or even not-so-new users. Mplayer might have an interface which isn’t quite as pretty as Amarok, Rhythmbox, VLC, etc. but it’s a very nifty mediaplayer.