Best DVD Player Options for Linux: VLC, MPV, and More

Well now, if you ever find yourself sittin’ in front of your computer, tryin’ to play a DVD on a Linux system, I reckon you’re gonna need somethin’ that can do the job right. It ain’t as easy as just poppin’ in the disc and pressin’ play, like it might be on them fancy Windows or Mac computers. Nope, Linux is a bit different, and it don’t always come with the stuff you need. But don’t worry, I’m here to tell you how to get things workin’ without pullin’ your hair out.

First things first, you gotta have the right kind of media player. You see, Linux ain’t like them other systems where everythin’ just works by itself. You need to install a player that can actually handle DVDs. Now, there’s a lot of choices, but a popular one is called VLC. It’s free and it can play just about any kind of video you throw at it, including DVDs. It’s a good place to start, and it’s pretty easy to install too. If you ask me, VLC is like the swiss army knife of media players—does a little bit of everythin’.

But, if you don’t like VLC for some reason, there are a couple other options you might want to look into. MPV is another one, and it’s lightweight and pretty quick. Then there’s MPlayer, which is also popular among folks who use Linux. All these players are good, but you gotta know how to set ‘em up right, or you won’t get far.

Now, let’s talk about how to get these players on your system. If you’re usin’ Ubuntu, or one of them other easy-to-use Linux distributions, you can usually just open up the terminal and type in a few commands to install what you need. It’s like goin’ to the store and buyin’ what you want without ever leavin’ the house. Real handy, right?

• For VLC: Open up your terminal and type in sudo apt install vlc. Hit enter, and it’ll start installin’. Simple as that.
• For MPV: Same deal, just type sudo apt install mpv and you’re on your way.
• For MPlayer: Type sudo apt install mplayer and let it do its thing.

Once you got yourself a good media player installed, you can go ahead and pop in your DVD. If it don’t start playin’ right away, it might be because your Linux system needs some extra software to actually read DVDs. See, most Linux systems don’t come with the software to read encrypted DVDs right off the bat. It’s kinda like you got a TV, but no antenna to pick up the channels. You gotta add that extra bit.

One of the things you’ll need is something called libdvdcss. This little piece of software lets your Linux computer read DVDs that are encrypted, so you can actually watch ‘em. Again, you can install it from your terminal, and it’s a piece of cake. Just type in sudo apt install libdvdcss2, and you’re good to go.

But wait, there’s more! If you’re still havin’ trouble playin’ DVDs after all this, it might be ’cause of some missing codecs. See, sometimes the video or sound on the DVD just won’t play right ‘cause your system don’t have the right decoder. But don’t worry, there’s a way to fix that too. Just install the Ubuntu Restricted Extras package, and that should give you all the codecs you need. You can get it by runnin’ sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras from your terminal. Once that’s done, you should be good to go!

Now, for some of you folks, this might sound like a lot of work. And I ain’t gonna lie, it does take a little fiddlin’ to get things set up just right. But once you’ve got it all sorted, you’ll be able to play DVDs on your Linux system just fine. And the good news is, once you’ve done it once, you won’t have to worry about it again. You’ll be settin’ up DVDs like a pro in no time.

If you don’t want to mess with all the commands and installation steps, there are some other options too. Some folks prefer to just buy an external DVD player that comes with its own software, and that’ll work with Linux too. But again, that’s somethin’ you’d need to look into if you don’t want to fool around with installin’ stuff yourself.

And that’s about all there is to it! Now you know how to play DVDs on Linux, whether it’s with VLC, MPV, or MPlayer. Don’t let that Linux system scare you—once you get the hang of it, it’s not so bad after all. Just remember to install the right software, get the codecs you need, and you’ll be watchin’ your DVDs in no time!

Tags: [dvd player, linux, vlc, mpv, mplayer, play dvd on linux, libdvdcss, ubuntu, media player]