To install Sun/Oracle java 6 on Ubuntu Lucid do the following in a Terminal window:

sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-bin sun-java6-plugin

If this says: E: Package sun-java6-jre has no installation candidate then do:

sudo bash -c " echo 'deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner' >>/etc/apt/sources.list "
sudo apt-get update

And try again.

When you have installed the packages you should do:

sudo update-java-alternatives -v -s java-6-sun

Suddenly the buttons in the title bar all shifted to the left. To restore the old situation run:

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string "menu:minimize,maximize,close"

This is a fix for the problem that occurs when running vmware on a system with avahi.

avahi starts publishing the addresses from the vmnet interfaces with the hostname.

To fix create a file /etc/udev/rules.d/99-vmware.rules

SUBSYSTEM=="net", KERNEL=="vmnet?" GOTO="vmnet_start"
GOTO="vmnet_end"

LABEL="vmnet_start"

ACTION=="add",	RUN+="/sbin/ifconfig $env{INTERFACE} -multicast"

LABEL="vmnet_end"

Tested on: Ubuntu hardy, VMWare 6.02

The shoutcast bug surfaced again in Ubuntu Intrepid, Ubuntu karmic.

To fix:

 sudo sed -i 's/Icy-MetaData:/Xcy-MetaData:/g' /usr/lib/vlc/access/libaccess_http_plugin.so

Tested with vlc-nox / vlc Version: 0.9.4-1ubuntu3

If this doesn't work then:

sudo sed -i 's/Icy-/Xcy-/g' /usr/lib/vlc/access/libaccess_http_plugin.so

Works on "VLC media player 1.0.2 Goldeneye" (1.0.2-1ubuntu2.1)

There are a few utilities in the Hardy release of Ubuntu, that don't play shoutcast streams correctly.

These are: vlc, gmplayer, mplayer, totem.

When a shoutcast MP3 audio stream is played you can hear chirps and other dropouts.

This is due to some data mixed in with the audio stream which is not filtered out correctly. Instead of showing the data in the player the software tries to convert the data into sound.

To fix this problem:

Execute as root:

 sed -i 's/Icy-MetaData:/Xcy-MetaData:/g' /usr/bin/gmplayer
 sed -i 's/Icy-MetaData:/Xcy-MetaData:/g' /usr/bin/mplayer