Installing Handbrake on Debian GNU/Linux
I don't actually watch that many movies but occasionally I want to back them up or convert them to a more convenient format. To date, I've been using the excellent Handbrake utility on my PowerMac G5 for my video conversion needs. Since I waved goodbye, I now needed at least the same functionality on my Linux machine. Fortunately, Handbrake is open source and under GPL license so it also has a GTK-based Linux equivalent. To get it installed, you'll need to edit your apt sources and add the following:
#Handbrake
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid main
You'll notice I specifically used the "sid" release. There is no "stable" prepackaged binary for Handbrake yet unless you're on Ubuntu, so you have to specify sid. It works regardless so not to worry. With that line added, save the file and install:
$sudo apt-get update
$sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk
It should install the requisite binaries without a hitch and add Handbrake to your menu under "Multimedia" if you're using Gnome or XFCE (I don't use KDE so I couldn't tell ya). Here's a screenshot from my machine for the ever-curious (click on the image to enlarge it):
Enjoy!