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This app will backup a commercial DVD (or any other) to another blank DVD. The resultant DVD should play on any commercial DVD player. Using the installation sequence, all needed packages will be auto-installed (for Debian systems) before your first use (you need to be root to install). You may also create a DVD from avi / mpg files you may have on your hard drives. This can be either a single-part or multi-part burn. For example if you have 2 avi files which together make a full movie, you can add both of these and they will play seamlessly. You can also create a DVD with several small videos back-to-back. There will be no menus or special features. Only the main title will be included, and components will play back-to-back in succession without a gap.... read more

This app involves P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing, and has a nice GUI front end.
When using LimeWire or similar, you usually connect to only one protocol. With giFT, you can currently connect to four simultaneously:
OpenFT, Gnutella, FastTrack (aka Kazaa/Grokster) and Ares.
Note though, that the only currently available Ares plugin for Linux is a bit deprecated and won't connect too well at this point (it usually shows just 2 users).
Configuring giFT is a bit cryptic for most, plus two of the plugins (FastTrack and Ares) must be downloaded and installed manually from 3rd Party sites in Europe. This app automatically does all the configuration work, includes all 4 working codecs, and can launch 2 GUI front ends (giFTcurs & Apollon).
In addition, the front end for Gift Box lets you start / stop the daemon, has a list box showing your downloaded files, plays music or videos with the app of your choice, and clones the configs to any user name, among other tools. It will automatically enable the download sources, without any editing or pre-configuration. Installation / configuration is automatic and you will be able to connect from within the interface in just a few minutes, with a good internet connection.
Non-Linspire users need to run the Apollon fix in the Tools menu right after installation, to replace a custom .deb with the mainstream version.... read more

The second package for 2006, Package Aide for Debian, has been released. This is a GUI user-friendly app for managing packages on a Debian system. Screenshot available. Includes a quick-start desktop icon for KDE (separate file). Written in python/Tkinter. Not meant to replace more sophisticated tools such as Synaptic or the command line, but it provides an easy interface to get information and get things done, often with just a few clicks. Features include:
Downloading and installing debs with or without apt. Quite a few informational buttons which spawn an xterm with various information.
It can connect directly to an ftp server using the file manager, and you can drag .debs directly onto your hard drive in GUI mode. It also auto-researches package names on the Debian site. You can auto-pin a package on your system to your current version, to prevent it from being updated. Also acts as a front-end for several apt and dpkg commands (apt-get, dpkg remove/purge, etc.) You can edit your sources.list or pinning prefs directly from the app using KWrite or vi, auto-add sarge & marillat sources, choose an international mirror for ftp, etc., view/clean your apt-cache, add a debian CD as a source, dist-upgrade your system, etc. Hope you find it to be a useful tool, saving a lot of legwork and command-line chores.

The first new package for 2006, Backups for Linux, has been released. This is a GUI user-friendly app for backing up (and restoring) directories to/from DVD or CD. Screen shot available. Includes quick-start desktop icon for KDE (separate file). Written in python/Tkinter, should run on any Linux desktop.