New Linux project

Somehow along the way, I have transitioned to a Linux user. I've owned Windows devices since the 1980s, Mac devices since 2007, and ChromeOS devices since 2013 or so. It's not like I didn't have, and use, other options.

Well, if you've been following along, I did a project where I built my own streaming device, and that involved a Raspberry Pi, which uses a form of Linux. I've used Linux before, but I didn't mention that because I haven't had a device running Linux continuously since that time back in the early 2000s. I had installed Linux on a device, but stopped using it, and I don't even know what eventually happened to it.

Anyway, that streaming project reignited my desire to have a working Linux device, and now I have a couple. My daily laptop -- the one on which I'm writing this -- is running Linux. And a desktop computer is running Linux as well.

But, not everything I do, do I do using Linux. For example, I have a large digital movie library with nearly 1800 movies. When I get a DVD, or more commonly, a digital movie purchase, I like to have a local copy for playing digitally on my local network. I can't do that with Linux.

That's not to say it can't be done, but rather that I have that capability on Windows and Mac -- both of which I also still have running -- and haven't bothered to find a Linux way of doing it. That's something I need to recitify.

So, here's my next project: find good quality Linux software that will allow me to rip out DVDs and digital movie purchases.

DVDs should not be a major problem. That's been done for years, and I expect the technology required is readily available in Linux.

Digital movie purchases may be another matter. Some movie purchases, most in fact, have some copy protecting software that stops piracy.

I understand the reasons for that, and I am opposed to piracy. People have a right to earn from their work, and piracy is simply stealing from them. I'm think piracy is wrong.

On the other hand, I only work with movies I have purchased, and do not distribute them. They are for my own personal use.

The problem is that most of the software that will accomplish this is easily available on Mac and Windows, but I haven't found any Linux software to do this. And that's my target.

I'm looking into free open source software (FOSS) that will allow me to convert both my DVDs and digital purchases into a format I can use for my own personal library.

While I can continue to uses Mac or Windows to convert my DVDs and digital purchases, my project is to accomplish this with Linux. That's the last major thing to overcome in order to complete a transition to Linux. Once that's done, I'll be able to do everything in Linux that I want to do.