32bit multimedia software on 64bit Linux?

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Florin Andrei wrote:
> One thing that kept me from using 64 bit Linux was multimedia.
>
> In order to play certain proprietary media formats, one method was to 
> use Xine or Mplayer and drop a collection of Windows DLLs (codecs) in 
> /usr/lib/win32 which Xine/Mplayer were able to use to decode those formats.
> Obviously, that won't work on a 64 bit Linux OS - in that case, one 
> technique that I've seen was to install the 32 bit versions of Xine or 
> Mplayer, along with all the 32 bit libraries needed by those 
> applications, then use the 32 bit versions of the players, along with 
> the Win32 codecs, to play the proprietary formats.
>
> Also, 64 bit Flash is still not available. I've seen the same technique 
> used to work around this problem: install 32 bit Firefox along with all 
> the necessary 32 bit libraries, then install the 32 bit Flash.
>
> I just tested 32 bit Ubuntu 7.04 on an AMD64 system and it works fine, 
> including multimedia. If I install the 64 bit version instead of the 
> current one, what do I have to do to make sure I'll be able to play all 
> the multimedia content that the current 32 bit OS is able to play? It's 
> mostly 3 types of content that I'm worried about:
>
> 1. Proprietary media files such as WMV, QuickTime, Real Video
> 2. Flash
> 3. Java applets (OK, this is not strictly "multimedia" but it matters to 
> me and it's in the same 32-vs-64 bit conundrum)
>
> I think there is a 64 bit version of Java that might work fine (although 
> I never tried it until now), but I'm not sure about #1 and #2.
>
>   
Hi - I use Kubuntu 7.04 64 on AMD64, and the multimedia situation is
much better in Feisty. Most things open in mplayer or xine. I also use
kaffeine for a USB TV. But if in doubt VLC always opens things. The one
area I have had problems is Real Media. But most site (abc.net.au for
example) offer two formats.

Java seems good, the one area I can not get it to work I think is
related to the vendor, not Ubuntu, and that is jberry network connect. 
That works "sometimes" with my 32bit machine - never with my 64bit.

Gerard