How to determine which codec a video is encoded in

[Olivier Nicole]

> I have some video files that I need to know what codec is used to
> decode them. I know that the Windows software G-spot will help, is

Have you tried the command file(1)?

# file les-tontons-flingueurs.avi 
les-tontons-flingueurs.avi: RIFF (little-endian) data, AVI, 672 x 400, 25.00 fps, video: XviD, audio: MPEG-1 Layer 3 (stereo, 48000 Hz)

Olivier