NeroLinux vs. K3b 283
An anonymous reader writes "Flexbeta.net compares NeroLinux to K3b under Fedora Core 3. The review notices how NeroLinux does nothing with the eye candy while K3b's GUI is no comparison to NeroLinux. The article also mentions how cumbersome it is to navigate through NeroLinux, also taking note of how long each application takes to accomplish burning tasks."
Re:NeroLinux ? (Score:5, Informative)
--Ender
Image writing (Score:4, Informative)
NeroLinux completed the image in 9 seconds. The file name was saved as music.iso, which I had to add the file extension manually, though it was by default set to
Isn't the NRG image format different to ISO, and therefore just renaming the created image just like renaming a jpeg image to GIF?
The burning software may assume the format from the data, but that sounds like bad practice, and definately not advisable.
So, my question, does NeroLinux create true ISO images?
Re:NeroLinux ? (Score:1, Informative)
Long story short.... (Score:5, Informative)
K3B - more options, better GUI, either same speed or slower by a few secs.
Winner - K3B
Conclusion
Author has no idea why Nero wants users to buy the Windows version so they can use NeroLinux - bad decision because K3B is much better and learning NeroLinux is not worth the time and the money.
Before the site gets burned...too late (Score:5, Informative)
Posted by Gsurface on 15 Mar 2005 - 18:53 Introduction
This week Ahead Nero introduced a Linux version of their popular CD burning application dubbed NeroLinux. NeroLinux promises to bring the great features found in the Windows version to the Linux domain. Though the Windows version of Nero is loved by many, how well does NeroLinux stack up against already existing CD Burning applications such as K3b? K3b's user interface is neat and full of eye candy, while Nero leans towards a more standard look; leaving aside looks for functionality. Though NeroLinux is "free" of cost, users still need to purchase version of Nero 6 for Windows to download NeroLinux. NeroLinux is provided as RPM or Debian package where as K3b is completely free and provides multiple Linux installation packages.
The test machine used for this review consists of the following:
Fedora Core 3
Abit Guru AV8 Chipset
AMD Athlon64 3500
1GB DDR 3200 RAM
Sony CD-RW Drive
Pioneer DVD-RW
Look and Feel
Look and Feel
No doubt about it, K3b offers a more pleasing look by using more eye candy than NeroLinux. Navigating into the preferences of each application, we can see how K3b's user interface is much cleaner and easier to navigate. The options in K3b are aligned as icons on the left hand side of the window, making each task recognizable. NeroLinux preferences window shows each section as tabs on the upper side. Though NeroLinux's GUI is simple, the preferences are still easy to navigate.
K3b Preferences and NeroLinux Preferences
K3b's main window presents the user with multiple CD burning scenarios to choose from including Audio CD Project, Data CD Project, DVD Data Project and CD Copying; getting straight to the point by presenting to the user its abilities. NeroLinux however, does not present the user with any type of wizard or options as far as what the user wishes to do. The user is simply presented with the main window to drag and drop files. The Windows version of Nero presents the user with a window of options as to what the user wishes to do: burn a data CD, music CD and so on. Why NeroLinux was not giving this same capability as the Windows version may have been because this is just the first release of NeroLinux. The fact that K3b presents the user with the options noted earlier makes it much easier to navigate than NeroLinux.
K3b Main Window, NeroLinux Main Window and Nero 6 Main Window
Features
Features
Both K3b and NeroLinux are able to handle both CD-R media and DVD media. K3b goes beyond your regular CD Burning suite by bundling a video encoding feature. K3b lets you rip a DVD movie and convert it into an AVI file for burning on regular CD-R media. NeroLinux does not include any type of video encoding feature. Under the burning properties section of K3b, the typical options are found such as the ability to simulate a recording session, write on the fly, create an image of the compilation only, and the ability to verify the written data; which most of the times is recommended. K3b also allows for multisessions, which means you can keep adding files to the same CD at a later time. NeroLinux's burning option also features the ability to simulate a recording session as well as verifying the written data on the disc. Other options such as creating a bootable disc and the option to finalize a disc are available on NeroLinux.
K3b and NeroLinux Burning Options
Both NeroLinux and K3b allow for burning an image of a CD, however, K3b's user interface is much neater and presents the user with more useful options than NeroLinux. K3b options allow for burning multiple copies of the image, setting the speed at which to burn the image and the ability to verify the written data. Though NeroLinux allows for these settings also, they are not presented to the user within the same window such as K3b.
Re:MirrorDot (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.flexbeta.net.nyud.net:8090/main/printa
K3b on Windows? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:NeroLinux ? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:K3b on Windows? (Score:4, Informative)
This will change with the new Qt 4.0 and KDE 4.0 which is based on it. Qt4 will come with a full GPL version for windows.
Re:Long story short.... (Score:2, Informative)
Several people trying the NeroLinux beta reported of multiple ruined cds... when was the last time this happened using native linux tools?
Years ago, I'd guess.
If that's the quality of the fabled NeroAPI I think I'll just stay with cdrecord, thank you...
Re:Long story short.... (Score:1, Informative)
If it worked flawlessly like Nero on Windows does it is worth some money to spare me a whole KDE just to use k3b.
k3b doesn't need 'a whole KDE', just kdelibs and kdebase.
Re:Not a very objective review? (Score:4, Informative)
FUD, of course it works without SCSI emulation. I would say right now is already a requirement.
> Also nero's licencing may be strange,
Comparing to k3b, of course, the last is free software.
> Also a lot of software is almost not available for linux
Off-topic in the Nero/k3b on GNU/Linux issue. You cannot have k3b in Windows, neither kd3, or amarok, lot of software. So, I don't understant you point.
Re:Long story short.... (Score:5, Informative)
But the fact is that nero, unlike the open source burning tools on linux, works no matter what.
Is that a fact? Have any evidence? Because what you say makes no sense. Unless Nero bypasses the operating system somehow, it has to use the same Linux APIs that k3b et al have to use, and the problems people have with burners are related to the OS-level configuration -- device nodes, permissiones, etc. (well, I suppose some may have problems because they installed k3b but omitted cdrecord, but that's the distro's fault; decent distros do automatic dependency management).
And it takes advantage of features your burner may have if say, its a fancy plextor.
Like what? I may be out of touch here, but the last significant innovation I know of in burner APIs is Burnproof, and k3b etc. support that just fine.
Like mastering and burning video DVDs, in linux there is no easy tool.
And with NeroLinux there is still no easy tool, because NeroLinux doesn't do DVD mastering. k3b burns DVDs just as well as NeroLinux does (k3b also doesn't do mastering).
Neros advantage is that it works, period. If you think that k3b works period with a full featureset on all hardware then feel free to peruse any distro mailing lists and forums for people who can't get burning to work. Especially of DVDs.
Well, if you RTFA, you'll see that the author had trouble getting Nero to work on his hardware, whereas k3b worked, period.
In summary: None of your arguments hold water. Got any others?
Re:Image writing (Score:3, Informative)
My opinions (Score:3, Informative)
NeroLinux: I tried Nero for Windows, and it didn't like my CD burner, so I can't imagine it will be any better for Linux, if not far worse. It also costs more money than I feel like paying
mkisofs+cdrecord: Ah, the perfect combination of tools to make a data CD. I have never had the urge to burn data CDs with anything else (I only tried k3b for audio cds).
vcdimager+cdrdao: After getting the video in the correct format, these two tools make quick work of burning a VCD. And even the encoding is easy once you figure out what tool to use.
cdrecord for music: It works. It's a pain in the ass if you want to get everything in the right order, or if you want custom pregaps, but it works.
cdrdao for music: I have a suspicion that cdrdao is a very powerful tool, but the syntax boggles me. Someday I'm planning to figure it out enough that I can write a program to generate the CUE file for me. On second thought, there's probably already a program that does that.
So, in conclusion, if you like GUI, NeroLinux might be an option, but it probably suffers like K3B when it comes to support. For power-users, it will probably not stand up to the power of the command line.
Mastering video DVDs under linux IS easy (Score:5, Informative)
And with NeroLinux there is still no easy tool, because NeroLinux doesn't do DVD mastering. k3b burns DVDs just as well as NeroLinux does (k3b also doesn't do mastering).
Excellent points, but I take issue with the statement "there is still no easy tool."
I use qdvdauthor, which is quite intuitive, for mastering video DVDs. I put together a DVD of my grandmother's memorial service for the family, complete with fancy menus and all the usual bells and whistles. It was quite easy, and k3b burned the resulting
Is it an all in one monolithic solution? Thankfully, no, and as far as I'm concerned, I hope people who do want to bring the windoze notion of one program doing a mediocre job at everything stay the hell away from *BSD and Linux. I like simple programs that do a focused task well. It means the programs are better, more reliable, and more easy for the developers to maintain, which means I get better software. For burning DVDs under Linux from your camcorder, for example, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3
1) use kino to import video data from the camera into dv2 format
2) use qdvdauthor to master the dvd
3) use k3b to burn the DVD
each program does what it does very well, none are monolothic, and if something better comes along for any of the steps above I can substitute the new, better tool, without losing the features I'm used to or prefer in the other two steps.
Nero is dead. These people should have done a little market research before trying to sell a product that, when it matures, won't do any more than the libre software already available does just fine, k3b being just one example.
Re:Image writing (Score:5, Informative)
#!/bin/bash
#
# Convert Nero
error()
{
echo "${@}" >&2
exit 1
}
INPUT="${1}"; OUTPUT="${2}"
[ -z "${OUTPUT}" ] && OUTPUT="${INPUT%.*}.iso"
[ ${#} -ne 1 -a ${#} -ne 2 ] &&
error "Usage: $(basename ${0}) file.nrg [file.iso]"
[ ! -e "${INPUT}" ] && error "${INPUT}: file does not exist"
[ ! -s "${INPUT}" ] && error "${INPUT}: file is null"
TYPE=$(file -b "${INPUT}"); TYPE="${TYPE%% *}"
[ "${TYPE}" = "ISO" ] && error "${INPUT}: file is already in
[ "${TYPE}" != "data" ] && error "${INPUT}: file is not in
dd if="${INPUT}" of="${OUTPUT}" bs=1024 skip=300
Re:Image writing (Score:5, Informative)
If you create a multisession/CD-EXTRA style
Lastly, if it's an audio CD, calling the
Disclaimer:
I write cd burning software professionally. I have the official phillips/sony cd specs right in front of me, and have used the NeroAPI, Primo HPCDE and Goldenhawk extensively.
Easy way to make ISO (Score:4, Informative)
$cat
Re:Image writing (Score:5, Informative)
Re:NeroLinux vs K3B (Score:2, Informative)
Yes. In 0.11.20, you have the option to make a clone copy (i.e., a raw bit-for-bit copy) of a CD. K3b recommends using this option to copy (S)VCDs.
Re:why I prefer K3b (Score:1, Informative)