Easy CD Burning in GNOME
The ability to burn CDs is one of those issues that often perplexes many new users (to any operating system). For Windows users it's about finding software to do the job. For OS X users it's about knowing where to add a burnlist. For Linux users it's just knowing that your operating system can in fact burn CDs (and what application does the job).
The good news is that burning CDs in Linux is very simple and doesn't require the addition of third-party software. Let's take a look at how to handle this job in a default GNOME 2.24.2 installation.
Where is the application?
http://www.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/gnome_burn_cd_menu1.png Menu Entry
In the latest GNOME there is an application for burning CDs but you don't really need to know where it is or what it is called. Why? If you click on the Places menu you will see an entry titled CD/DVD Creator.
Once you click on this entry a special Nautilus window will open that allows you to drag and drop files into the window for burning.
http://www.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/nautilus_burning.png The Burn Window
Once this new Nautilus window is open you can drag and drop files from other Nautilus windows. Once you have added the files and/or directories you want to burn onto CD you just have to insert a blank disk into your drive and then click the Write To Disk button in the burn window.
http://www.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/burn1.png Options
When you click Write To Disk you will then need select your device (if you have more than one), give the disk a name, select the write speed, and click Write.
A progress window will open during the writing of the disk. When the disk is complete the CD will eject and you're finished.
Simple!
Final Thoughts
One of the only downfalls to this system is you can not burn ISO images. For that you will want something like K3B (check out my gHacks article “Burn CD and DVD Images with K3B“). Other than that, the GNOME CD/DVD burn process is as simple as it gets.
The ability to burn CDs is one of those issues that often perplexes many new users (to any operating system). For Windows users it's about finding software to do the job. For OS X users it's about knowing where to add a burnlist. For Linux users it's just knowing that your operating system can in fact burn CDs (and what application does the job).
The good news is that burning CDs in Linux is very simple and doesn't require the addition of third-party software. Let's take a look at how to handle this job in a default GNOME 2.24.2 installation.
Where is the application?
http://www.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/gnome_burn_cd_menu1.png Menu Entry
In the latest GNOME there is an application for burning CDs but you don't really need to know where it is or what it is called. Why? If you click on the Places menu you will see an entry titled CD/DVD Creator.
Once you click on this entry a special Nautilus window will open that allows you to drag and drop files into the window for burning.
http://www.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/nautilus_burning.png The Burn Window
Once this new Nautilus window is open you can drag and drop files from other Nautilus windows. Once you have added the files and/or directories you want to burn onto CD you just have to insert a blank disk into your drive and then click the Write To Disk button in the burn window.
http://www.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/burn1.png Options
When you click Write To Disk you will then need select your device (if you have more than one), give the disk a name, select the write speed, and click Write.
A progress window will open during the writing of the disk. When the disk is complete the CD will eject and you're finished.
Simple!
Final Thoughts
One of the only downfalls to this system is you can not burn ISO images. For that you will want something like K3B (check out my gHacks article “Burn CD and DVD Images with K3B“). Other than that, the GNOME CD/DVD burn process is as simple as it gets.
