How to do a lot of stuff in Linux

Main Page - Automatix Wiki

Automatix installs everything your Linux distro didn't come with but should have. 

Even Ubuntu/Kubuntu is missing a lot of stuff.  Some of it is because of legal issues (like DVD decoding), some of it is because Ubuntu only distributes free software and some programs are "nonfree."  (You don't have to pay for them, but they have their own licenses and they're not open source.)

Automatix is controversial because according to the Ubuntu support forum it causes a lot of problems.  It wasn't originally designed for Ubuntu, and it was unclear what was being installed/changed, which made support much more difficult.  But the Automatix guys claim that's not true any more; you can get a version made specifically for Ubuntu/Kubuntu, it's easy to uninstall, and it's very clear what changes are being made.

The main reason I installed it was for better multimedia support.  Since running it, I can view Windows Media and Quicktime videos.  Flash movies in Firefox work with sound every time now.

Automatix installs a bunch of other useful/fun software too, like Google Earth and Picasa.  I already installed these on my own, but Automatix could have saved me some time if I'd run it first.