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One of the things I like to do is watching videos on the Internet inside my browser. Doing so on Unix systems is not complicated and only requires a plugin. In this tutorial we will learn how to do it on CentOS with Gnome and Firefox.

In order to watch streaming videos on the Internet in Firefox, you need to install the MPlayer plugin and the codecs:

1. In your terminal, issue the following command to install the MPlayer plugin:

$ su -
# yum install mplayerplug-in

2. Download the codecs, save them on your desktop and extract them into the codecs directory:

# tar xvjpf Desktop/essential-20060611.tar.bz2 -C /usr/lib/win32/
# cd /usr/lib/win32/
# mv essential-20060611/* . && rm -fr essential-20060611

3. Double-check your codecs are in your codecs directory:

# ls /usr/lib/win32/
acelpdec.ax          iac25_32.ax     msms001.vwp                  tvqdec.dll       vssh264.dll
alf2cd.acm           icmw_32.dll     msscds32.ax                  VDODEC32.dll     vsshdsd.dll
aslcodec_dshow.dll   imc32.acm       nsrt2432.acm                 vdowave.drv      vsslight.dll
atrac3.acm           ir41_32.dll     qpeg32.dll                   vid_3ivX.xa      vsswlt.dll
atrc.so.6.0          ir50_32.dll     qtmlClient.dll               ViVD2.dll        wma9dmod.dll
AvidQTAVUICodec.qtx  ivvideo.dll     QuickTimeEssentials.qtx      vivog723.acm     wmadmod.dll
BeHereiVideo.qtx     jp2avi.dll      QuickTimeInternetExtras.qtx  vmnc.dll         wmsdmod.dll
CLRVIDDC.DLL         LCMW2.dll       QuickTime.qts                voxmsdec.ax      wmspdmod.dll
clrviddd.dll         LCODCCMW2E.dll  README                       vp4vfw.dll       wmv9dmod.dll
cook.so              lhacm.acm       rt32dcmp.dll                 vp5vfw.dll       wmvadvd.dll
CtWbJpg.DLL          lsvxdec.dll     sipr.so.6.0                  vp6vfw.dll       wmvdmod.dll
DECVW_32.DLL         m3jp2k32.dll    tm20dec.ax                   vp7vfw.dll       wnvwinx.dll
drvc.so              mi-sc4.acm      tokf.so.6.0                  vssh264core.dll  wvc1dmod.dll
dspr.so.6.0          msh261.drv      tokr.so.6.0                  vssh264dec.dll

4. Done! Now you can watch any wmv (windows media video), avi, mpg, asf or qt video. Just close and reopen Firefox and enjoy yourself!