summary
To almost quote Wikipedia, ripping is the process of copying input audio or video content (typically from an optical disc such as a CD or DVD) and outputting to a "normal" storage filesystem. Ripping is typically more difficult than simple file copying (as when copying files from a flash drive or external hard drive) in that
the source content (i.e., the audio or video (or both) on the optical disc) typically is not formatted like data in a "normal" filesystem.
the source content is often encrypted (e.g., with CSS)
writing output audio and video files may require particular codecs.
the user may want to include metadata (aka tags, e.g., artist name, work title, release date) in the output. This metadata will typically require some format, e.g., ID3.
Hence ripping audio or video involves at least 3 separate problems:
- reading the optical disc
- writing to the desired output format
gathering (or ?authoring) metadata
Fortunately we Debian users have access to many services and software packages to assist us with these problems.
ripping audio CDs
ripping audio CDs with abcde
TODO!
ripping video DVDs
TODO!