The Recovering Choir Director

[Update: Here is an alternate link to the Internet broadcast.]

After minimal trial and error, I was able to make the Choral Treasure Internet broadcast of Gregorian chant and sacred music fully functional on my Dell Inspiron B130 laptop running Ubuntu Linux 7.10, connected via Ethernet (not wireless). Hopefully other casual Linux users find this brief guide helpful.

You only need to do this following installation once.

1. Download RealPlayer 10 for Linux. Save to your Desktop folder.
2. Open a terminal window (Start > Accessories > Terminal).
3. Type cd Desktop (case-sensitive). Press {Enter}.
4. Type sudo chmod a+x RealPlayer10GOLD.bin (case-sensitive). Press {Enter}.
5. Type in your password at the prompt. Press {Enter}.
6. Press {Enter} at the initial prompt.
7. When prompted to enter your directory, type /usr/bin/share/RealPlayer (case-sensitive) or a directory of your choice. Press {Enter}.
8. Type F and press {Enter} to confirm the desired installation directory.

You will need to execute the following procedure once (exactly or similarly) for every browser you use. Below is the procedure for Firefox; The procedure for Opera is similar.

1. Open the Web browser of your choice. Navigate to http://www.choraltreasure.org/ and click “Listen to Choral Treasure”.
2. Your browser will request a helper application. The default selection is Rhythmbox. Choose another application by selecting “Other…”
3. In the window that appears, click on File System on the left sidebar.
4. Double click the usr folder to open it.
5. Double click the share folder.
6. Double-click the RealPlayer folder.
7. Select the file realplay and press the {Open} button at the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
8. Finally, check the box “Do this automatically for files like this from now on.” Press {OK}.

A pop-up window will open that specifies the track being played; a separate window for RealPlayer will also open. Feel free to minimize one or both of them. Note that the RealPlayer volume control may be non-functional; if this is the case, use the master volume control instead.

Now you can have your sacred music fix and your free software fix simultaneously.