I want to convert a large number of mp3s

I'm not sure if this is possible, much less how to go about it; so I'm going to ask here.

I just installed ubuntu and because of corporate bullshit they don't include any support for playing dvds or mp3s. I managed to get it to work, but it makes me realise that in the future it might not be as easy to deal with mp3s so it might be best to switch to something like ogg which is somewhat guarenteed to be playable for a while.

I have about 8 gigs of mp3 and wma files I'd like to convert over to ogg; is this possible? Is there a way (preferably in linux) to automate it so I don't end up with foo.mp3.ogg (which would happen by running a shell script like" for x in *.[M,m]??; do conversion_program $x $x.ogg;done") ?

Is this too much to ask for?

Is there a way?  Yes.  If worse comes to worse, you could always convert it to raw audio or to redbook audio on a CD, then rip it back into ogg with your favorite encoder.

Do I know the way?  No.  I'm perfectly happy with my MP3s, and have been since they were MP2s.  :)

>>1
I wouldn't do that, not that I dislike OGG (in fact I always use it when I can), but you'll lose quality in the conversion (unless you make the files huge, and you'd still lose something and gain artifacts). Better use a good OS with support for all audio formats in a standard way that works with any player.

What >>3 said.

Repeat after me: converting from one lossy format to another is retarded.

Really retarded.

Got that?

uhh, just open the update manager(system>administration on the top gnome menu's), hit edit on the "ubuntu hoary" or breezy or whatever you have installed, and check the boxes to add the universe and multiverse repositories(might be called "non free" and "community maintained").

then open synaptic(once again, administration) and search for xmms, or whatever music blasting program you like(amaroK?), then search for mpeg and mark for installation EVERYTHING that mentions mpeg layer 3 or mp3(including the gstreamer stuff and the xine stuff, trust me, youll need it)

now, open xmms and drag your mp3 in. winrar. as for how to convert, xmms can do that too. just add all the songs you want converted to a playlist, set it to output to file in prefrences with your file type of choice(might have to install some ogg libraries, never tried it). and give it 10 minutes or so.

now isn't linux fuuuun kids?