Fixing non-UTF8 characters in file names
I have ripped some of the CD’s I own to mp3 files, which I play on both Linux and Windows. It happens that many of the artists I like (such as Björk) have non-ascii characters in their names and hence in the corresponding filenames. On Windows, these tend to be encoded in the platform default IS0-8859-1 encoding (at least on a UK-locale Windows install). When these files are copied across to my FC3 system, Nautilus complains of illegal UTF8 characters, and some programs — such as the otherwise excellent xmms — choke. I wouldn’t be posting this unless I’d found a solution, and I have in the form of convmv, “convert filenames to utf8 or any other charset”. And it does too. Recommended.