Back to basics of DVD backup

I came across an old but reliable way to convert vob files from my DVD backup.
I just use:

cat movie.vob > moviebackup.avi

Then any other conversion needed can be done from there.

Arch linux experience

Well, it's been about 4 months, and I'm still using Arch Linux.  It has a great learning experience about what Linux users take for granted in other easier distributions of Linux. The actual install time was pretty quick, but a few days to do a fairly complete setup, thanks to the Arch Wiki, which proved to be an invaluable resource.  I also dual-boot with Linux Mint 9, and as soon as Linux Mint 10 is stable, I plan to upgrade to it.  I have used Fedora in the past and also Ubuntu, but have recently started to disagree with Ubuntu's move away from standard Gnome features.  Fedora is coming along well, but I have yet to find out how it handles restricted formats (I have it installed in a VM) as freed formats are the basis for this distro, according to the Fedora home page.