how do I convert flac files to mp3 in gutsy

hello ian..
To enable all the software repositories do
Go to system --> Preferences --> Software sources
Under the Ubuntu software sources check all the available boxes (Note: just in case if you want 3rd party softwares check everything)
Now all the software repositories enabled, in ubuntu 7.10..
and type sudo apt-get update in a terminal (applications -> accessories -> terminal)
that should load all the repositories..
and then in a terminal type
sudo apt-get install soundconverter
For more info on enabling the repositories ref:
http://www.fsdaily.com/Beginners/How_to_enable_extra_repositories_in_Ubuntu_7-10_and_get_cool_stuff

Hope it helps

Bhavani Shankar.

A few notes:
ncoding to mp3 involves data loss. that's what mp3 is: a lossy codec (not to mention it's so old it should be considered obsolete and avoided).
but this is no way related to FLAC aka Free Lossless Audio Codec.
also a flac file is like a zipped wav you can listen to without having tu unpack it (as long as your audio player has flac support).
so if you are getting mp3s with a single channel even though flac files have two channels, there is no reason to worry...

Bhavani Shankar.

     Thanks Vojtech, and thanks Bhavani. Sound converter did what I wanted, which was to convert files to play in the mp3 player that came with my car. There's nothing more annoying than to have a large number of music files that you can't play.
                Thanks again, the people in the Ubuntu community are simply the best. The smartest thing I ever did was to switch to linux.
                          Ian

Thanks Vojtěch Trefný, that solved my question.

Hi, I'm trying to do the same, but something goes wrong. Running in terminal gives:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/soundconverter", line 2145, in on_convert_button_clicked
    self.do_convert()
  File "/usr/bin/soundconverter", line 2115, in do_convert
    self.converter.run()
  File "/usr/bin/soundconverter", line 514, in run
    self.setup()
  File "/usr/bin/soundconverter", line 633, in setup
    self.tasks[0].setup()
  File "/usr/bin/soundconverter", line 713, in setup
    self.play()
  File "/usr/bin/soundconverter", line 766, in play
    self.pipeline = gst.parse_launch(self.command)
gobject.GError: no element "MP3"

no matter which format I'm trying to convert to..