DVD:Rip for Linux is a perfect free ripping solution, provided you have the w32/w64 DVD codecs and libdvdcss installed. It can rip even new discs to xvid/divx/mpeg/etc and the output files are good quality.
I use WMP11 to play audio and video in Windows, VLC to play audio and video in Linux, I like both of those programs, but would like something similar to WMP11 for Linux, integrating a good video/audio player with a good library and some visualizations and audio enhancements.