VLC 2.0 released but not for linux

Not actually true. From the comments on the linked page:

It’s available for Linux, just have a typo in the release URL on their website.

See: http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/2.0.0/vlc-2.0....

Took 2 minutes to figure that one out (If you look at the nightly snapshots, you’ll see they are all .xz).

Got it as soon as it landed in precise