This VFD is the one supplied with, for instance, the D-Vine Home Theater PC MCE-301.
It has a parallel connector, but once you’ve connected it, it will be automatically recognized by Ubuntu/Linux.

I assume Rhythmbox and Ubuntu are already installed.

1. Get lcdproc: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lcdproc/files/
(perhaps “sudo apt-get install lcdproc” works as well, but I compiled from source)
2. Compile it, ./configure –enable-drivers=hd44780
3. Make/Install it: make; sudo make install
4. Configure LCDd.conf:

LCDd.conf

# LCDd.conf
#
# This file contains the configuration for the LCDd server.
# 

[server]
Driver=hd44780
DriverPath=/usr/lib/lcdproc/

#
# Tells the server to load the given drivers. Multiple lines can be given.
# NOTE: You may activate several input (input only) drivers but only ONE output
#       driver, which should be the first.

Bind=127.0.0.1
# Tells the driver to bind to the given interface

Port=13666
# Listen on this specified port; defaults to 13666.

#ReportLevel=5
# Sets the reporting level; defaults to 2 (warnings and errors only).

ReportToSyslog=no
# Should we report to syslog instead of stderr ? Default: no

WaitTime=5
# Sets the default time in seconds to displays a screen.

User=nobody
# User to run as.  LCDd will drop its root priviledges,
# if any, and run as this user instead.

ServerScreen=no
# Enables the built-in server screen [Default: no]
# yes      : always,
# no       : when there are no other screens active.

Foreground=no
# The server will stay in the foreground if set to true.
# Otherwise the server will fork to background and report
# to syslog

# TIP: The following options can also be modified from the
#      server menu (which requires a driver that supports input)

Heartbeat=off
# The server has serveral heartbeat modes
#   on    Stays on all the time
#   off   Stays off all the time
#   slash Rotating slash all the time
#   open  Can be controlled by all clients

InitialHeartbeat=on
# This sets the initial heartbeat state if the heartbeat mode is "open"
# Affects the server screen only 
#   on    Heartbeat activated
#   off   Heartbeat disabled
#   slash Heartbeat replaced with a rotating slash

Backlight=open
# The server has serveral backlight modes
#   on    Stays on all the time
#   off   Stays off all the time
#   open  Can be controlled by all clients

InitialBacklight=on
# This sets the initial backlight state if the backlight mode is "open"
# Affects the server screen only  

BacklightBrightness=255
# This sets the backlight brightness in state "on"
# NOTE: Not all drivers/devices support setting the brightness this
#       way. Some don't support switching the backlight on/off at all,
#       some can switch the backlight on or off only. If the latter is
#       the case BacklightBrightness must be > 0.

BacklightOffBrightness=0
# This sets the backlight brightness in state "off"
# NOTE: Not all drivers/devices support setting the brightness this
#       way. Some don't support switching the backlight on/off at all,
#       some can switch the backlight on or off only. If the latter is
#       the case BacklightBrightness must be = 0.

[input]
# Input section with settings that are related to input handling
# NOTE: Not all drivers have input functionality

# keypad settings
# Keyname      Function
#              Normal context              Menu context
# -------      --------------              ------------
#
# PauseKey     Pause/Continue              Enter/select
# BackKey      Back(Go to previous screen) Up/Left
# ForwardKey   Forward(Go to next screen)  Down/Right
# MainMenuKey  Open main menu              Exit/Cancel

#FreePauseKey=yes
# If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the PauseKey itself

#FreeBackKey=yes
# If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the BackKey itself

#FreeForwardKey=yes
# If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the ForwardKey itself

#FreeMainMenuKey=no
# If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the MainMenuKey itself
# TIP: Even if you "free" the above keys, you can still use the menu
#      provided you set FreeMainMenuKey=no

# Driver sections are below this line, in alphabetical order

[HD44780]
# Hitachi HD44780 driver
# See docs/hd44780_howto.txt
DriverPath=/usr/lib/lcdproc/

Port=0x378
# Port where the LPT is. Usual values are 0x278, 0x378 and 0x3BC

#ConnectionType=4bit
ConnectionType=winamp
# Select what type of connection. See documentation for types.

Keypad=no
# If you have a keypad connected. Keypad layout is currently not
# configureable from the config file.

Backlight=no
# If you have a switchable backlight.

Size=16x2
# Specifies the size of the LCD.
# In case of multiple combined displays, this should be the total size.

#vspan=1,2
# For multiple displays: at what 'logical' lines do the individual displays
# start.

#extended=yes
# If you want to use more than 3 HD44780 controllers on the LPT, you need to
# specify this. See documentation.

#DelayMult=2
# If your display is slow and cannot keep up with the flow of data from
# LCDd, garbage can appear on the LCDd. Set this delay factor to 2 or 4
# to increase the delays. Default: 1.

DelayBus=true
# You can reduce the inserted delays by setting this to false.
# On fast PCs it is possible your LCD does not respond correctly.
# Default: true.

#Device=/dev/ttyS0
# For PIC-an-LCD connection type only: the serial device to which the LCD
# is connected. Default: /dev/lcd

5. Start it: sudo /etc/init.d/LCDd start

Now you should see some message sort of client/server on the display.

6. You can test it, for instance with this little perl program (test.pl) :

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# vim: set sw=4 ts=4 et:
# lcddate.pl - display time and day on an external LCD display
# Copyright GPL  2005, Guido Socher
use IO::Socket;
use Fcntl;
use strict;
#
my $remote = IO::Socket::INET->new(
 Proto     => "tcp",
 PeerAddr  => "localhost",
 PeerPort  => 13666)|| die "Cannot connect to LCDd\n";
$remote->autoflush(1);
sleep 1; # give the server time to notice us...
print $remote "hello\n";
# we must read the response even if we ignore it:
my $lcdresponse = <$remote>;
# Turn off blocking mode...
fcntl($remote, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK);
# Set up some screen widgets...
print $remote "client_set name lcdtime\n";
print $remote "screen_add scr1\n";
print $remote "widget_add scr1 str1 string\n";
#gsk:
print $remote "widget_add scr1 str2 string\n";
#
my $date;
my @ltime;
while(1)
{
 $lcdresponse = <$remote>;
 #$date = scalar localtime; # this is 24 char long. The following is bettter:
 @ltime = localtime;
 #return a date in yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm format
 $date = sprintf("%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d",
 1900+$ltime[5],$ltime[4]+1,$ltime[3],$ltime[2],$ltime[1],$ltime[0]);
 print $remote "widget_set scr1 str1 1 1 \"$date\"\n";
 print $remote "widget_set scr1 str2 1 2 \"Yes it works!\"\n";
 sleep 10;
}

7. If you want Rhythmbox to display your current song/artist, follow the instructions here: http://locoudev.0fees.net/