Ogg's time has come -- again.
In an effort to rally support for the underdog media format, the Free Software Foundation has launched PlayOgg.org, a website promoting awareness of the Ogg format. It's an educational primer for playing Ogg Vorbis audio files and Ogg Theora video files on Mac and Windows desktops.
Supporters of open-source have long championed Ogg as a free software alternative to proprietary, licensed audio and video formats. Support for Ogg Vorbis audio has waxed and waned over the years since digital music hit the mainstream.
But with the launch of the FSF's web campaign, the time may be ripe for Ogg Vorbis to truly shine. According to Chris "Monty" Montgomery, creator of Ogg and founder of the Xiph.org Foundation which oversees Ogg's development, such big-name backing has been a long time coming.
"I've been wondering when they'd finally get around to it," he says. "I also suspect the position they're taking has more to do with patents than DRM, although the intersection of the two in the news might be what finally prompted them to act."
Recent developments, including Apple and Amazon's move into DRM-free music sales and Microsoft's threats to sue open-source software makers for patent infringement have rekindled the buzz around free and open formats. Wired News predicted a surge in interest around Ogg Vorbis following recent patent lawsuits over use of the MP3 format.
Unlike the more popular MP3 and AAC audio formats, Ogg Vorbis is free of licensing and patent restrictions, so anyone can code up a software player or hack together an Ogg-enabled hardware device without paying a fee to patent owners.
The FSF, one of the most powerful and vocal organizations in the open-source movement, is also hosting a mailing list and a web-media campaign at PlayOgg.org to generate discussion of the Ogg formats.
If you're new to Ogg, or even if you've never heard of it and you want to give it a chance, here are some recommendations and tips to help you make the move to open-source. These tips are primarily for Windows and Mac OS X users -- Linux users most likely have Ogg support built in to their machines (but you guys already knew that).
Software Players
PlayOgg.org has a set of instructions for installing the VideoLAN project VLC Media Player. This is the best choice. VLC is an open-source application that runs on every major operating system, and it comes with a Firefox plug-in for streaming Ogg video and audio files directly to the browser. Follow the instructions on the FSF site and restart your browser to activate the Firefox plug-in.
If you want to try other options, there are some alternatives out there. Windows users can play back Ogg Vorbis files on the desktop using WinAmp. Mac users should check out NicePlayer or Cog. Additionally, Xiph.org keeps a list of preferred apps.
Adding Ogg to iTunes
Of course, it would be nice if iTunes -- the application most of us use to listen to music -- played Ogg Vorbis files. Although Apple has had many opportunities to add Ogg support to its ubiquitous player, the company continues to favor only the MP3, AAC and Apple Lossless formats. However, if you're willing to get your mouse hand a little dirty, you can add Ogg playback capability to iTunes.
Xiph.org, keeper of the Ogg format, hosts a QuickTime Component package as a free download. Installing this component onto your computer will enable iTunes, iMovie and all of your QuickTime-based applications to play Ogg files. Installation instructions are included with the download packages, but here are some helpful tips.
Windows & Mac OS X users: QuickTime version 7 or later is required. Also, be sure to clear out any older Ogg Vorbis components you may have installed before copying this new XiphQT component to your hard drive.
Mac OS X users: Installing the XiphQT component file in your system's root library will enable everyone with a user account on your machine to play Ogg files. Putting the XiphQT component into just your own user directory's library means you'll be the only user capable of playing Ogg files on your computer. Also, try downloading the CD-ripping app Ogg Drop -- it comes with the components you'll need for iTunes playback.
Installing the XiphQT component only affords you the most basic playback functionality in iTunes. Visualizations, equalizer settings and iTunes' crossfader won't work. Simply put, this is a hack.
Ripping Oggs
For ripping music from a CD, Windows users have a long-running love affair with the freeware application Audiograbber. It rips to a number of different formats, including Ogg Vorbis. Andre Wiethoff's Exact Audio Copy does Ogg, and it has extra controls to prevent errors and diginoise, making it the app of choice among audiophiles.
On the Mac are two stand-out applications for generating Ogg files. Ogg Drop from No-U-Turn Software will rip a CD as Ogg Vorbis files. It will also install the components you need to play Oggs in iTunes (so you can skip the XiphQT installation). Stephen Booth's Max is an application that can rip as well as cross-encode. So if you want to go from MP3, FLAC or .wav to Ogg, Max can do it for you. It'll even dump your Oggs directly into your iTunes library, too.
Xiph.org has a list of software rippers for generating Ogg audio files. Most of these applications are free, and almost all of them can tag up your files by collecting all relevant artist, album and track-name metadata for you.
Hardware Players
If you're always taking your music to go, you'll want a hardware player that supports Ogg Vorbis out of the box. Xiph.org maintains a list of such devices. Of those, the most popular are the iAudio and the iRiver portables. Several of Samsung's players support Ogg as well. It's tough to go wrong with any of those picks.
Playing Oggs on an iPod
So what about the iPod? That's where things get tricky. You could wait for Apple to add native Ogg support to its player. Or you could wait for hell to freeze over.
"Every iPod in the country could offer Ogg support tomorrow if Apple wanted it," says Montgomery. "However, Apple is a member of MPEG, which owns and licenses all the patents on the mainstream formats (MP3 and AAC) and by adopting Ogg, they'd be cutting into their own license-revenue stream."
If you're willing to say goodbye to your iPod's soul, as you know it, you can add Ogg support yourself by installing Rockbox, an open-source firmware replacement. You'll get a whole new user interface that may prove jarring if you're an Apple devotee, but you'll also get support for Ogg, FLAC and SHN, among other formats.
Keep in mind that you'll zap your iPod's warranty along with its standard-issue software. Rockbox does let you run your iPod in dual-boot mode, however. Rockbox works on any 4-G iPod or later (including iPod Nano), as well as iRiver and Archos players.
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