Misses the point
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| swbrown Apr 04, 2006 7:40 PM EDT |
He treats the lack of proprietary codecs as basically a bug rather than realizing it's an advocacy issue. Don't whine about the world not using Free codecs and try and find a way around it, fix the world instead. Tools supporting creation of content with Free codecs need to be supplied to those that are actually creating the content. That means, for example, getting video editors on Windows that support Theora into the hands of those that make videos, getting the Xiph codec bundle installed on their systems, and getting them Fluendo's Java player so they can easily share their content by simply dumping it on a web page. Free Software can make it easier, which will lead to content being created in Free formats. |
| cjcox Apr 05, 2006 6:34 AM EDT |
Sadly, the world still evaluates multi-media in terms of Microsoft supported codecs. I am impressed by the number Ogg-Vorbis handling devices now though. And the fact that almost every review of portable audio devices tends to mark down devices that do NOT support Ogg-Vorbis. So maybe some gains are being made. |
| number6x Apr 05, 2006 7:31 AM EDT |
I believe the industry, having dealt with jpeg and gif patents, and seeing the effects patents have had on RIM/blackberry, is starting to wake up to the realization that patents are killers of profitablility. Ogg and png are attractive because they have been designed to be free of patent infringement. The new enhancements to gpl v3 is also designed to ensure that users of software licensed under v3 will be assured of greater protection from patent infringement. Right now every copy of gpl'ed software is a licensed copy. That's a great way to fight software piracy and copyright infringement. If the proprietary vendors keep up their patent shenanigans, more users will be forced to turn to free software to protect themselves and their businesses from possible disruption and financial losses. Patents are regulatory mechanisms. The corporations that embraced them wholeheartedly in the 1990's are starting to realize the Pandora's box they opened. Unfortunately, some corporations still believe they will gain more in the damage done to their competitors, than they lose in damage done to themselves. They think they can control the hornets in the nest they found. These corporations have not considered all of the factors. They are not counting on the submarine patent houses that have no competing products. They exist only to extract settlements through lawsuits. They will drain even the largest corporations dry, unless the patent madness is stopped. |
| grouch Apr 05, 2006 5:02 PM EDT |
number6x: Excellent, concise summation! The patent madness does appear to be enlightening some people about the advantages of open, unencumbered standards. At least there is _some_ benefit from it. |
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