The main problem has changed. The main problem used to be that there simply wasn't good Free Software for what people wanted to do.
Now the main problem is that key elements of what people want to do are blocked by software patents and other legal stuff. People want to play MP3s, but can't because MP3 is not a Free codec. People want to watch DVDs, but can't because any Free Software DVD player program is classified as a "circumvention device" (and is therefore illegal) under US and Australian copyright law.
We've made progress. Software exists for doing everything we want to do, now we just need to get the laws changed so that we can use that software.
The main problem has changed. The main problem used to be that there simply wasn't good Free Software for what people wanted to do.
Now the main problem is that key elements of what people want to do are blocked by software patents and other legal stuff. People want to play MP3s, but can't because MP3 is not a Free codec. People want to watch DVDs, but can't because any Free Software DVD player program is classified as a "circumvention device" (and is therefore illegal) under US and Australian copyright l
To paraphrase a great man: First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they outlaw you, then you win.
One great man, one worthy movement. Now consider the thousands of worthy movements that do die at any one of those stages. Inspirational quote meet reality.
Well obviously winning requires commitment, hard work, and smarts.
But it's doable.
We can't afford to let up on the legal front for a moment.
But we also need to recognise that front is going to be a long, tough fight, and wherever possible we should play to our strengths and circumvent it technologically.
The next Winamp needs to be an FOSS application that supports Ogg, and uses it by default. That's the best way around.mp3 problems.
Dvds, of course, are going to be harder. I don't see a technical
Problem with MP3 is that it's already so ingrained not only in computers but on all sorts of hardware out there. I know ogg is a better format than MP3, even without the patents thing it's smaller while keeping simmilar sound quality. Yet all of my music collection is in MP3 (and any new CD I buy gets ripped to MP3), mainly because I have two MP3 players (cheap MP3 diskman and cheap flash based one), my DVD player already plays MP3s too, and the big stereo in the living room also plays MP3s. None plays oggs
There are ogg players out there, but I've never seen one here in Venezuela, so I keep everything in MP3 so I don't have to go converting whenever I want it on a different format.
Don't feel bad - AFAIK, I've never seen one here in the US, either, although I suppose I could find one if I cared. But then again, why would I want to re-rip everything in a format I can't use, or worse-yet, transcode it, making the result sound like complete crap?
Unless you're willing to put up with WMA or AAC DRM, MP3 is really
What stops a Linux software company from licensing MP3 or the DVD decoder? Nothing. Why haven't any Linux companies done it? Well, one has-- Linspire. Just a few days ago there was an article about how "non-Linux" Linspire is because, God forbid, they're trying to make Linux easy-to-use!
Because if you have to license a patent, then it stops being Free Software. One of the four freedoms states that you have to be able to redistribute the code. If the person you redistribute it to needs to then buy a patent license, then it is not Free Software.
Here in the EU, software patents are still illegal and so we can redistribute things like MP3 implementations without any problems. If this is not the case in your jurisdiction then I strongly suggest that you contact your elected representatives
"Here in the EU, software patents are still illegal and so we can redistribute things like MP3 implementations without any problems."
Well, they're of dubious legality.
As Prof. Noveck has pointed out in her Peer to Patent project, there is no prospect, politically, of getting rid of software patents in the US. Patent system administrators and policy makers don't listen to economists any more than Creationists listen to biologists and the situation is made even worse when profound economic policy changes
What stops a Linux software company from licensing MP3 or the DVD decoder? Nothing. Why haven't any Linux companies done it? Well, one has-- Linspire.
Actually, only your ignorance, and the ignorance of every commenters like you is the problem. Other commercial distros like Mandriva have MP3 and DVD licensing, not only Linspire.
Yes, and that's yet another reason why Linux is not ready for the average user to use on the desktop. Whenever a distribution makes a choice to sacrifice 'freedom' to do something that an average user would actually want (like play MP3s), half the community throws up their hands in disgust. The novice user then has the choice between a distribution that is crippled or one that is generating loud complaints. This is fundamental to free software development. The people who believe most in free software are
I'm seriosly considering taking a GPL distro, adding mp3, libdvdcss and similar, and offering a seed and a torrent. It's legal where I live, you know. Hmmm. I could just maintain a small repository, keep the few multimedia packages up to date, and track the release cycle of the main project. I got to look into this some more.....
This occurred to me as I was reading TFA, which is pretty well-balanced overall. When I went shopping for digital camcorders the other day, I was keenly interested in output format, since I use Linux. Seems like every single camera had developed "proprietary format" for their output, but thankfully offered software ('round $40) that would help you look at this output. Thanks. Oh, but it requires XP of course.
The line: "Like the other Linux distributions, though, Xandros had problems viewing some online v
I don't think it's DVDs that are the problem, though. The type of people in this article probably use their DVD players for that.
No, it's the other multimedia, I think. The Google Video, You Tube, a few flash/shockwave games... That's the real killer, in my opinion. Stuff that Just Works in Windows or OS X but which simply doesn't in Linux. I usually download and convert if there's a YouTube I want to watch--but that's not what everyone would do.
YouTube and Google video work fine for me. I'll chime in with my 2 cents in general on Linux. Linux isn't for the average Joe. The desktop is good for a corporate environment, though, where someone is around full-time to fix "wierdness". All that needs to work there is networking and perhaps Office, and that's trivial these days. A default GNOME desktop is MUCH nicer than anything out of Redmond (and even Apple). (Even things that Apple "invented" work better under Linux. Spotlight never worked for me
I'd love to know your secret for using YouTube and Google Video... On my machines, the the Flash player will load up, but the video simply will never play. When I do manage to play it (through mplayer, usually) it loses synch very quickly.
What plugin do you use to play it? What browser/distro?
Both google video and youtube work for me too using firefox 1.5.0.3 in ubuntu dapper (development version). According to firefox's about:plugins I have:
$ ls -l/home/chris/.mozilla/plugins/ total 2114 -rwxr-xr-x 1 chris chris 856 Apr 24 19:28 flashplayer.xpt -rwxr-xr-x 1 chris chris 2154768 Apr 24 19:28 libflashplayer.so
I forgot to say - I didn't install any flash packages from the ubuntu repositories. I just went to a web page with firefox which needed flash. Firefox told me about a missing plugin and offered a button to click to go to the macromedia site to download and install the plugin.
Seems like every single camera had developed "proprietary format" for their output,
Hmm... My digital rebel dSLR outputs in either jpeg or raw format. Since when did Linux not read jpeg files? In fact, all Canon cameras read jpeg format.
And if you can't get your camera to talk to Linux, you get a $5 PCMCIA adaptor for the CompactFlash card and plug it in. Takes a few seconds and automount actually recognizes the device as well.
Linux can read jpegs, but not being able to use RAW is like not being able to use second gear in a car, or having an oven that only works at one temperature. Useful, yes, but you find yourself working around the limitations of the technology, rather than taking full advantage of your hardware.
I'm a photographer, and you should know this: RAW allows so much more freedom that using anything else is crippling yourself. So Linux not being able to read RAW is a HUGE deal for me.
I stand corrected. But I've never met a pro that runs it - all seem to gravitate to Aperture, Adobe Camera Raw or (especially) Capture One Pro.
Do you know of any comparisons of Bibble against ACR, Aperture or C1Pro? I can't seem to find any - the pro websites I frequent don't seem to know about it.... though I must say I'm intrigued, if only for the speed of conversion!
I know Ed Hamrick, legendary developer of vuescan released linux versions of his software but they now seem to feature freeze. a rough guess is lack of commercial interest in linux land. you know that software does raw. Hamrick.com posted via opera mini btw.;-)
"Since when did Linux not read jpeg files"
Note: 'camcorder' -- video formats are mostly the problem. Admittedly, I only did a tiny bit of asking around.
That's strange. AFAIK, all digital camcorders still record everything in (mini-)DV format which is a well-established standard. That's what my camcorder (Sony) uses, and it's well supported in Linux: The reference for Linux is Kino [kinodv.org], but Freshmeat has several projects for software to interact with DV stuff: http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=dv+video [freshmeat.net]
Well, that is A problem, but I would not call it THE problem. Media is a small part of computing.
One of the requirements that all these comparisons have is "It must be compatible with my Windows computer that I use at work". As long as the requirements spell out "Windows" rather than just functionality like word processing and whatever, then Windows will always have the advantage. If the requirement read "Must be compatible with my Linux system at work", then the comparison would be very different.
Fully half of Apple's revenues come from sales of the iPod and through iTunes.
Media is a big part of computing for the home user and the road warrior with his laptop. You aren't thinking Excel when you order the wide-screen display and the DVD drive.
One of the requirements that all these comparisons have is "It must be compatible with my Windows computer that I use at work". As long as the requirements spell out "Windows" rather than just functionality like word processing and whatever, then Windows will always have the advantage.
That may be a problem with Linux, but it's not the problem. The overarching problem with Linux is that it still requires too much time investment and too much technical knowledge in order to accomplish tasks that should be qu
Those codecs don't just magically show up in Windows or OSX - the people who create the software pay for the rights to use them. So one of these many Linux distro companies just needs to put together a distribution where these codecs have been paid for and are included as modules and charge a bit for the distro.
Blaming the laws is convenient, but not the problem.
But every time discussion of Linspire comes up on Slashdot, the community rallies against it as if they're committing some kind of mortal sin by making Linux easy-to-use. It sickens me.
The problem isn't that Linspire is "making Linux easy to use". The problem is that Linspire is rejecting the best part about Linux (as an operating system): it's free as in freedom. You see, if software requires a patent to be licensed, then it will not be freely distributable since patents are usually licensed on a per-unit-sold basis. That means Linspire is taking parts of Linux (free-as-in-freedom operating system) and bundling it with proprietary software, defeating what many people perceive as the main
What good is software that you can freely distribute if it's BAD software?
Most people don't care if they can give away their OS. Most people DO care that their OS easily accomodates file types they commonly use like PDF and MP3.
As long as Linux people try and tell the market that they can't have linux unless it's "free", Linux won't be successful in the market. Enjoy your sandbox.
It's not bad software. The software to play MP3s is there, but it's illegal because of silly software patent laws. This is a long-term problem, and always being submissive will result in always having to adopt non-free file formats and codecs. "Just accepting proprietary software" isn't a good long-term solution.
There's a very good alternative to MP3 called Ogg-Vorbis, and it isn't covered by software patents. Free Software aims to push this alternative. Yes, that requires inconvenience, but those who value
Besides laws, we also have to make video conferencing available on linux, so that it's compatible with MSN and Yahoo on the Microsoft side. Until we can tell a teenage MySpacer that they can still see and hear their friends when they boot into Linux and use GAIM, it's unlikely that kids will want to switch.
It's also thing that's holding me back - videoconferencing support.
Now the main problem is that key elements of what people want to do are blocked by software patents and other legal stuff.
That's one of the few remaining issues left for desktop Unix. It's silly when people blame Linux for the problems outside its domain. Yes there are problems with the proprietary NVidia driver, but bitch to NVidia because there's nothing Linux or X.org can do about it. Yes there are problems playing videos, but blame the DMCA and MPAA for that.
I'm aware of the frustration out there, and s
"Facts are stupid things."
-- President Ronald Reagan
(a blooper from his speeach at the '88 GOP convention)
Oh well... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh well... (Score:5, Interesting)
Now the main problem is that key elements of what people want to do are blocked by software patents and other legal stuff. People want to play MP3s, but can't because MP3 is not a Free codec. People want to watch DVDs, but can't because any Free Software DVD player program is classified as a "circumvention device" (and is therefore illegal) under US and Australian copyright law.
We've made progress. Software exists for doing everything we want to do, now we just need to get the laws changed so that we can use that software.
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
One great man, one worthy movement. Now consider the thousands of worthy movements that do die at any one of those stages. Inspirational quote meet reality.
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Don't feel bad - AFAIK, I've never seen one here in the US, either, although I suppose I could find one if I cared. But then again, why would I want to re-rip everything in a format I can't use, or worse-yet, transcode it, making the result sound like complete crap?
Unless you're willing to put up with WMA or AAC DRM, MP3 is really
Ogg players... (Score:2)
There's a whole ubuntu forums thread [ubuntuforums.org] on this topic...
Re:Oh well... (Score:1)
While I agree with this, I don't think that there's any way that the general populace will even consider
7
Re:Oh well... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Oh well... (Score:3, Interesting)
Here in the EU, software patents are still illegal and so we can redistribute things like MP3 implementations without any problems. If this is not the case in your jurisdiction then I strongly suggest that you contact your elected representatives
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Hey! Some of us live under corporate-controlled fascist governments, you insensitive clod! Have a little sympathy!
Re:Oh well... (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, they're of dubious legality.
As Prof. Noveck has pointed out in her Peer to Patent project, there is no prospect, politically, of getting rid of software patents in the US. Patent system administrators and policy makers don't listen to economists any more than Creationists listen to biologists and the situation is made even worse when profound economic policy changes
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Actually, only your ignorance, and the ignorance of every commenters like you is the problem. Other commercial distros like Mandriva have MP3 and DVD licensing, not only Linspire.
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software [wikipedia.org]
It's about more than software which (supposedly) "just works".
Re:Oh well... (Score:3, Insightful)
This is fundamental to free software development. The people who believe most in free software are
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
Then you will never end up with a (majority used) system that's better than windows.
Re:Oh well... (Score:1)
Hmmm. I could just maintain a small repository, keep the few multimedia packages up to date, and track the release cycle of the main project. I got to look into this some more.....
Mod up seriously (Score:2)
The line: "Like the other Linux distributions, though, Xandros had problems viewing some online v
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
No, it's the other multimedia, I think. The Google Video, You Tube, a few flash/shockwave games... That's the real killer, in my opinion. Stuff that Just Works in Windows or OS X but which simply doesn't in Linux. I usually download and convert if there's a YouTube I want to watch--but that's not what everyone would do.
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
I'll chime in with my 2 cents in general on Linux. Linux isn't for the average Joe. The desktop is good for a corporate environment, though, where someone is around full-time to fix "wierdness". All that needs to work there is networking and perhaps Office, and that's trivial these days. A default GNOME desktop is MUCH nicer than anything out of Redmond (and even Apple). (Even things that Apple "invented" work better under Linux. Spotlight never worked for me
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
What plugin do you use to play it? What browser/distro?
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:1)
According to firefox's about:plugins I have:
These are the files it uses:
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:1)
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
Hmm... My digital rebel dSLR outputs in either jpeg or raw format. Since when did Linux not read jpeg files? In fact, all Canon cameras read jpeg format.
And if you can't get your camera to talk to Linux, you get a $5 PCMCIA adaptor for the CompactFlash card and plug it in. Takes a few seconds and automount actually recognizes the device as well.
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:1)
I'm a photographer, and you should know this: RAW allows so much more freedom that using anything else is crippling yourself. So Linux not being able to read RAW is a HUGE deal for me.
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
But I've never met a pro that runs it - all seem to gravitate to Aperture, Adobe Camera Raw or (especially) Capture One Pro.
Do you know of any comparisons of Bibble against ACR, Aperture or C1Pro? I can't seem to find any - the pro websites I frequent don't seem to know about it.... though I must say I'm intrigued, if only for the speed of conversion!
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:1)
you know that software does raw.
Hamrick.com
posted via opera mini btw.
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
Re:Mod up seriously (Score:2)
The reference for Linux is Kino [kinodv.org], but Freshmeat has several projects for software to interact with DV stuff: http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=dv+video [freshmeat.net]
-chris
Requirements (Score:3, Insightful)
One of the requirements that all these comparisons have is "It must be compatible with my Windows computer that I use at work". As long as the requirements spell out "Windows" rather than just functionality like word processing and whatever, then Windows will always have the advantage. If the requirement read "Must be compatible with my Linux system at work", then the comparison would be very different.
The cri
Re:Requirements (Score:2)
The disposable camcorder is $20 at Rite-Aid.
Fully half of Apple's revenues come from sales of the iPod and through iTunes.
Media is a big part of computing for the home user and the road warrior with his laptop. You aren't thinking Excel when you order the wide-screen display and the DVD drive.
Re:Requirements (Score:1)
That may be a problem with Linux, but it's not the problem. The overarching problem with Linux is that it still requires too much time investment and too much technical knowledge in order to accomplish tasks that should be qu
No need to change the laws. (Score:2)
Blaming the laws is convenient, but not the problem.
Re:No need to change the laws. (Score:2)
But every time discussion of Linspire comes up on Slashdot, the community rallies against it as if they're committing some kind of mortal sin by making Linux easy-to-use. It sickens me.
Re:No need to change the laws. (Score:2)
You see, if software requires a patent to be licensed, then it will not be freely distributable since patents are usually licensed on a per-unit-sold basis. That means Linspire is taking parts of Linux (free-as-in-freedom operating system) and bundling it with proprietary software, defeating what many people perceive as the main
So? (Score:2)
Most people don't care if they can give away their OS. Most people DO care that their OS easily accomodates file types they commonly use like PDF and MP3.
As long as Linux people try and tell the market that they can't have linux unless it's "free", Linux won't be successful in the market. Enjoy your sandbox.
Re:So? (Score:2)
This is a long-term problem, and always being submissive will result in always having to adopt non-free file formats and codecs. "Just accepting proprietary software" isn't a good long-term solution.
There's a very good alternative to MP3 called Ogg-Vorbis, and it isn't covered by software patents. Free Software aims to push this alternative. Yes, that requires inconvenience, but those who value
You have a perverted sense of freedom. (Score:2)
How about freedom from unintuative, time-consuming configuration files and install processes?
Re:So? (Score:2)
The people who actually create free software, do.
Re:No need to change the laws. (Score:1)
If those laws weren't in place, then Free Software could actually remain free and legal.
Re:Oh well... laws (Score:2)
It's also thing that's holding me back - videoconferencing support.
Re:Oh well... (Score:2)
That's one of the few remaining issues left for desktop Unix. It's silly when people blame Linux for the problems outside its domain. Yes there are problems with the proprietary NVidia driver, but bitch to NVidia because there's nothing Linux or X.org can do about it. Yes there are problems playing videos, but blame the DMCA and MPAA for that.
I'm aware of the frustration out there, and s