Man, I swear. Before I get a chance to review a distro indepth, more and more keep getting released. I’ve been hearing interesting things about Ubuntu and how easy it is to install extra multimedia codecs. It shouldn’t be surprising, considering that Canonical has a partnership with Linspire. Also, in a move that doesn’t surprise me at all, Windows XP is getting the ax in 2008. That means that people used to Windows can’t run from Vista forever, and that is truly unfortunate.
Speaking of foolishness, Jack Schofield has written a hit piece on the OGG format. He incorrectly states that it is unkown as to whether it violates patents or not. Here’s a hint: It doesn’t! Not at all. In fact, it is patent free, and the GPL license essentially prevents anybody from patenting to the codec, so it will never become proprietary software. The only problem with OGG is marketing, or the lack thereof, which will be addressed in the near future. Mr. Schofield needs to keep in mind however, that not everybody uses portable audio players.
Now considering that Enterbrain’s RPG MakerXP uses OGG Vorbis audio files as well as lego Star Wars, I’d say that this guy doesn’t completely understand how OGG is superior to MP3 and closed codecs. You say let it die, I say screw you!
Also, screw you too, Novell! It’s easy to slam another distributor, Red Hat, when you have a billion dollar corporation behind you (with a knife, unbeknownst to you), isn’t it? I’m not running SuSE ever again thanks to what you have done to the FOSS community: stab it in the back. Microsoft doesn’t want interoperability in the end. Don’t you get it? They’re going to screw you too, just like you screwed the rest of us!
Finally, only one person has appeared to have taken me up on my Vista Challenge. Building a custom system probably takes some time as does shipping, so we’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks. For everyone else, c’mon! What are you waiting for? This is your big chance to convert me to a Windows Vista user. If you want me to try it out so badly, then all you have to do is simple: buy me a new machine with Vista Ultimate (legally licensed!) and send it to me. I wait with baited breath. 😉
He incorrectly states that it is unkown as to whether it violates patents or not. Heres a hint: It doesnt! Not at all.
Right – and Microsoft didn’t have to license MP3 from Alcatel-Lucent, because it already had from Fraunhofer. What’s that you say? There’s a lawsuit? Microsoft lost the lawsuit? Microsoft has to pay millions of dollars?
Oh, look, behind them are RIM, who didn’t infringe any patents until someone ruled they did. They had to pay. And behind them is Vonage, who didn’t infringe Verizon’s patents. Oh no wait they did. And behind them…
Point being that if anyone picked up Ogg commercially and began to build a business around it, you can bet that someone would pop up with a patent lawsuit. It might be frivolous, it might turn out to have no merit, but defending lawsuits costs money. Which would cost anyone who tries to set up a commercial business around Ogg. Which is where we came in.
Still, if you’re prepared to put your house and future earnings on the “it doesn’t”, then can we do it on your cognizance? We’ll just say you’re the guarantor that there’s no patent infringement, and that you’ll pay if there is.
Not so attractive now, is it?
Charles, I hate to say this, but you are quite ignorant of the GNU General Public License, which specifically prohibits any form of software licensed under the GPL from being patented without allowing for the same freedoms (i.e. running the software, copying, and modifying it).
Also, your comments are nothing more than FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). You think I’m scared of being sued for so called patent infringement? Sorry Charlie. I’m not, especially since Microsoft hasn’t sued any Linux Distributors (if patents were really violated in that venue, somebody would have gotten sued by now).