Real to offer Windows Media on Linux

[Orethrius]

With the "non-free" and probably also "illegal in the US" codecs and Mplayer or Xine you can play any wmv out there.

You realise that every major codec has some lib or another that's closed-source in some place or another?  At the very least, some jackass coder somewhere decided to obfuscate variables where it wasn't at all necessary.  Also, win32codecs illegal?  Where do people keep getting this crap?  Last I checked, the DeCSS case was dismissed as the primary usage was Fair Use private copying (as in, not for the use of others) which trumps DMCA (IIRC, there's even a provision for it in that law's text).

I very much prefer any other format than wmv, simply because it's horrible.

Actually, I prefer to keep away from WinMedia because it's a proprietary codec financed by a marketing giant that could only produce a *live* weasel if it searched its own PR department.

If you haven't seen the horrible quality, go find yourself the same movie encoded in wmv and any other format. The wmv will always lose.

Not necessarily.  More often than not, the poor quality is due to neophytes that think higher compression is always better - as it results in lower filesizes.  Few people concerned with the size of a WinMedia file consider the quality loss - AVI, MPG, and MOV degrade at lower bitstreams, too.  I've seen BRILLIANT game-ad pieces produced ENTIRELY in WinMedia, but the sad truth is that the majority of Windows users making videos can't be trusted to collate copies.

[Lord PsyPing]

[Removed]

[worker201]

Actually, I prefer to keep away from WinMedia because it's a proprietary codec financed by a marketing giant that could only produce a *live* weasel if it searched its own PR department.

ROFLMAO

weasels, indeed

[pofnlice]

I like real, it has it's own erotic section on the front page...

It doesn't take a lot to please me

[Orethrius]

Indeed, that's what I was trying to say.

Next time I should think, than speak. :p

Damned, now I forgot to think, again.  :p

Like I said, I don't buy that.  These are the same people that would use FinalCut or Cinelerra if people took the time to steer them in that direction.  The end results of such apathy are the worthless WMVs we see floating around the Internet today, since Movie Maker actively encourages users to set higher compression on their files (hey, it saves space, but if you read the fine print - which we know you won't - it says that some degradation MAY occur - can't sue us NOW, can ya?) while ignoring the subsequent ramifications.  Seriously, if WinMedia vanished overnight, I doubt very many would lose any sleep over it - particularly not Avid, Adobe, and a host of others I'm sure I could name if I spent five minutes looking into it.  

Yet Microsoft feels it's their sole duty to perpetuate their format AND ONLY THEIR FORMAT for their tool, while encouraging users to make bad editing decisions.  Sounds like another setup to sue the PC vendors for "willful negligence" if you ask me (hey, we TOLD them not to use higher compression ratios, but YOUR fine-print reader made the type too small.  Give us money.)

[mobrien_12]

OK.  Why are the WMP codecs illegal?

They aren't hacked.  They are the original codecs.  They are not being sold as a part of windows.  They are downloadable separately.  Admittedly, I haven't looked at the licence agreement, but I don't see you violating jack squat.  

Like I said, I haven't looked into this really closely, but I don't see this as being any less legal than using Windows TrueType fonts on my Linux box (and that is 100% legal).

Furthermore, most of us have a legit copy of windows with those same bloody codecs on it.  So what's the problem?

I'm not calling anyone a liar here.  If someone knows something for sure, please specify.  Otherwise, I see no reason to assume illegality.


By the way, WMV and WMA sucks!  I wish they would DIE.  

Most of the stuff from the OGG project blows MS crap away.  OGG FLAC, OGG Vorbis, Ogg theora, is awesome from technical, usability, and freedom standpoints.  Windoids go with the default (which MS knows and relies on).

[H_TeXMeX_H]

I don't think they are illegal in and of themselves. But, I believe they may be illegal to redistribute without permission.

[hm_murdock]

They should be illegal due to high amounts of suck found in them, as well as multiple counts of douchebaggery.

[worker201]

In the computer industry, suck and douchebaggery actually increase the cost of the product.  Panels of experts have not yet been able to ascertain the reasons why this is so, but are expected to release a verdict sometime in 2019.

[hm_murdock]

I forgot about that. I await their findings!!

[Jack2000]

Windows formats suck big time !
hell you all people :
"oh this is the new new new new player that will even brush your teeth!"
grrrr...
to be loathed:Real Player,Music Mach Juke Box(or something),WMPlayer,Quick time

[Orethrius]

Um, Quicktime is Apple, not Windows.  Sorry bud.  

[worker201]

But we can still loathe Quicktime, right?

[H_TeXMeX_H]

The Window$ version of quicktime is kinda bloated and shitty ... dunno about the Mac version.

[WMD]

QuickTime for Mac is ok.  At least now they are trying to push open formats (like H.264) instead of yet another version of Sorenson video.