On Nov 23, 2007 12:20 PM, Dave Crossland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: [quoting me in April] > > > > It's possible for all our podcasts to be produced in Ogg Vorbis > > automatically, too. Indeed, all our on-demand audio is already encoded > into > > Ogg Vorbis, for when it becomes a popular codec (and we're still > waiting). > > It will become a popular codec by influential people publishing audio > in it, like Virgin and the BBC, and by people learning to value > software freedom and requesting audio publishers to use the format.
Chicken, meet egg. Given that Virgin's been broadcasting Ogg Vorbis for five years without (until I left, at any rate) any real user takeup, it's less likely that anyone else is going to start broadcasting it. Given, too, that the best-selling portable audio players don't support it, it's unlikely that broadcasters will add Ogg Vorbis versions of podcasts. It shouldn't be forgotten that, for Virgin's streaming, use of Ogg Vorbis was even in the minority among Linux users. > [quoting me later] > > > > My Ubuntu box copes quite happily with an open source version of Real > > Player; > > This isn't true; to play RealAudio format audio, you need proprietary > software that integrates with a piece of free software. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_project has the details. Apologies, if this is the case. https://player.helixcommunity.org/2005/downloads/ is not clear on this point. > > presumably this Puppy Linux box would too if I bothered to download > > it; and the Mac under the telly copes with both Real and Windows, thanks > to > > a free plugin to Quicktime. So, free-to-the-user alternatives to Ogg > Vorbis > > exist on all major platforms. > > Sadly free-to-the-user is not the issue; free-as-in-freedom is the issue. To you, it is. However, to most people the only issue is "does it work on my platform, is it simple, and do I have to pay anything?". My experience supporting the Ogg Vorbis platform would rather tend to prove that point; Virgin's Ogg Vorbis stream was even the highest quality (at an average 160k). And, given that you acknowledge a need for people to learn to value software-freedom in this same message, above, I sense you agree with the reality. I do love a good mailing list troll, Dave. Don't let it border onto obsessiveness, will you? J -- http://james.cridland.net | http://www.mediauk.com Media UK is a Not At All Bad Ltd production. Company info: http://www.notatallbad.ltd.uk/
