On 28/02/2008, Dave Crossland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> If the BBC publishes information in "open" formats/protocols that have
> only proprietary software implementations, it ought to be criticized
> and pressured to start or contribute to the development of free
> software implementations.
Provided the formats are truly open, then it is not the BBC who should
be criticised.
Now if the BBC actually released all their specifications openly (i.e.
had them accepted and published by the IETF for instance) then it
would be the Free Software Community who is responsible if there are
no free software implementations.
Of course the BBC has a duty to "educate". The use of proprietary
protocols/formats is a direct contradiction to this duty. How can we
educate people when we can not even tell them how things work. It is
really damaging the future of education and the BBC must not assist
with it.
When learning about technology it is useful to to find out how current
solutions actually work. With open protocols it is entirely possible
to do this, for instance if I want to know how a particular part of
IPv6 works I can read an RFC and I will have more knowledge as a
result and be able to design better protocols in the future. With
proprietary protocols one is prevented from learning how it operates
so would need to start from scratch with less knowledge of how the
problems have been tackled in the past. This certianly not good for
the individuals, neither is it good for the industry as inferior
technology will be produced and as such it's not good for the nation
(and thus license fee payers).
Thus I wouldn't consider that to be:
> (b) promoting education and learning;
[and]
> (c) stimulating creativity and cultural excellence;
> Royal Charter for the continuation of the BBC (2006)
Andy
--
Computers are like air conditioners. Both stop working, if you open windows.
-- Adam Heath
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