Howdy all, What would be the software freedom requirements for a video chat system?
Does “Firefox Hello”, included in recent versions of Mozilla Firefox <URL:https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/hello/>, satisfy the requirements? The protocol WebRTC <URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebRTC> has an open specification <URL:http://www.webrtc.org/> with free-software reference implementations. Are there patent holders who could threaten users and/or implementors? So long as the communication is using standard WebRTC, any conformant client can communicate with any other. The Mozilla Firefox and Google Chromium browsers are licensed under free-software conditions. Both are a WebRTC client by default if I understand correctly <URL:https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebRTC> <URL:http://www.webrtc.org/blog/seeyouontheweb>. What's also needed is a WebRTC server to receive client connections, and to manage sessions. The WebRTC project has a demonstration server at <URL:https://apprtc.appspot.com/>, but I think it's not meant to be a full-fledged service for public use. That also requires users to understand that there's a third party involved: the WebRTC service provider, mediating the connection between the parties who want to communicate. That's a significant learning barrier for many people. Firefox Hello appears to be a way of hiding the fact that a third-party server is involved, in order to make the user experience simpler: it has already chosen the WebRTC server and you don't need to understand that in order to use it. It's in Mozilla Firefox version 35 or later, which I don't have (I'll wait for it to enter Debian Jessie), so I haven't tested it. What software-freedom implications are there? Can the client easily choose to use any WebRTC server? Do the connections get logged by some third party? Are the Terms of Use problematic for software freedom <URL:https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox-hello/>? Does using it require the running of any non-free code (e.g. JavaScript without a free software license)? -- \ “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too | `\ much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” | _o__) —Thomas Jefferson, 1791-12-23 | Ben Finney _______________________________________________ Free-software-melb mailing list [email protected] http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
