Fluendo Launches the Ultimate Media Center for Linux Operative Systems

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Lennart Sorensen <lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org>
| Reply-To: tlug-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org
| To: tlug-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org
| Subject: Re: [TLUG]: Fluendo Launches the Ultimate Media Center for Linux
|     Operative Systems
| 
| On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 01:38:34AM -0400, Michael Lauzon wrote:

| > "Fluendo is an established leading provider of multimedia plug-ins for
| > the GNU/Linux Market, and has succeeded in offering legal end-to-end
| > solutions working with multiple formats and platforms.
| 
| Really?  Never heard of them before.

Fluendo has been around for a while.

They have provide Linux users with CODECs authorized by the patent
holders.

For some distro (Fedora? Ubuntu?  I don't remember which) they are
automatically offered as a source of CODECs by the system when it
realizes that a new CODEC is needed.  I suspect that not a lot of
folks use them anyway, but I have no actual data on this.

| I thought we had been able to do any region DVD playback for about a
| decade on linux now.  How is this news?

Not in a way authorized by the patent holders.

| Silly company.

| So for €40 you get something that does less than mythtv does for free.
| OK then.

Some folks try to do things the "by the book".  It is thought that
corporations in particular see the downsides of unauthorized use of
patents and decide the cost of the authorization is worthwhile.

On the other hand, the whole system has been brought into such
disrepute that some do not care.

Generally speaking, Linux folks seem to respect copyright and care
less about patents.  Not surprising: copyrights help Linux but patents
hurt it.

Quick test: do you use MP3 or Ogg Vorbis for music?  (If you answer
flac, you have successfully evaded my test.)  MP3 is patent encumbered.

In the early days, as I understand it, the MP3 patent holder said no
royalty was required on players so even careful Linux distros had
players.  Then Fraunhofer Institute rescinded that permission.  Now,
Fedora (a careful US-domiciled distro) has no MP3 player (third parties
make unauthorized MP3 software easily available for Fedora).

Linux is at a disadvantage compared with MS Windows.  MS licenses
these things in bulk with a lot of bargaining power.  They may not
even pay anything since the patent holders need MS Windows support.