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View Full Version : The codec hell:P

Teroedni
July 11th, 2005, 01:18 AM
Hello i would like to know which codec is free and which is not.
If someone could help me with a list of codec which shows if their free or not i would be happy.

Well i can start with what i know

Music
Mp3 free?
Drm OwnedMicrosoft
Flac free?

Media
Mpeg1,2,3 free or not?
Div x Owned


As you can see i dont know much.
So i would be very happy if someone culd take the time to explain whats its free and what s not in the codec world.
panickedthumb
July 11th, 2005, 01:27 AM
essentially, if you can't play it out of the box in Ubuntu, it's probably not a free codec, unless it's uncommon. I don't really know what is and isn't, but I do know that mp3 isn't, all the windows codecs aren't, flac and ogg are free (correct me on any of this if I'm wrong)
aysiu
July 11th, 2005, 01:28 AM
My guess would be that any codecs you have to enable using these instructions

http://ubuntuguide.org/#codecs

are probably non-free codecs.
poptones
July 11th, 2005, 02:02 AM
Xvid and ffdshow are "ambiguously free." That will play most of the popular Microsoft formats.

flac is free, ogg is free, mpeg1 is as free as jpeg.
Wolki
July 11th, 2005, 08:20 AM
Mp3 free?


This has already been answered, but I think a link might be interesting:

http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/index.html

As you can see, including mp3 (playback only) would cost 0,75 $ per unit or a one time fee of US$ 50 000.00 - US$ 60 000.00(!).


For those who want licensed media spport in their linux, Fluendo plans to sell licensed gstreamer plugins. Here's more info: http://www.fluendo.com/products.php
poofyhairguy
July 11th, 2005, 03:48 PM
As you can see, including mp3 (playback only) would cost 0,75 $ per unit or a one time fee of US$ 50 000.00 - US$ 60 000.00(!).


The only Linux player that paid the one time fee is Real Player. It is the legal way to play MP3 in Linux.

If you need all the codecs legally, the only distro that offers that (I'm pretty sure) is Linspire. You pay for it for a reason....
poptones
July 11th, 2005, 04:41 PM
How does Mandrake get away with it? When I was using 10.1 I recall it having everything OOTB except decss.
Kvark
July 11th, 2005, 05:05 PM
Mandrake prolly gets away with it cause officially you have to pay for mandrake and if people get it for free without paying royalty fees then it's not mandrake's fault.



That link about mp3 is confusing. 60k one time fee, but when you click on the link about software it says 15k minimum annual royalties. So after you pay a one time fee you have to pay an annual fee too even though you already payed the one time option? :?
poptones
July 11th, 2005, 06:15 PM
Ohh.. duh, of course. I forgot about that. The copy of 10.1 my college geek friend gave me probably was not the "public" version but the bought and paid for version. [-X

Ah well. flac and vorbis are soooo much better anyway. And ubuntu is legions ahead of mandr.. whatever it's called. And Magnatune offers flac downloads, so I'm happy.
poofyhairguy
July 11th, 2005, 07:13 PM
How does Mandrake get away with it?

Mandrake pays (the free versions lack it).

Some just ignore the law and include it at the distro maker's peril (I think Mepis does this).
NeoSNightmarE
July 11th, 2005, 07:34 PM
Time out. I think I'm missing something here but I'm not sure anymore. You're supposed to pay every time you play an MP3 in Linux through like XMMS and the similar?
poptones
July 11th, 2005, 08:15 PM
Noo... that is the royalty structure for OEMs who include MP3 recording or playback capability in their product.
NeoSNightmarE
July 11th, 2005, 09:51 PM
Noo... that is the royalty structure for OEMs who include MP3 recording or playback capability in their product.

Whew. Ok man. Thanks. I was wondering what I missed in this and that was it. lol.

*loads up XMMS and the 316 song playlist and does a :grin: *
Teroedni
July 14th, 2005, 10:28 AM
Qoute
Ah well. flac and vorbis are soooo much better anyway. And ubuntu is legions ahead of mandr.. whatever it's called. And Magnatune offers flac downloads, so I'm happy.


Magtnatune
It is a online shop?
Would love to buy legally flac music :-P
Can you give me a link? O:)
stoffe
July 23rd, 2005, 11:00 AM
Qoute
Ah well. flac and vorbis are soooo much better anyway. And ubuntu is legions ahead of mandr.. whatever it's called. And Magnatune offers flac downloads, so I'm happy.


Magtnatune
It is a online shop?
Would love to buy legally flac music :-P
Can you give me a link? O:)

http://www.google.com/search?q=magnatune :wink: