Why is there no LAME mp3 support in Linux Distros?

[taketheveil]

I was wondering...if LAME is an open source codec of mp3, why doesn't Ubuntu or any other distro come packaged with it right out of the box? Someone clear this up for me :-k

[aysiu]

I'll clear it up for you--I have no idea what you're talking about.

Ubuntu is one of the few Linux distros that does not have MP3 support out of the box. Linspire, Blag, Mepis, and PCLinuxOS have it.

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe SuSE, Xandros, and Mandriva also have it.

[yaztromo]

You install can lame 3.97 from the rarewares repository.

Add this to your sources file
deb http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/ ./

You can see the whole list of packages here http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/

[AndyCooll]

I ain't sure what you are talking about either.

As far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong) LAME isn't a codec at all. It is only a program which can create mp3 audio files.

:cool:

[FISHERMAN]

I think the TS means: "Why don't FOSS Distro's have MP3-support out of the box, if LAME is FREE Software?

Answer: I don't know(but LAME is an encoder an not a codec)/Wikipedia talks about legal issues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAME#Legal_issues

[aysiu]

These two threads should help:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=143246
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=167946

[PatrickMay16]

You install can lame 3.97 from the rarewares repository.

Add this to your sources file
deb http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/ ./

You can see the whole list of packages here http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/
You can also get lame from the ubuntu universe or multiverse repository, too. Or is there something special about the version in the rarewares repository?

[FredB]

You install can lame 3.97 from the rarewares repository.

Add this to your sources file
deb http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/ ./

You can see the whole list of packages here http://www.rarewares.org/debian/packages/unstable/

Well, lame 3.96 is available from multiverse repository. What are the big difference with 3.97 ?

[FredB]

I'll clear it up for you--I have no idea what you're talking about.

Ubuntu is one of the few Linux distros that does not have MP3 support out of the box. Linspire, Blag, Mepis, and PCLinuxOS have it.

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe SuSE, Xandros, and Mandriva also have it.

OpenSuSE (at least 10.1), and Fedora Core don't have it too. Because of software patents which are the worse human idea for the last 50 years !

[woedend]

I don't think LAME is exactly legal in some countries.

[krazyd]

LAME can both encode and decode mp3 data.

[luca.b]

There is no LAME by default because the compression algorithm (it is not a software patent) is patented and requires a royalty for commercial use.

[DoctorMO]

Even if the patent is not software I class it under mathamatical and not patentable under most countires laws.

[asimon]

Of course patents alone are not a reason for Ubuntu to not include something. Ubuntu has for example no qualms about enabling patented code in the freetype library* which is in main. I dunno how they exactly decide when it's okay for them to infringe patents and when not to, but they don't seem to regard patented software generally as evil.

*) from the change log:

freetype (2.2.1-2)
Enable full bytecode interpreter instead of just the "non-patented portions".

[luca.b]

It's a grey area, IMO. I believe though that MP3 is not included because of the specific requirement for royalties.

[aysiu]

It's a grey area, IMO. I believe though that MP3 is not included because of the specific requirement for royalties.
Does anyone know how cost-free distros like PCLinuxOS, Mepis, and Blag get away with not paying royalties for all their proprietary codecs?

[Adamant1988]

it's something about HOW they are installed. They don't come as part of the package but you 'install' them yourself. it's a really weird legal loophole.

[luca.b]

Does anyone know how cost-free distros like PCLinuxOS, Mepis, and Blag get away with not paying royalties for all their proprietary codecs?

I'm not really sure. Non-commercial entities I believe are a different thing, but as I haven't checked the mp3 licensing in a long time, I may be wrong.

[aysiu]

it's something about HOW they are installed. They don't come as part of the package but you 'install' them yourself. it's a really weird legal loophole.
Not in PCLinuxOS, Mepis, and Blag. In those distros, MP3 playback (and a lot of other stuff) comes preinstalled.

[yaztromo]

Well, lame 3.96 is available from multiverse repository. What are the big difference with 3.97 ?

Huge encoding quality improvements, mainly in vbr mode with --vbr-new flag. See MP3 section of www.hydrogenaudio.org for details.

[claydoh]

Not in PCLinuxOS, Mepis, and Blag. In those distros, MP3 playback (and a lot of other stuff) comes preinstalled.

They probably have simply not been "caught" yet
two links:
http://www.mepis.org/node/10515
directly relating to Lame
http://kororaa.org/index.php?entry=entry060512-160752
this one deals with proprietary (nvidia) video drivers

[bonzodog]

It's interesting to note that mp3 support comes out of the box with Slackware and all it's derived distros -
I personally think that this is because Patrick is hoping that no one notices kinda thing and will wait until someone official drags him him up about it, then he will simply seperate it from the main install and tell people where to find the codecs.

[Dragonbite]

That's a bit like "it is easier to ask for forgivness than it is to ask for permission"