Originally posted by peppepz
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H.264 / GStreamer Turned On For Firefox On Linux
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Mint has all codecs as it is not based in the US
Originally posted by peppepz View PostYes but for legal reasons it can't come from the official repository of the distribution. So you'll probably also need to add an extra repository. Yet more work for an unexperienced user to do such a basic task as watching YouTube, which is a problem that the HTML5 <video> tag was expected to solve.
Ubuntu claims that the location of their users, not themselves, blocks them from including the codecs, but the reality is this: almost all Ubuntu users who use the machines with video install the codecs, so the only difference by leaving them out is to protect the distro itself. If a distro is based somewhere that does not recognize patents on software, there is no need for such protection and the distro can be served up on the installer. Legality is EXACTLY the same for end users who "import" the codecs either with the installer or from another repo and could care less about the bleatings of the United States Trade Representative or the whining Hollywood crybabies.
In my opinion, no distro that attempts to comply with laws themselves should be based in a software patent country, and patent-busting codecs should then be regarded as true FOSS software. The source code is open, so they can be audited and modified. They are free to use and also to redistribute so far as the authors are concerned, so it is both free speech and free beer-and perfectly safe to use in a machine where all code must be auditable for security reasons. The death of the .gif codec due to lawsuits against web hosts along the Getty Images model years ago provides a powerful disincentive against suing anyone for having codecs on their computer (where they can't be found anyway) or on their website.
The only real threat is the TTP, the TTIP, and other proposed WTO style trade deals. Because of those we should try to strangle new patented codecs in the crib, but the H264 patent will expire in a year and make that point moot.
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Originally posted by Luke View PostThe only real threat is the TTP, the TTIP, and other proposed WTO style trade deals. Because of those we should try to strangle new patented codecs in the crib, but the H264 patent will expire in a year and make that point moot.
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Software patents should be defied here as they are globally
Originally posted by deanjo View PostH.264 is a loooooong ways from having it's patents expire.
http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/MPE...#H.264_patents
I do not recognize patents (royal monopolies) on social goods like free or potentially free/reproducable goods (like software) of any kind, nor on living organisms like seeds or animals, nor on necessities of life like prescription drugs. This position is not that far from that of most of the world's governments and in fact is one of the biggest issues blocking further trade deals. Agricultural and drug patents caused 20 African nations to walk out of the WTO Doha Round in 2003, and the WTO never recovered. That "deal" they just did was nothing but an agreement to keep talking. I hope to soon see the TTIP and TTP as dead as Doha and the FTAA.
Why should ANY distro bind itself to the laws of a nasty foreign country that refuses to respect anyone's privacy and whose subjects can freely use the distro in defiance of unjust local law!
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Originally posted by Luke View PostThat list seems to be a conglomeration of all MPEG-LA patents.
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