H.264 Support Finally Comes To Fedora Via Cisco's OpenH264

[Ericg]

F23 support is still not really official and everything is in "updates-testing". Also there is no rpmfusion support for RHEL/ Centos 7 yet.
Seems like rpmfusion is dying together with the suitability for normal home use of Fedora and Centos.

Some other project will rise from the ashes, if RPMFusion does in fact die. I wouldn't be too worried about it. Even if it does die, Fedora users (myself included) would probably just end up at either Tumbleweed or Arch.

[edgmnt]

Perhaps but Fedora cannot point to that. It can however include Cisco's implementation.

Why can't Fedora point to rpmfusion? Really, now, why isn't there a rpmfusion package in Fedora? I've recently asked them to include the keys at the very least, but I don't think they'll do that either. They're distributing tons of other software, under various licenses, none of which actually have anything to do with Fedora, and which indirectly point to non-free stuff.

[RahulSundaram]

Fair enough, then what is the "official" legal policy?

Everything under https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal:Main

[RahulSundaram]

Why can't Fedora point to rpmfusion? Really, now, why isn't there a rpmfusion package in Fedora?

RPMFusion FAQ answers this

http://rpmfusion.org/FAQ#Why_doesn.27t_the_Fedora_project_ship_the_Software_that_RPM_Fusion_offers.3F

[edgmnt]

RPMFusion FAQ answers this

http://rpmfusion.org/FAQ#Why_doesn.27t_the_Fedora_project_ship_the_Software_that_RPM_Fusion_offers.3F

No, that merely answers why Fedora won't include encumbered software. But a package of the rpmfusion repo (or at least its keys) would be an entirely different matter.

Similarly, Fedora has a package for Docker, which can install an Ubuntu container, which in turn can install its own non-free software. How is that any different?

[bastiaan]

Everything under https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal:Main

I'm afraid I was unable to locate a policy there, either for software inclusion or, in this case, third-party repositories facilitated by Fedora. I assume the absence of such a policy is deliberate.

At any rate, until now, Fedora seems to have avoided facilitating such arrangements, in particular Fluendo's MP3 decoder. Fluendo's decoder is in the same situation as OpenH264, where there is an end-user patent license, but the user will have to install the decoder themselves and is barred from redistributing it. We can look at the sources but cannot change the published version without the patent holder's permission.

So, my question is: why the sudden change?

[RahulSundaram]

No, that merely answers why Fedora won't include encumbered software. But a package of the rpmfusion repo (or at least its keys) would be an entirely different matter.

Similarly, Fedora has a package for Docker, which can install an Ubuntu container, which in turn can install its own non-free software. How is that any different?

The former according to the legal team opens up liability of contributory infringement. The latter does not. If you want to discuss this further with the legal team, I recommend posting to

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal:Main#Contact

[RahulSundaram]

I'm afraid I was unable to locate a policy there, either for software inclusion or, in this case, third-party repositories facilitated by Fedora. I assume the absence of such a policy is deliberate.

At any rate, until now, Fedora seems to have avoided facilitating such arrangements, in particular Fluendo's MP3 decoder. Fluendo's decoder is in the same situation as OpenH264, where there is an end-user patent license, but the user will have to install the decoder themselves and is barred from redistributing it. We can look at the sources but cannot change the published version without the patent holder's permission.

So, my question is: why the sudden change?

Fedora couldn't get an agreement to directly include Fluendo. The project did include codecbuddy which pointed to Fluendo's mp3 decoder but there was a number of issues including time taken to resolve bugs that the project decided to drop it. I was involved in the former but not the more recent changes from my workstation group. I assume they have a better deal in place. You will have to ask the workstation group for details. Their mailing list is at

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/desktop.lists.fedoraproject.org/