Andreas Girardet schrieb:
[snip]
I am looking forward to any future statements regarding this as I find the desktop currently highly crippled without decent media support. Regardless of ideological and geek arguments like ogg is better than mp3, the commercial reality is that Windows plays all that by installing commercial of shareware players and if we don't, than why would anyone switch to our distro? After all in our official announcement we said we would become the most usable and user friendly distro. To be that there is no choice and we must find a legal way to integrate patented technology at least in our commercial releases.
Sonja, I do agree with that. I switched (private) from WinXP to SUSE v9.3 a few month ago. I didn't know anything to mutch about linux. so I started with a dualboot system, and a few days later I deleted my windows. but it was a real surprise to me as I wanted to play my songs and a DVD - it wouldn't work. and more: on the hompage from Novell I could read that they don't know any legal site where I could donload the stuff i needed. 'why that ?' I asked myself. playing MP3 and watching DVD isn't any illegal thing I thouth. and becuase I didn't know anything about linux, I needed about 4 or 5 days and 3 new setups to get a system that plays the songs and let me watch the films. and that with a system where I have paid for. btw: the same price as for the upgrade to winXP pro as I've bought my PC. I'm not new to the business of PCs. so I knew that it is nothing illegal to do all that multimedia-stuff. but when someone, who is still "only a PC-user" who has learned that he just need to make a click somewhere and the right player will open get an information from the vendor of his new OS that is based on OSS, that the things he likes to do are illegal, he will be back to his windows as fast as it could. and he will never give the new OS a new chanche in the near future. on the other hand I understand the situation from Novell. but thats something that could be clared. if not for the openSUSE-side then for the boxed version where costumers pay for it: get the right license and put it into the box ! thats the only way I think. why letting Microsoft with there mediaplayer going a better way then yourself ? even when there player only plays MP3 from out of the box (v9), and only the version10 from it can rip MP3 out of the box, and play DVD when a second decoder is installed ( btw: thats mostly because modern PCs that are to buy have a DVD-ROM with the needed software; but for the user it looks like the MS player could play it by itself) - the way Microsoft is putting there stuff to the costumer is the way the user need it: turn PC on, put the files in, and play. and by the way this topic is on the list here already: why don't talk about it on the list ? you can't open a project to the comunity ( or better. try to create your owen couminity !) and when topics needed a discussion take it out of the list. I totaly agree with you when it come to make decisions it is on your side - but the way how to came to it should be something where the people who speend there time into the project needed to be heared. thanks for your audience, best regards, JBscout PS: sorry houghi for putting my post to the end ...;)