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Windows Media Format Could Hit Linux-Based Devices
An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com reports that Microsoft has licensed InterVideo Inc. to supply Windows Media Technology to makers of Linux-based consumer devices. Under the agreement, InterVideo is licensed to take the components of the Windows Media Format, port them to Linux, and provide them to manufacturers who are interested in running Windows Media Technology on Linux-based consumer devices such as set-top boxes, personal video recorders, and other hybrid multimedia devices."
I can finally view porn site movies in linux!
Better get a few boxes of tissues handy....
Most interesting since it was Intervideo that made LinDVD over 3 years ago. To date, only IBM has every shipped it (pre-packaged on some stinkpads). Their site still (3 years later) says it's released to OEMs and developers only. I've emailed them, but they didn't want me as a developer I guess. :) Funny that the first legal DVD player for Linux never made it to the public arena, yet MS could now bring it there...
If not, it will make it difficult (impossible) for the different distros to include it if it is not GPL'd.
I realize that this is isn's a strict requirement for all Linux software, but it would be nice to have it included as part of the distro. I guess that in the end, it will be nice to not have to boot back over to windows every time I download something from website where the idiot who made it thinks windows is the only OS.
"Con: Probably NOT going to be open-source."
Is that really a big stinking deal in this case? Maybe I'm just going numb to the "It's only good if it's Open Source' crap that keeps flying around here.
P.S. I'm being serious here, I'd really like to know if it's a big deal or not. Not really my intention to troll or be insulting.
For you Linux nuts who are worrying about it not being open-source and therefore not being able to use it in your own distro, just use MPlayer .I use it, and it plays Windows Media files very well. There are plenty of other progs for *nix that can play Windows Media, so this isn't really that special.
Why not?
Windows media contains all the various DRM stuff movie theaters would require - add to that the bonus of a stable OS and hey presto, a cheaper, more reliable digital cinema experience...
sound like a winner all round.
I (kinda) disagree. At least regarding the *BSDs. If they can get the program to work under linux compatibility mode (ala' Oracle, IIRC); then it will hit all open OSes (except, perhaps, HURD and OSX).
I think you missed it. This isn't for Linux. It is for consumer devices that are *based* on Linux. Someone else commented that the market for this is non-existant. They are wrong. The market for this is everyone that has a Windows PC who goes into Best Buy for a stereo system that can play their music files. They don't care one bit whether it is based on Windows CE or Linux because it doesn't matter. They can't play with the OS anyways.
-BrentI'm not sure Linux users do win, nor do users as a whole. Here's why: If Windows Media appears officialy to a PC near me, absolutely nothing will change in my life whatsoever as far as what I view or listen to. However, Microsoft will now be able to say to clients (such as the RIAA), "Hey, we've got this format, and it's an industry standard. It's available on every modern platform on all modern operating systems. Plus, it has been built with the entertainment industry's needs in mind, so you no longer even need to consider developing CD protection. We're on top of that muthafucka (ok, I've just always wanted to hear Bill say that)." And they would license the technology, noting that Microsoft has proven technologies and will probably give them a fat discount.
The result would be, of course, that as Microsoft is prone to doing, the format spec would change and Windows tech would be updated. New CDs would only play on computers under the new spec because it protects against recently found exploits to bypass it. Linux libraries? Not updated. Mac libraries? Not updated. When will they be updated? Oh, whadya know - the market share is too small to support. So why bother? I don't want it. I don't need it. As far as I'm concerned, keep that shit as far away as possible, because it's useless to me.
Besides, doesn't mplayer support everything ever?
Free codecs just aren't enough for many people, myself included. I won't use Real fomats because of this reason, even though there's a player for Linux.
Free, open apps are a little better. GIF, PDF, and MP3 are things that fall into this category. Yeah, there's tons of open and free software out there for these, but technically, they're encumbered with patents, licensing, etc. But at least I can trust the folks who write apps (the open source authors, anyways). These are handy, but there's still an "impurity" with using these formats.
The ideal is open source apps/codecs which are not laden with licensing and patent restrictions. The Vorbis project (or is it the Ogg proejct?) is a good idea. I'm sick of trailers and video clips being released in Real, QuickTime, and M$ formats. You would think that from a purely cost/licensing perspective, site owners would want to use a very open and well-defined standard that would reach all platforms (like MPEG)? It just doesn't make sense.
No, I for one will not be happy about this. I guess I'll be one of the complainers.
Method of processing duck feet
It being opensource would hurt Linux badly.
If its closed source it can be pointed to as a Real Application(tm) running under Linux and we'd be taken seriously. If it gets opensourced, It will be pointless. We have mplayer for everything, no point in wmp.
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
Oh, Intervideo has plenty of working DVD-on-LInux product. They just haven't delivered LinDVD as a standalone product. So where is LinDVD? Inside Sony's new Tivo-like player/80 GB disk drive/DVD burner that was on slashdot last week.
How do I know this? Um, you gotta trust me and my high karma on this one...Those NDAs are a bitch.
"one treats others with courtesy not because they are gentlemen or gentlewomen, but because you are" --G. Henrichs
You know the flap about whether or not you can use .GIF or .JPG ? Apparently, the protocols are copyrighted and "permission to use" can be yanked at any time?
I am very afraid of incorporating anything I do not have clear access to in any business system I have anything to do with.
Just as that student got hit with some 90 Billion fine, I just do not trust anything proprietary, kinda like I do not trust the concept of building anything I have to have to survive in a rented building.
I have seen by now how people think... like the RIAA that has that student over a 90 billion dollar barrel. If I have to design something and control freaks are involved, I give them plenty of knobs, but I do not connect them to anything of any importance.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
If its closed source it can be pointed to as a Real Application(tm) running under Linux and we'd be taken seriously. If it gets opensourced, It will be pointless. We have mplayer for everything, no point in wmp.
Real Applications? Run RealPlayer.......
It being opensource would hurt Linux badly.
Not so sure. We already have StarOffice, Ximian Connector, And many other proprietary solutions on Linux. These are far closer to the "Real Applications" that you are referring to.
I think having *an* open-source implimentation is important and will probably continue (mplayer is based in Hungary and may benefit from differences in copyright law). But as long as there is at least one program that can work with these files that is open source, I don't care how many proprietary projects there are. That is good. It is called competition.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
I think TiVo has the right idea with thier technology as far as MPEG encoding goes. I cannot see this as a real "break-through" for PVRs and the like especially considering the predicted performance and "stableness" of windows media running on linux. Granted, I'm sure this will be a neat thing to play with for the home user!
-Rob
There is one, and only one reason that there is a market for Windows Media Formats... They are based on MPEG-4, but Microsoft charges about half the licensing fees for it's use.
Even someone who has incredible disdain for Microsoft (like myself) would strongly consider using WMV rather than MPEG4 for license reasons alone.
Of course, it is possible to play Windows Media on Unix systems right now, but you don't get the great microsoft feature of DRM. No doubt Microsoft's player will have it. If I owned a theatre, I would NOT use the new digital projects because of the DRM. At least a reel doesn't explode after your 1-month subscription is over, or you have your computer's clock set incorrectly.
So why are they getting into the market now, after all this time? I'd bet it is almost completely due to On2's free licensing of VP3. Xiph.org's Theora is due for beta in a couple months, and from what I've seen of videos encoded using the VP3 plugin, it beats out MPEG4 in quality versus filesize, and to top it all off, it doesn't show signs of any of MPEG(1/2/4)'s artifacts, which really stand out, to my eyes. So, not only will there be completely free (BSD-licensed, patent-free) audio and video codecs, but they (ogg, vp3/theora) are far better than the dominant video and audio codecs available right now.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Putting all of the upfront analysis aside for a second, what could Microsoft be up to here? Hmmm... what does Microsoft want? I think everybody can agree that it isn't to give linux a hand, right? They're always trying to dominate some market, so it's a safe bet without even reading into it that they're probably thinking a few moves ahead with that end in mind.
So then, reading into it, it looks to me like Microsoft is licensing some proprietary technology out to a market they can't compete well in. So whether you're running Microsoft embedded or linux embedded, you're still using Microsoft's format, right? And a few years from now, everybody's using Microsoft's proprietary format in their various devices. Microsoft would have the keys to the kingdom at that point.
It's really hard to ignore Microsoft's history when I look at stuff like this. They want to be in this market, and they see that linux has legs in this market. It's silly to think that they're knuckling under or doing this out of charity, or even doing it just for the licensing profits. They've never done business like that. They want the whole enchilada.
Marketing + availability on many systems + marketing + being the only encoder included with many products + marketing = content creators only making their stuff available in proprietary formats.
I don't want to pay another $1 when I rent a dvd to pay for the WMV licence to be able to decode the content.. :p
Speak before you think
of course xine and all media players based on this nice multimedia engine (totem, gxine, kde's arts,...) play back windows media as well, mms/mmsh/http streaming included.
btw the technology behind this comes from ffmpeg and avifile/wine.
time is a funny concept
I can't wait to read the EULA, after the shit they put in the last media player update.
>Is that really a big stinking deal in this case?
Yes. This is Microsoft we're talking about here (well, an M$ sponsored project). Wonder what it'll phone home with today?
But hey, it's all your own personal choice.
Now, if it were coming from a trusted company, not a problem. I never had major problems with VMWare being binary, for example.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC