Slashdot Mirror
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."
so now will the movie theaters run linux?
moo.
We don't want it. Continue sticking to something that isn't DRM-tastic and doesn't suck, device manufacturers.
April 1st was 6 days ago.
Boy this is puzzling. Is everybody going to be happy that the Windows Media stuff will make it's way to Linux, or will they complain that MS is trying to extend it's monopoly? So far it's for Linux based devices, as opposed to the desktop machines. Ah nice ugly mix.
I, for one, think ya'll should be happy about it. It means:
a.) Linux will probably one day support WM formats. Thus no more bitching that you don't have the right OS to watch the cool vids that fly around here sometimes.
b.) MS recognizes that they just can't get everybody to use CE for embedded stuff. Might as well join the crowd, right?
Either way, Linux users win. Put your pitchforks down.
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...
You can rightly accuse Microsoft of many things but being dumb isn't one of them. Due to their lack of headway in the embedded systems market and the extreme popularity of Linux in this same market Microsoft is smart enough not to mortgage the Windows Media farm on the success of their embedded OSes.
The cynical among us might think that by porting Windows Media to Linux and then "enhancing" the Windows versions faster than the Linux version you could lure Linux-committed companies to make an "easy port" to CE. Personally I think it should be watched-for but unlikely as embedded-Windows is decent, companies are abandoning it not for functionality issues, but cost and choice -- things much more important in the embedded space.
"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.
Then don't post AC and somebody might answer.
Laws are for people with no friends.
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 am reminded of an Arab proverb about not letting the camel's nose into the tent, as soon the rest of the camel will follow.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
"Then don't post AC and somebody might answer."
;)
I'm not AC. AC's don't have user numbers, signatures, post at +2, or spell Anonymous with a V.
Oops I bet you're surprised you got a response.
As in... performance hit?
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
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.
Well, my reading of the article leads me to believe this is *not* as the slashdot headline implies a deal which means wmv will work on Linux. Far to the contrary. It appears MS is *licensing* the use of software that will be able to use wmv on specific PVRs which also happen to run an *embedded* Linux. It is extremely likely this solution will not only not be open source but not be distributable at all nor applicable to the general purpose Linux most people run.
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