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Commercial DVD Software Comes to Linux
timekillerj writes "Turbolinux launched a new version of it's Linux distribution today. The key feature is the first commercial DVD player, provided by Cyberlink. PowerDVD for Linux supports menu navigation, Dolby Digital sound, subtitles, and more."
Plonk!
I think I'd prefer non-commercial software, please...
So then what happens to DeCSS? IIRC, the main defense of DeCSS was that no Linux player existed. Well... now one exists, but I'm sure people don't want to give up their ability to use open-source alternatives. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Lindows (or Linspire) has one commercial DVD player. It was released more than a year ago. It cost 4.95 for CNR members.
DNA in your Linux: DNALinux
There are already some great players for Linux available (they've been around for ages) but they exist in a legal grey-area.
Remember, just because you bought the DVD and bought the hardware to play it back with doesn't mean you are neccesarily allowed to choose what software you use to play it back!
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
So, which one is it?
/ LI CENSE
ftp://ftp.turbolinux.com/pub/TurboLinux/LICENSE
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
You should carefully read the following terms and conditions of this end user license agreement ("agreement") before installing any of the software stored on the enclosed cd-roms. By installing any of this software, you (and any entity on whose behalf you are acting) are consenting to be bound by this agreement. If you do not agree to all of the terms and conditions of this agreement, do not install any of the software and return all enclosed cd-roms together with their complete packaging to the place of purchase for a full refund.
http://www.turbolinux.com/about/returns.html
Turbolinux will offer an even exchange for damaged media within 30 days of purchase. We regret that we're unable to accept returns for all other opened software.
So, If I don't agree, I can't use the software AND I can't get my money back. I think I'll go rewrite the EULA myself and agree to my version instead.
So are Slashdotters going to thank the MPAA for addressing one of the Linux community's concerns? Nope, they're going to piss and moan about what's wrong with this particular piece of software.
I'd submit that this is a big reason why software companies don't want to embrace the Linux market. No matter how good the software they produce is, Linux users aren't going to be happy unless it's free (speech) and free (beer).
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Its 69 dollar for Turbolinux not for PowerDVD.
It is like Acrobat Reader or Realplayer for Linux.
BTW you probably will be able to get linux from major distros that comes without commercial software. Mandrake has a normal version, and also a Powerpack version (and others as well), and the main difference is that the powerpack comes with commercial software, and the normal version doesn't. If you don't want the commercial software, then buy the normal one (or download the free download edition).
I'm not sure how other distros handle this, because I've never used another distro. Yeah, I know, I'm not an official geek unless I've tried at least 5 distros... But I got mandrake working, ok? I don't have much free time. If it's not broken, don't fix it, right?
At any rate, I don't think that we will lose the possibility of having a geek OS; we'll just have choices for what type of linux we want.
That's what's so great about linux, IMO. You can pay more to get an easy to use linux, or pay less if you don't have much money and can figure it out, or like to have the challenge.
DeCSS was basically a reverse engineered copy of the decryption portion of a dvd player, not to mention using a key.
To join the group, besides paying $$$, you have to agree to all sorts of rules about player operation like listening to the force play flag, macrovision, and region coding. Oh, and not disclosing some of the specifications (they're a trade secret).
I don't read AC A human right
PowerDVD was first announced on Linux in 2000. See this article in the Register:
y ba ck_on_linux_just/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/08/18/dvd_pla
To my knowledge, they have never released it for end-users to buy/download.
However, in 2001 I purchased a ThinkPad T22 from IBM pre-loaded with Linux and it had PowerDVD installed. The software required some funky thinkpad driver to be installed or it could not playback. I long ago dumped that distribution (caldera) and now Xine/mplayer et al run just fine on the same thinkpad without any special drivers.
Once upon a time, a gallant InterVideo boasted a proposition to release LinDVD. LinDVD, being a port of their WinDVD software for Linux, during a time when the legalities were clouded and MPAA stomped through the land.
If there was a time, to justify a commerical DVD player for the OpenSource community, InterVideo dropped the ball years ago. Why buy PowerDVD? Some might take this and use it as an example, right or wrong, to prove a point of how inefficient, slow, backwards and ignorant todays management techniques are. I firmly believe Xine is just as good as any of the highest priced DVD players for Windows/Mac. Why isn't it? It navigates DVD menus, it plays the movies well. For such a software package, that's it everything else will just sit infront of the movie and be annoying, like some child in the back seat asking "are we there yet?" over and over again.
All the money companies spend. It's a waste, they spend billions trying to keep up with social trends, billions trying to predict market progress, all down the toilet.
That most; if not all DVD playing software on any platform ; from any company; closed or open source. Insists on making their gui's look like the front of a set-top dvd player?Do they not always look ugly and out of place? No single dvd playing software seems to spend enough time on getting the gui right. I know stuff like Xine and MPlayer are skinnable (and others probably) but invariably they default to a nasty rendition of the front of a dvd player. Id like to see more time spent on a cleaner, simpler interface with buttons that are simple to understand. For example; take a look at the powerdvd screenshot. WTF are all those icons for ?
Nick...
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
The wide availability of free open source software has spoiled a lot of us. I mean...when it comes down to it, I don't LIKE to pay for software, because I don't have a lot of money. However, if I see a product that I like, and also works well, I don't mind paying for it.
Case in point: I use FreeBSD, and I have a SBLive 5.1 sound card, with a SPDIF output. If I were in Windows, Creative's drivers allow me to use the SPDIF output without any trouble. However, FreeBSD's stock pcm driver, while adequate, doesn't support SPDIF output on the 4-STABLE kernel tree. I routinely had to switch between analog and digital output for sound.
I'd used oss in Linux a while back, so I downloaded the FreeBSD build and gave it a whirl. The trial copy worked great, so I bought a license.
Granted, I didn't want to spend any money, but it did exactly what I wanted it to do, and some. So I consider that a worthwhile investment.
I think it's understandable to have reservations about paying money for software owned by Big Evil Corporations(tm), because you don't want to feed the beast. However, when it comes to development on open source and free open source platforms, if the developers aren't getting paid, new features aren't going to be appearing magically. Having software that's free (in terms of beer and speech) may mean that you don't have to pay MONEY for it, but you still should be contributing something.
For my part, I can't write code for crap. I've made several attempts to learn C, but they generally result in disaster. Since I can't contribute patches back to developers, I don't mind buying boxed copies of the software, or books, to help pay for development.