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Jon Bringing WMV9 to Linux

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yes-have-some dept.

julie-h writes "DVD Jon has done it again. This time it wasn't Apple the target, but Microsoft's WMV9 video format. There is as always a working Proof of Concept program with screenshots."

4 of 467 comments (clear)

  1. Slashdotted already by Joel+from+Sydney · · Score: 5, Informative

    When will people learn not to get links to their blogs on the main page of /. ?

    Here's the Google Cache link.

  2. slashdotting... by |bazop| · · Score: 5, Informative
    Courtesy of mirrordot: --J.
  3. What's the fuzz about? by thedj_sd · · Score: 5, Informative

    People people.... Jon just has access (legally this time) to the VC1 reference codec and sources. He simply decided to look at how easy it was to use this in VLC. From what i remember (this was more than 6 weeks ago or something) it was half a days work. Mind you that he didn't release anything. He doesn't need to. He said that the VC1 licensing terms are less strict than MPEG4 and Jon can just use the sources after the VC1 codec is 100% final, which isn't too far off. (btw. MPEG group should really get their act together, cause VC1 truly has better licensing atm and people are getting fed up with the MPEG mess).

  4. Well it's not open source per se by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Informative

    At least not how you are thinking of open source. It's an open standard, controlled by SMPTE, that you can license. Thus it's probabaly illegal to use this without paying the license fee. So it's open in that anyone can get it, it's controlled by a standards body, not MS, but it's not OSS.

    Now VC-1 and WM-9 are pretty much the same, and at this point it's not a huge streatch to take the VC-1 code and develop it to a full blown WM-9 player (which he seems to have done). However MS could chanve the WMV format at any time they like, and break compatibility. VC-1 will remain what ti is and they can't change it without SMPTE's approval (which makes the changes available to everyone), however WMV isn't necessiarly going to be the same thing.