Do "Illegal" Codecs Actually Scare Linux Users?

Posted by kdawson on Thursday July 19, 2007 @04:11AM from the hardened-criminals-listening-to-music dept.

jammag writes "In this article, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes points out why he keeps giving money to Microsoft and Apple despite the clear advantages of Linux: the scary legalese dialogs you have to click through to install codecs for common multimedia formats. Quoting: 'Despite strong points that go far beyond price, Linux falls short when it comes to legally supporting file formats such as MP3, WMA/WMV and DVDs.' He talks about using Ubuntu and booting up Totem Movie Player, only to be confronted with a burst of legalese about what a hardened criminal he'll be if he uses Totem without a license. This problem is 'a deal breaker' for him."

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Re:Not just linux by hal9000(jr) · 2007-07-19 04:51 · Score: 1, Flamebait

Since when are ad hominem arguments "Insightful"?

Inviduals may or may not be concerned with possible legalities, but companies are and the potential for a lawsuit is enough to be a deal killer. That is what drives the BSA tactics, no?