Slashdot Mirror
BBC "Not In Bed With Bill Gates"
whoever57 writes "The BBC's head of technology denied rumors that a secret deal with Microsoft was behind the XP-only launch of the BBC's iPlayer. According to Ashley Highfield, the reason that the player only supports Windows XP is that only a small number of Linux visitors have come to the BBC's website. Why he would expect a large number of Linux-based visitors to the site when the media downloads are Windows XP only is not clear. He also thinks that 'Launching a software service to every platform simultaneously would have been launch suicide,' despite the example of many major sites that support Linux (even if this is through the closed-source flash player)."
Why is 'a small number of linux users' a reason for going with this? What is wrong with using a format that is available everywhere (including portable players!) as a matter of course?
400-600 people on Linux use bbc.co.uk (in the UK)? I don't think so...
Someone needs to recheck their server logs.
I can't believe that. I am a licence payer and visit the BBC website everyday on Linux. I'm sure their proprietary webstats package is just ignoring Linux. He didn't give the number of 'others'.
My little Linux and tech blog
The interesting bit here is the Beeb isn't really a commercial organization. They're a public entity which is strictly required to keep itself free of commercial and political influence.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
"You don't decide how big to build the bridge by counting the number of people swimming the river."
Cuz once the bridge is up, hundreds more who couldn't swim the distance will want to cross.
Pavlov wouldn't be so famous if he'd used a can opener instead of a bell.
It should be clarified that he was talking about the root bbc.co.uk site NOT the iPlayer site, so it is clearer why the would expect Linux users to visit the site.
Because if they had, it would have been perfectly clear that by "the BBC website" he meant bbc.co.uk, as that's actually part of the referenced quote. Given that the site is one of the most popular in the UK, and is used by people from all walks of life, I'd say that their OS usage stats stand fair chance of being representative of reality...
It's official. Most of you are morons.
iPlayer is based on Kontiki (owned by Verisign). Windows only, unless you're prepared to jump through virtual hoops, AFAIK. Reading through the user agreement: it's targeting UK-based computer users. Hmmm. Shall we build a Windows, Mac or Linux player? No-brainer, really, when the P2P distribution layer is Windows only.
The Beeb did it because it was the cheapest, easiest, but not best, option.
That said, it was a really stupid move and managed to get everybody from the smallest Linux hacker to the UK government commenting in public about the policy.
Creating an open "player" for all platforms would have taken more resources at first, but from that point on all future platforms would be supported by the people who use the platform.
Sadly, the Beeb needs closed source to implement the no-save and timed delete features forced on them by others.
When will people stop whining about iPlayer being XP only? There's no secret Microsoft alliance, and no great conspiracy.
The main reason why iPlayer uses Windows DRM is because the companies who produce content for the BBC didn't want their shows streamed without some kind of rights management, because, god forbid, it should end up on bit torrent. The cause of this is most likely ignorance on their part, because, as we all know, DRM stops piracy, saves lives, cures cancar and ends world famine.
The core code behind iPlayer is completely cross-browser, having worked on some of it, I know that it conforms to BBC New Media guidelines, which specifically state that all HTML, JavaScript, etc must be compatible with all major browsers (we even tested major elements of it in Firefox, and quite a few of the developers worked on Mac/Linux boxes)
There has always been a plan for a Mac/Linux version of iPlayer, but the current DRM requirements being imposed on the iPlayer Core team make it somewhat difficult for them to actually get working on it
Bollocks... the licence money I pay FUNDS the BBC, which they are using to pay MS to produce a locked-in player that deliberately stops my using it as I do not use MS products.
This sounds like racketeering, to me.
The guy who leads the iPlayer project was responsible for WMP while he was working at Microsoft Europe.
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
If MS and the BBC were in cahoots, don't you think there would be a Vista version? Microsoft doesn't want you buying XP any more.
Executive summary: "Management ineptitude with statistics, not conspiracy, behind stupid BBC move."
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
There must more than 600, because a "Latest BBC Headlines" bookmark comes "preinstalled" with Firefox.
(At least with the ones I've seen)
This man is clearly a small-minded idiot who the BBC should be ashamed to have on their staff. Frankly, I don't care a jot about support for Linux or Mac. That's not where I'm coming at this from. I'm coming at this from the simple tenets of the BBC's constitution, that "Nation shall speak peace unto nation". This is on the plaque outside Broadcasting House, the BBC main HQ. It's why the BBC has offices in eastern countries you've never heard of. It's why the BBC broadcasts programs for minorities. It doesn't say "Nation shall speak peace unto nation provided they're running a compatible operating system". That's like it saying, "National shall speak peace unto nations provided they have white skin", or "Nation shall speak peace unto nation provided they support the British government's war on terror". There are no bars here, for any reason, trivial or otherwise. It really is disgraceful that this man is in a position of power in the BBC. It shows how far standards have slipped in the BBC. The iPlayer project will very probably be cancelled anyway because another fuckwitt is running the BBC and has massively overstretched the organisation, so that it's now cutting back by billions of pounds. Generation X has all growed-up and they're simply not up to the job.
..."with a statutory duty to serve the whole UK population..."
I look forward to you campaigning to get the BBC to broadcast all its DAB channels on analog radio, as they're not fufilling their statutory duty to serve the whole UK population blah blah blah...
The fact is that you CHOOSE to use a minority platform. That means you're not going to be first in the queue when it comes to getting new services from the BBC. You'll get them eventually, unless the marginal cost of providing them is too high - just as there's people in the UK who can't get digital TV (and won't get it for years).
Let me put it in a way that your little mind can grasp: If it cost 1 million to implement iPlayer for each platform, then it would cost:
And, companies often do not do what 6% of their shareholders. I think you have forgotten that shareholders vote on many things and it is majority rule. If a vote is 49%/51%, then the 49% lose and the policy of the other 51% gets implemented.
What makes you think you and your choice of operating system is more important and deserves a bigger share of the money and resources than the other 95% of the population? What makes you think you are worth 19,400 times than 95% of the rest of the population?
Do you see the depths of your selfishness yet?
More importantly, if you had RTFA, you would have seen where they decided to support the majority of their visitors first and then add support for the rest later.
Now, stop being a self-centered asshole.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
No, Linux users are choosing to use Linux. Using Linux comes with some cost to the individual using it. Don't like, don't use Linux. Don't sit there and whine that you are not getting what you want and expect everyone to bend over backwards for you. Don't act like you are 20000 times more important than you really are.Funny, but 95% of the population seems like much of the people as reasonably possible.Then, you should, in the spirit of open source, volunteer to do the work for them.
In any case, you are just whining because the 5% that make up Mac users and the
You are a selfish brat. You want to be treated as special because of something you choose to do. If your choice should not effect what other people are required to do. Tell me, do you believe that because a few people choose to drink and drive that the rest of the population should be forced to stay off the road? Do you also believe that because a portion of the population chooses to smoke that smoking should be allowed everywhere including elementary schools, movie theaters, and hospitals?
You are not special. You do not have any special rights. No one should have to be forced to do something simply because you choose to be different.
Grow up and act like a responsible adult and live with the consequences of your decisions.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I'm sure Bill Gates' wife will be happy to hear this news. :P
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/make_complaint_step1.shtml
Read this if you think iPlayer is a good idea - http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071021231933899
Mark Taylor of the UK Open Source Consortium makes the point that the BBC has spent 100 million pounds on the iPlayer project. They're also going broke and will have to sell their flagship London headquarters building for - guess how much?
So, this project has already beggared the BBC. Am I too paranoid in seeing this as the first step in yet another Microsoft 'embrace and extend' play? They've had ambitions to own broadcast TV for ages. If they can prove their DRM works for a major broadcaster over the net, next step will be to DRM the broadcast TV. After that, if your TV doesn't have Windows Inside, you'll be shit out of luck.
--- Yx3 = Delilah ---
After digging around, this is the best stat I can find - In March 2004, there were 24.5 million licences in force. So the iPlayer has cost every licence holder over 5 pounds - and that includes the huge majority who will never use iPlayer. Let's be optimistic and imagine a takeup of 100,000. That means the iPlayer has a per seat cost of 1,000 pounds. So, two questions: would you pay 1,000 pounds for a copy of this piece of software? And is it fair that non-users are subsidising you to the tune of 995 pounds?
Yet another Freedom of Information request worth making: ask the BBC to break down the money spent on this.
If we knew the facts, I truly believe arrests would be made
--- Yx3 = Delilah ---