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Ogg Vorbis / Theora Language Removed From HTML5 Spec

Rudd-O writes "It's official. Ogg technology has been removed from the HTML5 spec, after Ian caved in the face of pressure from Apple and Nokia. Unless massive pressure is exerted on the HTML5 spec editing process, the Web authoring world will continue to endure our modern proprietary Tower of Babel. Note that HTML5 in no way required Ogg (as denoted by the word 'should' instead of 'must' in the earlier draft). Adding this to the fact that there are widely available patent-free implementations of Ogg technology, there is really no excuse for Apple and Nokia to say that they couldn't in good faith implement HTML5 as previously formulated."

5 of 395 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well, these companies show their true colors by base3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've always said that Apple is just like Microsoft, only not as good at it. Of course, saying so is a ticked to -1 as Apple apologists empty their clips of mod points into any post that doesn't hail Steve Jobs as the savior of computing. But I've got the karma :).

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    One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
  2. Not a requirement by Bogtha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Note that HTML5 in no way required Ogg

    So what's the point in having it in there then? The vendors who don't want to implement it won't, and the people wanting an open baseline won't get one. The recommendation did nothing for openness or interoperability, it just gave people an official excuse to bash vendors that won't implement it.

    All other things being equal, a smaller specification that everybody can agree on is better than one with unnecessary, contentious recommendations. There was never any need for this recommendation, it just bloated the already massive specification.

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    Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
  3. Re:If HTML5 gets adopted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having the web be just like TV is exactly what large companies want. The marketting tards want you to see their company website exactly the way they think it's supposed to look. They certainly don't want people filtering content or anything like that. Why do you think Flash only websites are becoming so popular? The problem is mostly due to management and marketting types having no idea how the internet works.

    On the plus side, it might be a pretty good filter all by itself. The second you see a site using HTML5, you automatically know it's probably not worth browsing.

  4. Re:An alternative... by Whatanut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So... are you a developer for inkscape or something? Beyond the first few sentences that just turned into an inkscape advertisement.

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    yvan eht nioj
  5. Re:Figures by Bogtha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not sure if you are trying to be ironic here or if you are actually serious.

    Where would we be today if the HTML spec didn't specify jpg, gif, and png as baseline standards for the image tag?

    No HTML specification does that. The farthest any HTML specification goes is mentioning that they are common formats.

    Can you imagine a huge mishmash of competing proprietary image standards, many of which wouldn't even render in free software browsers like Firefox?

    Yes, in fact that's precisely the state of the world today. For instance, Firefox doesn't support JPEG 2000.

    That would be a nightmare

    Not really, because all major browsers support JPEG and PNG, despite the fact that the HTML specifications haven't recommended them.

    HTML is a standard; it only works when it specifies exactly which formats are to be used

    It does no such thing. For instance, it doesn't require browsers to implement JavaScript, it provides scripting language-independent hooks that can be used to support JavaScript or any other scripting language. It doesn't require browsers to implement CSS, it provides stylesheet language-independent hooks that can be used to support CSS or any other stylesheet language. It doesn't require browsers to implement JPEG or PNG, it provides image format-independent hooks that can be used to support JPEG, PNG or any other image format. And the HTML 5 specification is taking the exact same approach by not requiring Theora or Vorbis, but providing codec-independent hooks that can be used to support Theora, Vorbis or any other codec.

    The choice of video and audio codecs is outside the scope of the HTML 5 specification. Attempting to more tightly couple independent formats is myopic.

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    Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha