Yes, DivX isn't easy under Linux, but this is because it's a windoze format. It was written under windoze for windoze, supposedly using hacked microsoft code.
DivX for Linux is still in the development stage. There are no mature players, and until there are, it will not be super simple to install.
That being said, you should take a look at mplayer (see freshmeat.net). Mplayer has step by step instructions on how to compile and install avifile, libdvdread and other tools that come together to make a really great player. Yes, you do have to./configure make make install at least two packages, but the resulting player is worth it. In addition to the many formats supported, you get a player that is very well optimized for your cpu and graphics card (well, only Matrox cards are really well done right now, but ATI and Nvidia support are coming).
The argument that poeple who use NAT to connect multiple devices to the Internet over a cable modem are stealing service is completely wrong.
The truth is that there is only a single connection to the Internet through the cable modem. The NAT device is the only device connected to the Internet and is thus the only billable connection. All other devices simple connect to the NAT device, not the Internet.
Since the devices connected through NAT are not actually connected to the Internet, they have limits on their functionality. These limits include not handling incoming connections. For some users, this makes the rental of another IP address worth-while. For most of us, it doesn't.
And even more shameful is that NO ONE in the computer industry is willing to honor the man in a way where their name will be seen.
Not quite true... In 1993 I was programming in Turing the language in high school.
Turing was developed by the University of Toronto's Computer Science department as a universal handicap for 1st year students and a research project for grad students. It worked well in that no 1st year student was supposed to know the language before arriving and so no one would be bored by the in-class examples. I think the point got lost somewhere after high schools began to teach it to give their students the advantage...
The language did get pretty far, in fact it graduated to the point where compilers for Turing were written in Turing. Where it is now, I have no idea.
I am not sure that this is the best course of action. Sure, this sucks for the guy in jail, but let's examine what happens if this is pursued as far as it can be my Adobe.
I think this makes the perfect test case for the DMCA. If this thing ever makes it to a court I believe that the court would have no choice but to strike down the law as a violation of first amendment rights... This guy was giving an academic talk. No court anywhere in the (western) world will allow academic freedom to be trampled in this way.
I think a legal defense fund should be set up and this incident should be used to mount a legal challange to the DMCA. It's even better than the DeCSS papers, because the guy was arrested, not just threatened.
First of all, check with your student union. They should have an ombudsman or something. Also, check with your Uni's school of Law (if they have one). Law students will often give free advice and even represent fello students, just for practice. You need advice (and these posts don't count). After you have someone on your side, find out about your school's appeals process (they must have one).
Second, put the site back up. It seems that it was useful, at least to the students. If you can't find a place, drop me a line.
Remember, ERTW... And if all else fails, hang a VW bug from the library.
I don't know why people alway think the Petronas twin towers are the tallest building in the world... It is clearly the CN Tower in Toronto by over 300 ft.
From http://www.cntower.ca: Is the CN Tower the tallest building in the world? Yes, it is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Tallest Building and Free-Standing Structure. The Tower holds a number of other world records including World's Longest Metal Staircase and World's Highest Wine Cellar. In 1995, the CN Tower was classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
How tall is the Tower? The CN Tower is 553.33 m (1,815 ft, 5 inches) tall or the equivalent of 5 1/2 football fields stacked end-to-end.
Although at over double the height, this building would clearly be awesome...
Libranet is located in my home town (Vancouver, BC). I should be able to bring my laptop computer and somehow copy the image from their machine(s) without charge (as per the GPL).
If anybody who has any of their code in their distro (any of you Debian contributors out there) requests it, I will make a personal appearence at their office and request a free copy of their distro and let you know if they refuse. I will also make the image available to anybody else with an interest.
I believe that these guys should get some cash for their work, but that they should not get anything for other people's work. When you look at it, installation and configuration is much less than 1% of the work that is involved in creating a distribution (it's just that the actual writing of the software was done long enough ago that it isn't immeadiately apparent that was "involved" in the creation of the distro).
Slashdot Mirror
The correct url is here.
Yes, DivX isn't easy under Linux, but this is because it's a windoze format. It was written under windoze for windoze, supposedly using hacked microsoft code.
./configure make make install at least two packages, but the resulting player is worth it. In addition to the many formats supported, you get a player that is very well optimized for your cpu and graphics card (well, only Matrox cards are really well done right now, but ATI and Nvidia support are coming).
DivX for Linux is still in the development stage. There are no mature players, and until there are, it will not be super simple to install.
That being said, you should take a look at mplayer (see freshmeat.net). Mplayer has step by step instructions on how to compile and install avifile, libdvdread and other tools that come together to make a really great player. Yes, you do have to
Give it a try, it works.
The argument that poeple who use NAT to connect multiple devices to the Internet over a cable modem are stealing service is completely wrong.
The truth is that there is only a single connection to the Internet through the cable modem. The NAT device is the only device connected to the Internet and is thus the only billable connection. All other devices simple connect to the NAT device, not the Internet.
Since the devices connected through NAT are not actually connected to the Internet, they have limits on their functionality. These limits include not handling incoming connections. For some users, this makes the rental of another IP address worth-while. For most of us, it doesn't.
And even more shameful is that NO ONE in the computer industry is willing to honor the man in a way where their name will be seen.
Not quite true... In 1993 I was programming in Turing the language in high school.
Turing was developed by the University of Toronto's Computer Science department as a universal handicap for 1st year students and a research project for grad students. It worked well in that no 1st year student was supposed to know the language before arriving and so no one would be bored by the in-class examples. I think the point got lost somewhere after high schools began to teach it to give their students the advantage...
The language did get pretty far, in fact it graduated to the point where compilers for Turing were written in Turing. Where it is now, I have no idea.
I am not sure that this is the best course of action. Sure, this sucks for the guy in jail, but let's examine what happens if this is pursued as far as it can be my Adobe.
I think this makes the perfect test case for the DMCA. If this thing ever makes it to a court I believe that the court would have no choice but to strike down the law as a violation of first amendment rights... This guy was giving an academic talk. No court anywhere in the (western) world will allow academic freedom to be trampled in this way.
I think a legal defense fund should be set up and this incident should be used to mount a legal challange to the DMCA. It's even better than the DeCSS papers, because the guy was arrested, not just threatened.
Daniel Tarbuck
First of all, check with your student union. They should have an ombudsman or something. Also, check with your Uni's school of Law (if they have one). Law students will often give free advice and even represent fello students, just for practice. You need advice (and these posts don't count). After you have someone on your side, find out about your school's appeals process (they must have one).
Second, put the site back up. It seems that it was useful, at least to the students. If you can't find a place, drop me a line.
Remember, ERTW... And if all else fails, hang a VW bug from the library.
I don't know why people alway think the Petronas twin towers are the tallest building in the world... It is clearly the CN Tower in Toronto by over 300 ft.
From http://www.cntower.ca:
Is the CN Tower the tallest building in the world?
Yes, it is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Tallest Building and Free-Standing Structure. The Tower holds a number of other world records including World's Longest Metal Staircase and World's Highest Wine Cellar. In 1995, the CN Tower was classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
How tall is the Tower?
The CN Tower is 553.33 m (1,815 ft, 5 inches) tall or the equivalent of 5 1/2 football fields stacked end-to-end.
Although at over double the height, this building would clearly be awesome...
Libranet is located in my home town (Vancouver, BC). I should be able to bring my laptop computer and somehow copy the image from their machine(s) without charge (as per the GPL).
If anybody who has any of their code in their distro (any of you Debian contributors out there) requests it, I will make a personal appearence at their office and request a free copy of their distro and let you know if they refuse. I will also make the image available to anybody else with an interest.
I believe that these guys should get some cash for their work, but that they should not get anything for other people's work. When you look at it, installation and configuration is much less than 1% of the work that is involved in creating a distribution (it's just that the actual writing of the software was done long enough ago that it isn't immeadiately apparent that was "involved" in the creation of the distro).
Daniel Tarbuck