thelinuxlink.net

For anyone who knows, I just want to know how some distributions come with all codecs out of the box and some don't. Does this mean that these distributions are illegal ?

Some distros, like Linspire has licensed the stuff they ship, others just take a piss on software patents and tries to make a very functional distro, in terms of multimedia support, out of the box.

That's it basically.

Tsuroerusu wrote: others just take a piss on software patents

So when they take this "piss" it's illegal yes ? Which means the people involved has a valid reason to come after them ?

It means they are based in countries without the same patent laws as there are here in the States, as I understand it. Frugalware for example, is based out of Hungary, and there doesn't seem to be any patent laws over there, since they offer every codec imaginable out of the box.

platypus_low wrote:

Tsuroerusu wrote: others just take a piss on software patents

So when they take this "piss" it's illegal yes ? Which means the people involved has a valid reason to come after them ?

You bet, I think Slackware ships the mad library, which is a really good free software decoder for MP3, Pat Volkerding could indeed be sued for this by Fraunhofer if they wanted to.

I wondered the same thing. Mepis and PCLinuxOS are two popular distros that include the codecs, but I don't think they paid for the rights. I think Linspire is the only distro that paid for the rights to include the codecs.

greggh wrote:I wondered the same thing. Mepis and PCLinuxOS are two popular distros that include the codecs, but I don't think they paid for the rights. I think Linspire is the only distro that paid for the rights to include the codecs.

And Mepis is definitely US-based.

This is why it's not very common to see "legitimate" (for lack of a better word) Linux distros. able to play all file formats right "out of the box", as you see with some of the more home-brewed distros (at least those home-brewers living in the U.S.).

The larger (more global) Linux based companies want to make their product legal for everyone to use where ever they live, so they develop "free" versions of their OSs.

The free version allows you to legally install and use the distro. where ever you are, as it does not infringe on patent laws (for those countries that uphold the idea that software can be patented).

Once you've installed their software on to your system, the responsibility falls upon your shoulders to either abide by your country's laws or not. It's up to you to decide to download codecs packages from servers located in other countries, where patent laws allow for distribution, so you can play your media content the way you want to.

It's an extra step for the user, but it also keeps everyone safe from the "steamroller of corporate justice".

What Judland said...

Also, there's a difference between what is legal and what a distribution considers morally right. Some distros may not include software because it's legal but not free, or because they don't want to promote closed standards. Red Hat is this way a little. Derbian is this way a lot.