[linux-audio-dev] please help: enumerating library requirements

Paul Davis paul at linuxaudiosystems.com
Sat Jul 23 12:05:18 UTC 2005


> if fraunhofer restricts the widespread use of its codec, mp3 will die. ogg 
> vorbis is the better alternative, and the only reason why it hasnt defeated 
> mp3 is the awkward name.

are you blind? the only reason it hasn't defeated mp3 is that the
overwhelming majority of all compressed music format music players do
not support it. do you have any idea how hard it is for a windows user
to play even an ogg file? its like a bizarre inverse of the situation on
some linux distros, where you can play oggs but not mp3's out of the
box, and fixing it means tracking down an obscure repository and
figuring out which of the many mp3-related packages you need. ugh, not
ogg.

there is almost no support for an alternative psycho-acoustic
compression scheme within the commercial world. they already have mp3,
and those that use it have paid their licenses; they also have WMA to
contend with, and RealAudio as a distant third. companies don't want
ogg, 95% of the userbase doesn't even know it exists, and when told
about it, my guess is that most of them wouldn't care to dig further.

the business phrase "barriers to entry" springs to mind here. like most
walls, it may eventually fade, but the one that mp3 has set up is a well
constructed, many-feet-of-reinforced-concrete-thick affair.

--p





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