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

[Steve Harris]

On Sat, Jul 23, 2005 at 08:05:18AM -0400, Paul Davis wrote:
> > 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.
...
> 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.

Thats true, thought there are only a handful of companies that make the
chips that drive those cheap flash players, and they are starting to
support ogg. Companies like Apple who have a genuine interest in not
supporting ogg are likly to be more of a problem.

- Steve