Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

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Re: Patents and no-cost software

Author:	Wesley Felter
Posted:	8/23/2000; 8:21:06 PM
Topic:	Next survey: Are you an open source developer?
Msg #:	20053 (In response to 20015)
Prev/Next:	20052 / 20054

Looking at their site, it looks like Vorbis requires you to certify with them to claim compatibility. So, what do I say my app supports if I don't certify? Is it really open source to say that?

I consider it still open source; they never claimed the name was open. (You know how programmers are, always tricky.) So if you aren't compatible, you have to use a different name. Red Hat, AbiWord, and Apache all have similar restrictions.

The bit about MP3 encoding is interesting, however. Is this a GIF problem in the making?

I think the problem is already here. Have you tried to get an easy-to-install package of an open source MP3 encoder? It's a total PITA, because Fraunhofer is chasing people down.

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