libdvdcss

[Randy Gloden]

You can only fix what is broken and what you have the abilities to fix.  
I use the NVIDIA driver and have neither the desire nor the skillset to 
make any beneficial modifications.  It becomes a technical problem when 
it doesn't work, and for me, it works.

I'm not saying that I prefer close source, but I prefer a closed source 
solution to an illegal one.  A possible free as in beer solution may be 
possible, but the requirements set forth by the "DVD CCA" dictate 
protections that prevent the development of a completely 
legitimate/legal open source solution because core components have to be 
concealed as part of the contract.  Developers must sign a 
non-disclosure aggrement, and there is a whole list of other gotchas 
relating to the protection of the "official" algorithms.  They act as if 
no one knows their little secret.

So, we can't include libdvdcss in the the disto because of legal 
reasons, we can't add a binary solution because of religious/ethical/(or 
technical if you prefer) reasons, so our only path to Linux DVD playback 
is to: Compromise on either the legal or the open source stances and 
thus install libdvdcss after the initial Ubuntu install or use a closed 
source solution.  Either way, it comes down to a better of evils decision.

I personally use the binary NVIDIA drivers, and would not lose any sleep 
over using a closed source Freespire DVD application.  At the same time, 
I am hoping that NVIDIA will open up.  I hold no such hope for the DVD 
CSS group.


-----------Randy

www.microbabble.com

Lee Revell wrote:
> On Tue, 2006-05-30 at 19:53 -0500, Randy Gloden wrote:
>   
>> I think the greatest obstacle is a religious rather than fiscal one.  In 
>> the religion of Debian, everything that comes in closed format, free or 
>> not, is of the Devil, and perhaps it is a evil that everyone is hoping 
>> will be swept away with the truly free/viable alternative.
>>     
>
> Why do you call it a religious issue?  It's a technical one - the
> community cannot support or debug software that we do not have the
> source code to.
>
> Lee
>
>
>