Freespire's Google ads: "What is Ubuntu Missing?"

[Eric Dunbar]

> > > Not that we have legal DVD playing yet, but at least MP3, MPEG4 and Real
> > > are legally available.  (And more will follow, I guess.)
> >
> > And, the same applies (presumably) to Freespire. And, as for 'legal'
> > MP3 -- that's a little debatable since no one can reasonably sell a
> > distro with that code and gross $100K/a (basically everything but a
> > mom and pop operation cannot get away with that).
>
> Fluendo has paid for a license for their MP3 codec, so everybody can use
> it (even if it's in the multiverse repository because the MP3 people
> only want to license binaries for some stupid(?) reason...).
>
> Also, you can get legal MP3, MPEG4 and Real Video/Audio by using
> RealPlayer 10 from Canonical's 'commercial' repository.  (And Real got a
> license to support WM in the near future through their lawsuits against
> MS in the EU; while another lawsuit against Apple is still going on.)

Of course none of those are "free" ;-P.