Suggestions for Ubuntu Article

[Chanchao]

On Sat, 2005-06-11 at 11:34 -0400, Eric Dunbar wrote:

> As for the second level of quoting (written by Erik?): "So just
> because ... not paying for support you shouldn't receive any?". I'm
> not sure about the context of that statement but Canonical has
> provided an AMAZING level of support FOR FREE (beer) without ANY
> strings attached. 

Quite right.. Nobody was implying support is anything short from
stellar. :)  I actually thought support for loads of universe packages
was pretty much just as good so I wondered about the separation of
universe. I understand that now.

> 1. It's pretty simple. Canonical CANNOT LEGALLY provide MP3 playback
> or encoding or DVD (CSS) playback without PAYING the appropriate
> rights holders for the right to do so. We've got lots of people who
> are righteously indignant about the fact that they'd have to PAY to
> get access to patents but this is the way things have functioned
> (quite well, in fact) for the past 100 or so years, 

Yes, I agree.  Only one problem: People don't KNOW that mp3 and dvd are
restricted formats!  I definitely didn't..  I remember ages ago there
was this thing of Compuserve having the patent on the gif image format.
That little joke crippled free imaging software for years and years. 

So for new users, I think it would be nice if the audio and video
players popped up an explanation on why they don't play certain formats.
(By far the most popular formats, too)  Also the software itself could
be a little more informative when trying to open an mp3..  Because mp3
is pretty much the de-facto standard for digital music, people would
assume the software is broken before considering that the most popular
format in the world could be restricted. (I know I did.. Then downloaded
XMMS which locked up (wrong default audio system, but only found out
about this 2 weeks later)

> 2. Canonical cannot provide instructions on how to install MP3 or DVD
> playback/encoding because that would be an illegal act too -- they
> would be facilitating patent violation and would be subject to
> royalties and penalties as if they themselves distributed the
> software.

Can't they just base themselves in a free (speech, etc) country, as
opposed to the USA, et al. (Which I think Ubuntu already is?)

> Anyway, get out enjoy the beautiful weather (assuming it's beautiful
> where you are... we're hitting 30 today in Toronto :)

Nice..! :) (I've been there and know how nasty it can get.. :) Ok, going
to enjoy the sunshine..  (Chiang Mai / Thailand :)

Cheers,
Chanchao