Real Video, Helix, realplayer questions

[use_real_email_ulist at ohiggins.ubuntu.com]

> 2) Is anyone able to view C-SPAN with realplayer reasonably well?

I can watch the videos very well using Totem-Xine.  Why not use
Totem-Xine?

> 
> Thanks for that, even 3 months after I asked, but the xine site refers
> me to mplayer site for codecs, 

I am not sure what's going on here..what are you doing on the Xine
site?  You don't need to go there to install Xine, or anything Xine
related.  Simply go to Synaptic, and download Totem-Xine, and a few
other Xine things.

> 
> where they seem to care so little for
> legal issues to bother mentioning any (except GPL, of course).

Unless you're reviewing the legalities of everything for a
investigation or court-related matters, I don't see why you're so
interested in all these legal issues.  If you want to watch your
videos, install Xine.

> It's
> not at all clear where the binary-only stuff is coming from or under
> what licenses, if any.

What difference does that make to whether you're able to view the
videos?  I, along with the other poster, have confirmed those videos
work well with Xine.

> Sadly, I've come to the conclusion that I will not be viewing video
> over the Internet in future. 
> 

If there are any errors you get after downloading Xine, let us know. 
We'll see why you can't view videos, and we'll work with you.

> Another reason being the indemnity
> clauses now in the licenses of Real Networks, Comcast ISP, and (soon)
> Quest ISP, which will cause me to return to dial-up soon.

I've never heard anyone backing out of a contract because of indemnity
clause.  I find that quite funny, because it's almost impossible to
find contracts nowadays without indemnity clauses.  I don't know how
you've gone through life without signing a single contract that
contained such clauses.  

Besides, why does this matter at all to layman?  Most people don't even
know what an indemnity clause is.  :)  The truth is that you can't get
away from indemnity clauses, eventhough its silly for RealPlayer to
have them in their contracts.


-- 
H.E. Pennypacker