Re: [bongo-devel] Re: bongo.el --- flexible and usable media player

[Daniel Brockman]

Richard Stallman <address@hidden> writes:

>     I guess this attitude is what RMS has a problem with.
>     He's saying we should boycott mplayer until they start
>     caring about software freedom.
>
>     Is that right, Richard?
>
> My position is a little stronger than that.  As long as mplayer
> recommends non-free codecs, we should not support mplayer.

Okay.  That's quite simple.

When the mplayer website stops reading, ``For a complete MPlayer
installation you will need [...] a set of binary codecs,'' ---
that is, when they stop recommending use of non-free codecs, ---
then we can add support for MPlayer to Bongo.

Since we already have MPlayer support in Bongo, we will have
to announce its removal on the web site.  I can do this.
I'll say that we have decided to stop supporting MPlayer
because it recommends non-free codecs, and mention that we
still support VLC.

Then I will begin working on a GStreamer backend. :-)

>     On the other hand, I believe --- and please correct me if I
>     am wrong --- that VLC in fact does not encourage use of
>     non-free software.  Why don't they brag about this more?
>
> I do not know, but I speculate that they are supporters of the open
> source philosophy rather than the free software philosophy.  The idea
> of open source is that you should aim only for making software
> powerful and reliable.  That world view does not suggest that freedom
> is worth fighting for.

Why, then, do they not recommend the non-free codecs that
would make VLC more powerful?  (Perhaps, I guess, because
including binary-only code would make VLC less reliable.)

-- 
Daniel Brockman <address@hidden>