Why is Fedora a multimedia disaster? - Here is why.

[Valent Turkovic]

I install a fresh Fedora7 (test 3) then run web browser and go to
fedora magazine page - from there I download some video ogg files from
it.

Why is it that when I click on the file I can't view the video? Player
just crashes! And the default player is kamboodle! Why is that?!? That
is the worst video player I have seen ever! On any platform!
Opensource or not there is no excuse to put that player as the default
one!

Fedora 7 experience was a bit better than FC6 one - because in FC6
when I tried the same experiment I got an error message that ogg is a
unknown format and system doesn't know how to open it!

Great! And that was an OGG file with 0% proprietary fibers in it :)
How do you expect to get people to use linux as a destop when the MOST
simple multimedia desktop scenario doesn't work!?!

If you can't play "official" video form redhat pages then this is a
serious case of TERRIBLE multimedia desktop usability!

I know about all the great effort that has gone into fedora releases,
and I love it. It is the best linux distro for me, but I know how to
set it up, iron out the quirks that mess up the destop experience and
configure it for optimal work/play flow.

But please, please make it a lot easier on non-geek people so that
they can also use this great stuff called fedora. And belive me there
are people wanting to do so, but they can't because we don't let them.
They need some features to be enabled by default or else they won't
know how that they even exist.

So please change the default video player to totem or something else,
just NOT kamboodle because it just doesn't work and it sucks GUI vise.

Regarding proprietary video codecs RedHad developers just say
something like this: "We talked with out lawyers and they said no."
Ok? And? Where can we see this discussion? I know that you can't put
MP3 support in fedora, but that you can't even put an link for some
European server that has all the codecs? Lawyers say that RedHat can
be sued even for puting links that enable multimedia. Ok, maybe I
believe it but it is maybe possible that some one would sue, but
hardly win that case.

But there are legal ways around that, you can put a text saying that
it is legal to enable multimedia codecs only if you live in a country
that doesn't have software patents - like I do.

It is possible if you want it - Ubuntu has shown that because they
will be doing just that, and even a step beyond that. Ubuntu will have
a Ubuntu for European market and other countries that don't have
software patents (my country doesn't!) with all multimedia codecs
embedded within the distro!

So please let's start the discussion because believe me there is a
great  need for this because there are lot's media files that are
every where (internet, youtube, divx rips of dvds, etc...) that people
have a need to watch and listen.

Hope to hear from Fedora/RedHat developers and Desktop usability
experts what are their opinions.

I will make this email available also on my blog:
http://kernelreloaded.blog385.com/
so you can leave/read comments there also.

Valent
- fiber optics and networking engineer from Croatia.

-- 
http://kernelreloaded.blog385.com/
linux, blog, anime, spirituality, windsurf, wireless
registered as user #367004 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org.
ICQ: 2125241
Skype: valent.turkovic

[Rex Dieter]

Valent Turkovic wrote:

>  I install a fresh Fedora7 (test 3) then run web browser and go to
>  fedora magazine page - from there I download some video ogg files from
>  it.
>  
>  Why is it that when I click on the file I can't view the video? Player
>  just crashes! And the default player is kamboodle! Why is that?!? 
Agreed.  Bad choice (actually, a lack of making a choice).

Not only will kaboodle not be any default player in the final release, it
likely won't be installed (by default anyway).

Feel better?

-- Rex

[Andrew Haley]

Valent Turkovic writes:

>  So please let's start the discussion 
Please read the long thread that starts with
http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-February/msg01006.html

If you have any point to make that you are certain was not already
made by someone in that thread, please go ahead.  However, please do
not CC: it to fedora-devel-list: that list is for developer
discussions, not user requests.

Andrew.

-- 
Red Hat UK Ltd, Amberley Place, 107-111 Peascod Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1TE, UK
Registered in England and Wales No. 3798903

[Christopher Aillon]

Valent Turkovic wrote:
>  I install a fresh Fedora7 (test 3) then run web browser and go to
>  fedora magazine page - from there I download some video ogg files from
>  it.
>  
>  Why is it that when I click on the file I can't view the video? Player
>  just crashes! And the default player is kamboodle! Why is that?!? That
>  is the worst video player I have seen ever! On any platform!
>  Opensource or not there is no excuse to put that player as the default
>  one! 
I'll note that you didn't choose the default Fedora disc, looks like you 
chose the Fedora-KDE spin instead.  Kaboodle might have been a bad 
decision, but the KDE spin of Fedora hasn't been around for that long, 
so filing bugs like this is appreciated.

If you're looking for something closer to FC6, I suggest the default 
install which IIRC has both GNOME and KDE packages.

[Josh Boyer]

On Tue, 2007-04-17 at 16:14 +0200, Valent Turkovic wrote:
>  
>  So please change the default video player to totem or something else,
>  just NOT kamboodle because it just doesn't work and it sucks GUI vise. 
It is totem in the default spin.  I think you picked the KDE spin, and
the KDE folks are working very hard on things.  Cut them some slack
before you decide to rant and rave and make an ass of yourself.  There
is a reason it's called a test release.

>  Regarding proprietary video codecs RedHad developers just say
>  something like this: "We talked with out lawyers and they said no."
>  Ok? And? Where can we see this discussion? I know that you can't put
>  MP3 support in fedora, but that you can't even put an link for some
>  European server that has all the codecs? Lawyers say that RedHat can
>  be sued even for puting links that enable multimedia. Ok, maybe I
>  believe it but it is maybe possible that some one would sue, but
>  hardly win that case.
>  
>  But there are legal ways around that, you can put a text saying that
>  it is legal to enable multimedia codecs only if you live in a country
>  that doesn't have software patents - like I do. 
codec-buddy was supposed to have something that pointed you to legal
ways to get the codecs.  It has yet to materialize.

>  It is possible if you want it - Ubuntu has shown that because they
>  will be doing just that, and even a step beyond that. Ubuntu will have
>  a Ubuntu for European market and other countries that don't have
>  software patents (my country doesn't!) with all multimedia codecs
>  embedded within the distro! 
Good for Ubuntu.  Red Hat is a US based company and therefore must abide
by US law.

josh

[Arthur Pemberton]

I have a few questions about this myself, what is the appropriate list
to continue this thread on?


-- 
Fedora Core 6 and proud

[Rahul Sundaram]

Arthur Pemberton wrote:
>  I have a few questions about this myself, what is the appropriate
> list
>  to continue this thread on? 
We can't really answer you if you don't tell us the questions.

Rahul

[Siddharth Upmanyu]

i would guess for the marketing list....

Regards
Siddharth

On 4/18/07, Rahul Sundaram <sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
>  Arthur Pemberton wrote:
>  > I have a few questions about this myself, what is the appropriate list
>  > to continue this thread on?
>
>  We can't really answer you if you don't tell us the questions.
>
>  Rahul
>
>  --
>  fedora-devel-list mailing list
>  fedora-devel-list(a)redhat.com
>  https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
>