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

[Dotan Cohen]

On 18/04/07, Nicu Buculei <nicu_fedora at nicubunu.ro> wrote:
> Dotan Cohen wrote:
> >
> > Very common workflows (or playflows) include the following:
> >
> > 1) Web browsing: the viewing of HTML pages
> > 2) Email: the downloading, display, and sending of electronic mail
> > 3) Chatting: communicating with other humans via one (or more) or the
> > following chat protocols: yahoo, msn, icq
> > 4) Listening to audio: the playback of mp3 files
> > 5) Watching video: the playback of mpg, avi, and wmv files
> > 6) Viewing pictures: the display of jpeg files
> > 7) Word Processing: creating, editing, and display of text documents
> > in txt, rtf, and doc formats
> > 8) Spreadsheet: creating, editing, and display of spreadsheets in excel
> > format
> >
> > I'm sure there's more that I missed. But these are examples of the
> > most basic functions that any computer (and operating system) are
> > expected to perform. If an OS cannot do any of these, then it is not
> > adequate for general use. Fedora is thus bound by law to be inadequate
>
> Your judgment is flawed: Windows Vista can't do a lot of those tasks out
> of the box and need additional software which have to be downloaded or
> purchased separately (to pick from your list: spreadsheets, video files
> with certain codecs or in certain formats, some chat protocols).

That does not make my judgment flawed: I never implied that Vista is
an adequate operating system.

> You are also unfair with your criteria, the conditions are formulated to
> fit your predefined conclusion:
> - for chat you request "one or more of the" (BTW, you forgot
> Jaber/Google Talk from the list)

I mentioned that I've most certainly forgot some things. However,
Jaber is nowhere near as popular as msn/icq/yahoo are.

> - for video you request all formats (mpg, avi, wmv)

Those are very, very common.

> - for audio you request one specific format, MP3, but forget about AAC,
> WAV, OGG, Audio CD - those are also audio (note that Fedora 7 should
> have preconfigured OOTB a few OGG internet radio stations).

AAC and OGG are not common formats. I should have mentioned wav, audio
CD and wma.

> > for general use out of the box. That is easily fixed by those in the
> > know, but not by a passer-by who downloads the distro (or LiveCD) and
> > plays around with it.
>
> This could be said also for any other operating system

Correct. Ubuntu and XP (I can't talk for Vista), however, make an
effort to inform the user how to set up the system to use the formats
with the OS. Ubuntu goes so far as to ask "would you like me to
install mp3 support?" right inside Amarok. Click Yes, and it goes and
fetches the codec, installs it, and plays the file in under 45 seconds
(I timed it the second time I did it). I understand that Fedora cannot
legally do this. Which is why I say don't push Fedora to the general
user. IE, don't create a LiveCD.

> > Again I ask: to whom is the official LiveCD aimed at? I do not think
> > that Redhat can (legally) produce a LiveCD suitable for the general
> > public. Rather, this is better left to the community, who are not
> > bound by such restrictive laws, and can legally create and distribute
> > such a disk. The only question for Redhat is should Redhat allow the
> > community to use the Fedora name on the disk.
>
> There was a lot of talk about what can be a derived distro and still
> keep the Fedora name, one of the ideas was that it have to be a subset
> of Core + Extras, but I don't remember the conclusion.

I remember that. I also don't remember the conclusion (I don't think
there was one) but it's irrelevant to this thread.

> You know, it can have a different name and put on the disk "gOldSense,
> based on Fedora" - you know, as gNewSense is a freer version of Ubuntu,
> gOldSense could be a less free version of Fedora :p
>

Dotan Cohen

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