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Re: [livid-dev] oms releaseB


I'm all for open source but you can't always properly reverse engineer things.
Two, using linux is much more than having a operating system that is open. It's
the feel and environment. Take a look at the nvidia drivers for instance. They
are closed but they work and they work in linux. For someone that doesn't plan on

hacking the drivers, it's no big deal since everything works and they still have
the environment that they like. Once again, I'm all about opensource but
sometimes you just have to give in for things to be done correctly. If OMS can
play dvds correctly, handle the menus, etc.... that's great. However, you also
got to take into account the timescale in which this will happen and the quality.

It isn't about how good of a programmer you are. You can't always accurately
duplicate things that are closed and it stay 100% compatible. Many times it's
guess work. Also, if linux is to become mainstream, it will need such features
like dvd even though it's loaded with legal/license issues. It's a fact of life.
If a commericial dvd solution came out that worked 100%, you can bet that most
would get it. Take a look at the nvidia situation again and you'll see the same
situation. Anyway, I'm only trying to give constructive criticism. I've tried oms
from time to time to check
it out and it's pretty cool. I was only suggesting that maybe someone could get a
company to buy a license so that
a binary library could be used with oms for full ability. Then oms could use the
pure opensource solution or use the closed binary lib. If you want to use the
binary lib, you'd have to download it or have oms download it.


Derrik Pates wrote:

> (Oops. Removed the wrong address when trying to prune the destination
> list.)
>
> On Thu, 1 Feb 2001, Mitch Allmond wrote:
>
> > Oms doesn't suck. I never said it did. However, no matter how talented you
> > guys are, oms will never be what it could be without a license. There are
> > always issues in reverse engineering and you can bet on problems with it.
> > If dell or ximian would pay for a license, then everything would be fine
> > and dandy. I'm just trying to give constructive criticism.
>
> I'm sorry, but I have to reply to this:
>
> You're saying, gee, open source is great and all, but let's just give up
> on open source because it'd be so much easier to just pay the thousands of
> dollars and have the LiViD people close their source (something they don't
> want to do). Also, keep in mind, OMS is GPL'd - the way it's licensed
> (unless they specifically chose to make an exception - and they don't seem
> interested), they CAN'T link a binary library in to do that stuff. (And
> they'd probably have to have a third party write such a library - they'd
> be tainted by having the trade-secret (bah) knowledge.)
>
> If all you want is an easy way to play your DVDs, great, use Windows or a
> set-top player. However, if the OMS developers were just going to take an
> easy way out, dent (and all the other OMS developers) wouldn't have wasted
> their time figuring out what they already have, they'd have just gotten
> a corporate sponsor to throw money at the problem. (I don't think OMS is a
> waste of time - I'm just trying to draw a path of reasoning.)
>
> Try to understand the reasoning behind what OMS is trying to do - OPEN
> (both ways - speech AND beer) support of DVD playback. Not getting a
> corporate sponsor to license the technology, only to have to continue
> their development in cloistered secrecy.
>
> (Note the above is MY opinion - I'm not an OMS developer, but I have been
> involved with another open-source project, and heard my share of
> complainers about what was and wasn't done. I think it's just plain not
> cool. I hope I've expressed that sufficiently.)
>
> Derrik Pates      | Sysadmin, Douglas School|    _   #linuxOS on EFnet
> dpates@dsdk12.net |  District (dsdk12.net)  |   | |   and now OPN too!
>    Student @ South Dakota School of Mines   | __| |___ _ _ _   ___ _ _   ____
>        & Technology (www.sdsmt.edu)         |/ _  / -_) ' \ '\/ _ \ ' \ (____)
> UNIX: Because you want to USE your computer.|\___,\___|_||_||_\___/_||_|