Re: media files

["J.B. Nicholson-Owens" <jbn forestfield org>]

You need to slow down and read the post differently.  You have 
substantially misinterpreted what I wrote and apparently provoked 
yourself into being offended when I said nothing offensive.  I asked 
questions that would help me understand what the project was about.  As 
I said before, none of the documents pointed to thus far indicate what 
the goal of the project is.  Therefore it's hard to participate along 
the lines the poster clearly wanted feedback on.  Without understanding 
the goals of the project, outsiders can't jump in and comment intelligently.

On media file formats, you should know that some are worked on 
particularly because of the intersection of free software and patent 
restrictions.  Software patents adversely affect all but the largest 
software developers, but some adverse impact is felt by free software 
developers more.  Ogg Vorbis, for instance, was invented because of the 
restrictions limiting the use of MP3 in free software.  The licensing 
schedule for MP3 is widely known about.  One can find it online at 
mp3licensing.com.  Not all file formats are patent-encumbered, some are 
just hard to work with because proprietors change them in order to 
prevent interoperability (Microsoft Office file formats, for instance).

But other project managers look at the situation differently, using a 
different metric altogether.  You, for instance, said that you want to 
provide an interoperable choice.  This would suggest that you are 
interested in media formats that aren't as fully supported in free 
software (like MP3, RealAudio, etc.) as other formats are.

These are points that are not at all clear when reading the wiki page or 
the GNOME-marketing thread pointed to earlier.  They will directly 
affect what people suggest you add or remove from the demonstration 
media files.  Please do try harder to read things without malice.  Some 
people are just trying to figure out what is important to your project 
so they can comment in a way that others in the project have asked for.