[ale] on-line multimedia transcript of 1997 Atlanta Linux Showcase

[R I Feigenblatt]

I don't know if there is any more interest in making a
multimedia transcript of 1997 Atlanta Linux Showcase 
available to the public. However, if there is, there are
some new facts bearing on the situation.

I had suggested that by encoding the audio portions with
the TrueSpeech(TM) audio codec, one could simply store the
files in RIFF format (i.e. *.wav files) on a server and
people with Windows or Mac machines could hear an audio
stream using free software. I had offered to encode at
least some of the material in this way for free.

Objection was raised that this meant that one could not
use a Linux client to enjoy the material. Well, I surely
can't accuse such objectors as being proselytizers, given
such preoccupation with "preaching to the converted".

It was noted (quite correctly) that RealAudio(TM) is the
dominant streaming audio technology on the Internet, with
free clients available for almost all platforms, including
Linux. The problem was that there was no free server, the
cheapest being the $995 EasyStart server.

Well, good news. Rob Glaser, the former Microsoft multimedia
executive who founded Progressive Networks, the creator of
RealAudio, needed some more cash - and Microsoft made a 10
percent investment in the firm to meet that need. As part of
the deal, the EasyStart server will now be given away FREELY.
Not only do RealAudio clients run on almost all platforms;
so also do RealAudio servers. Two Linux versions of the
"EasyStart Real Server 4.0" are available for Linux. For
more details, see:

http://www.real.com/products/server/easystart/download.html
I think up to 60 streams are supported.

Let's thank the intervention of our Microsoft friends for
making possible a free all-Linux-platform solution to
distributing a multimedia transcript of the 1997 Atlanta
Linux Showcase.

Ron Feigenblatt