Bowing to M$ (was Re: [ale] comcast static IP?)

[James Baldwin]

On 26 Jan 2005, at 12:20, Preston Boyington wrote:

> Umm, that's Windows Media format as in Microsoft, the Evil Empire. As 
> in licensed. As in negotiating a deal with them. As in bowing to 
> Microsoft's superior position and reinforcing it.

Some of us want more usability out of an operating environment than 
open source can currently provide.

Interoperability is key, and not interacting with Microsoft formats is 
a large detriment to usability. Much of this need derives from 
Microsoft's position in the market place and its ability to, rightly or 
wrongly, leverage its market share to achieve greater market 
penetration. Regardless of the one's approval of Microsoft's market 
position, many users require interoperability between applications be 
it Microsoft's Windows Media or document formats or something more 
obscure unrelated to Microsoft.

You may disagree with the ethical merits of how Microsoft achieved its 
position but to characterize interoperability between operating 
environments with "bowing to Microsoft's superior position and 
reinforcing it." is unfair and counterproductive to what many in the 
free software movement are working toward. It is naive to think that 
World Domination (tm) can be achieved without interoperability at some 
level.

On 26 Jan 2005, at 13:00, Raylynn Knight wrote:

> Not necessarily.  The Windows Media Format does not contain any patents
> as far as I'm aware.  So it would be possible (albeit difficult) to
> decode it without a license.

Windows Media requires a license and I would be very, very astounded if 
it is not covered by several patents. Licensing information can be 
found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/licensing/default.aspx

---
James Baldwin
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