Re: [OT] Re: realplay.el interface with Real Player v. 1879

[Joost Kremers]

Tim X wrote:
> David Hansen <address@hidden> writes:
[...]
> While I can appreciate what your saying, I think you may be missing some of 
> the
> subtlety of Richard's point.

and perhaps you're missing some of the subtlety of david's point: if
mplayer did not support non-free codecs, some (many) people wouldn't even
consider giving GNU/Linux a try.

now, even if you should agree with the FSF that all software should be free
in their sense, i.e. licensed under GPLv3, (a point i personally don't
subscribe to, btw), you may still argue that the chances of reaching that
ideal are better when some non-free content and/or software is supported:
it enhances the spread of GNU/Linux, which it turn makes free software more
visible, which in turn may convince more people to release their software
(and entertainment content, etc.) under free licenses. if there had been no
support for proprietary formats in GNU/Linux, it might well have been that
so few people would have started to use it that it would never have gained
the momentum it has now.


-- 
Joost Kremers                                      address@hidden
Selbst in die Unterwelt dringt durch Spalten Licht
EN:SiS(9)