posted by Michael Lithgow on May 21, 2007
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has launched a campaign to convert the world to OGG, a non-proprietary alternative to MP3 audio files. It’s called the PlayOGG Campaign. Here’s the pitch:
Though the MP3 format has become very common, it is still owned. Every time a distributor sells or gives away music encoded as an MP3, they must pay a fee to the owners of the MP3 patents. The patents are also an issue for developers writing software to work with MP3s. In contrast, OGG files – short for Ogg Vorbis – are in the public domain, so anyone can use the format or write software to use it without being dependent on a patent holder for permission.
The campaign is aimed at distributors and listeners. Many personal digital music players support OGG files, and there are free software players, encoders and plugins available for a variety of operating systems. FSF predicts that OGG has the elements needed to surpass MP3 in use.
As part of the campaign, FSF will be promoting Ogg-friendly websites, providing instructions for installing and using Ogg Vorbis, and a directory of volunteers offering their technical expertise to sites seeking help in making the switch to free formats.
Pretty much everything you could ever want to know about OGG can be found at the PlayOGG website.
Technical details about the OGG format can also be found at Xiph.org
| Games |
New Players Include Ogg
There are many new players on the market that already include support for the Ogg Vorbis file format such as Samsung's new YP-U3 player.
http://www.playerbites.com/?p=12
Great list
Thanks for the link! Some of those names i'd never heard of, but i'll definitely take a closer look.
convince windows users through winamp
I think that a crucial point in this battle has to be made by winamp, wich still is the most used audio player in windows. They offer application as freeware and commercial, but not GNU/GPL (nor open source). If they would be convinced to support OGG more actively, I'm sure would be easely.
Winamp does include OGG
Winamp does include OGG playback support; it's not in the light version, but all others include it.
OGG support on hardware
i think you may have a typo in your mention of hardware support. It should read, "Not many personal digital music players support OGG..." i can only think of two brands that have supported OGG: Rio and iRiver. Rio hasn't made a high-capacity player since the Karma (4+ years ago) and iRiver keeps abandoning their products in favor of releasing new designs and models. i got fed up with both companies, so went to Toshiba's Gigabeat, which doesn't support OGG. If i'm wrong and there are more high-capacity OGG capable players out there, i'd love to check them out.
More than just two
There are more manufacturers then Just Rio and iRiver that supports Ogg. I believe almost every Cowon (http://www.cowonamerica.com/) product supports Ogg as well as a number a Samsung players. There is also MobiBlu, Neuros, and many others. I found this list and it's quite impressive when you see how many products are actually listed.
http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/PortablePlayers
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