OpenSUSE 10.3 has been released today. "This version contains new beautiful green artwork, KDE 3.5.7 and parts of KDE 4, SUSE-polished GNOME 2.20, a GTK version of YaST, a new 1-click-install technology, MP3 support out-of-the-box, new and redesigned YaST modules, compiz and compiz fusion advances, virtualisation improvements, OpenOffice.org 2.3, Xfce 4.4.1, and much more!"
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Member since:2005-07-06
well, what you say is true, but that doesn't make it is possible for a commercial entity which can legally have its pants sued off to include a mechanism for installing stuff that's flat out illegal in most of the world. I don't think you'll find an incorporated Linux distributor anywhere who will take that risk.
Member since:2005-11-11
They want it all working out of the box. ... "Linux is stupid, it doesn't play my ripped DVDs and my video files; I'll stay with my good 'XP' where everything works."
I just did a fresh install of Windows on my machine for gaming purposes (beta of a certain game under NDA. I can get it to run in Wine but not so well yet). Its (Windows') media capabilities blow. No DVDs, almost no video I play shows anything (even after fetching codecs). It does MP3s out of the box, and that is basically the one advantage it has over Linux out of the box when it comes to media playback.
Hunting down installers for xvid, OGM, Realplayer and Quicktime (ugh), my ancient copy of PowerDVD etc is a pain, and I wouldn't trust some giant possibly spyware ridden codec pack. (VLC is nice, but is available on Linux as well, so that's a wash).
I just wish we could get over the idea that Linux out of the box is somehow worse than Windows out of the box when it comes to media playback. It isn't what people are used to (.exe installers) and for a Windows user it may well be harder to get everything running but please let's realize the issue is what people are used to, not what the platform is capable of.
Member since:
2006-10-08
"win32-codecs is entirely illegal in Germany. It's not illegal on patent grounds, it's illegal on copyright grounds, and Germany had a perfectly serviceable copyright regime last time I checked."
Yes, win32-codecs was a bad example. But just imagine how users think: They want it working, no matter if something illegal is required. In Germany, many users use expeinsive MICROS~1 OSes ("Windows XP Professional") and applications ("Word", Photoshop) at home without having paid for it. While this situation is normal regarding commercial applications, Linux offers a lot for free - in a legal way. It's just... users don't care if something is illegal or not. They want it all working out of the box. And if it doesn't (due to legal restrictions), they make their decision: "Linux is stupid, it doesn't play my ripped DVDs and my video files; I'll stay with my good 'XP' where everything works."
Oops, I hear the KSK-RIAA-VAG (Command special forces - RIAA - violent assistance group) knocking at my door... :-)