open standards for online video and audio distribution

The online world is in a tizzy discussing about (the death) flash(propreitory) video format and the emergence of H.264 codec (both based on mpeg4 standards). Reference to this excellent article http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/google-free-on2-vp8-for-youtube I urge google and the entire community using the public computer network to embrace open standards. What good would be flash without the standards (mpeg4) on which it is based was not made public.

I appeal to Google to please make open the codec on2-vp8 for public use. This would result in humongous use of the codec and also competition to develop excellent encoders and decoders which in turn would increase the use of the codec. This would in turn put an end to the dependence of the people using the web to depend on propreitory codecs and would thereby increase the video content on the web from developing countries which cannot afford the royalties for the encoding of video in the propreitory format.

Google, pls stand up and open the codec for public use.

Firefox "Internet is a public Network"

Mozilla firefox is one of my favorite software which runs on my favorite OS Debian GNU/Linux. The licensing is very similar to GNU GPL(To be exact, mozilla public license). It has "freed" many users from many of the viruses which were exploiting the many....many exploits in the IE browser and its respective OS. It runs on a variety of OSs including a recent version for mobile phones. The developer network is very large and hence the plugins are very huge in number.

The quality of the software is excellent owing to fact that the source code available is available freely. This in turn allows for quicker patching of any exploits. over its life cycle it has become a mature software with a record number of downloads on various platforms.

I thank all the developers for providing me with a browser which is not controlled by any propreitory group but developed by developers around the world and "gleefully" used by users around the world which once again makes the developers happy and improve the browser further. I am typing this right now on "Iceweasal", the unbranded version of firefox for debian GNU/Linux and I am extremely pleased with "free as in freedom" software.

GNU/Linux based mobile phones

I am a proud owner of a Motorola a1200(Motoming) purchased around 3 years ago. The purpose of buying it: It runs on GNU/Linux. True to the GPL regulations motorola put up the linux kernel sources on their web site. Touchscreens which has caught the fancy of the "Now" generation has to owe a little to this good looking phone. The ming had a touch screen 320 X 240 with support for java games. The main reason for buying it is many apps were ported to this phone from the GNU stable. I could find an optimized mplayer(Zmplayer), Terminal app which gave me root access to the entire phone system and a plethora of others with a Rockbox port also!!!!.

All these things were reason enough for me to buy the phone. I cherish my phone because of its "Open" nature allowing me to install apps which I require from the free software world. I would like to thank all the developers who have created apps for this wonderful phone. If motorola would have observed a pattern then there would be no need for it to wait for one year without releasing a single model of their phone and then going to the search giant(Android) for re-birth. Motorola used the GNU land but did not identify the potential (nor did montavista ).

Once again thanks to all the developers and users who have patronised and continue to do so: the wonderful GNU land of software and ideologies.

Propreitary food

Now, This was something new to me, Propreitary food. I like chips which are baked not fried. These days the market is flooded with chips baked, for the health conscious. But I dont think that it is difficult to find out the ingredients which go into making these chips. Maybe we may notget the "taste" factor closest but it will be close enough for any competitor to fish out his own variant may be, with a different catch phrase. I do not know the consequences if somebody had propreited the method to cook rice!!!!!!!!!!

This does not hold same for propreitary software. It is very difficult to reverse engineer software. This is not re-inventing the wheel, Instead it is going back to the neanderthal age and then proceed towards the age when the wheel was invented. This is wastage of valuable energy which, would have been spent improving the software and take it to the next level of usefulness. It is time the users started asking the makers to ask for what they want instead of using whatever is thrown at them. It is not advisable for software makers to dictate terms to the users which in turn would hide their incapability in improving or providing software "Required" by the user. Most of the industries is now driven by the "Users requirement" except for the software industry which is held at ransom by people with narrow views with a notion that people are idiots and they do not want to learn. The propreitory companies are responsible in providing the users a candyfloss front end with no way to make mistakes which in turn stops the process of "Thinking" which is vital for human existence and persistence on this planet.

Basically, what is "Free software" as envisioned by RMS

Here are four requirements that
-- according to the Free Software Foundation(www.fsf.org) -- determine whether or
not software is free:

1. Users are free to use the program(source code and executable) for any purpose.
2. Users are free to examine the source code to see how it works.
3. Users are free(can sell it gratis or sell it for a price) to distribute the program(source code and executable) to others.
4. Users are free to improve the program(source code and executable). The changes done in the original source code also have all the four freedoms(including point 4)

If a license provides all those freedoms, the FSF considers the
software covered by that license to be free software.

There are many different licenses which contain all the above four points but also go ahead and give freedom w.r.t cost and the changes mentioned in point 4 do not carry the freedom which the original had ie, Anybody changing the source for improving it or for any other purpose need not give the changes back to the community. for eg the BSD licence(Apple has "GLEEFULLY" used in their OS X since it has point 1, 2, 3). But GPL does not talk about the cost factor. GPL is more about free as in "Free speech", Not as in "Free beer"(binary freeware or shareware etc).

Start using GNU/Linux, NOW

Well, If any body had any doubts regarding the Positive energy which "Free as in free software" has to deliver to the public at large then I would first of all refer to the link mentionedhere. http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000681.html

The time is now ripe to try out any of the GNU/Linux distros. Please go through the internet to check the plethora of distributions out there. A good starting point would be Distrowatch.com. You can also try out the GNU/BSD systems which are now ready for desktop use. The licensing of these systems are easier than the GNU/Linux systems. But let me make it clear that the "near public domain" nature of BSDs are the way to go. This sort of licensing made Apple to develop an eye candy OS with a tried and tested backdrop of BSD

You know, when it comes to issues related to "licensing" I have to be so careful, so that some multi-trillion dollar enterprise f**s me in some court of some foreign country where the licensing rules are most favorable.

After reading the link in the beginning, I would like to refer the interested user to this link http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. This is a must read for any human before trying to use any GNU/Linux or GNU/BSD distros. This is because majority of the software will be "copylefted" with GNU GPL and there may be binary blobs(propreitary) like NVIDIA GLX drivers which the user may install at a later stage.

Copyright- Take away all the rights from the user. Command him to submission
Copyleft - Give all the rights and also few responsibilities to the user. command him to see to it that the subsequent users also follow the rights and responsibilities. This is to see to it that the hard work doesnt end up in some binay blob.

The Gimp

The Gimp is for GNU/Linux what Photoshop is for windows users. The similarity ends there. The Gimp is central to any complete GNU/Linux distribution. It completes the distro with Open Office.org for home users and for users spending their life on the public network. The Gimp is central to the GNOME desktop environment since its libraries were used profusely in it. The Gimp is a little crypted to start with but once the users get the hang of it, its mighty productive. There are many tutorials available on the internet to get you started. If you are in India then my favorite mag(monthly) "Linux for You" is providing tutorials to use The Gimp for the past couple of months.

The Gimp is true to the "Free as in Freedom" vision of RMS and is under constant development. Microsoft Windows users also rejoice because The Gimp is ported to the Windows platform also and distributed under the GNU GPL licence. I would suggest The Gimp to any casual Home user which would consist of touching up the photos here and there upto the most artistic rendering of your photographs. Please do give it a try and spread the word if you liked it. If you are a programmer and like digital photography lend a hand in improving it by helping the developers