On Thu, 2007-09-13 at 15:48 -0500, Richard Houston wrote: > > I saw the video comments. And he complains about some things that we > > already know (mp3 codecs, dvd player, etc), and he says that those are > > the common things that an average user needs. So in the final he advise > > that Linux Ubuntu is not for mainstream or nontechnical users. > > I wonder if it would be of advantage to Dell to offer the Fluendo plugins > as an option? (http://www.fluendo.com/products.php?product=plugins) I am > sure that if Dell made a deal with them they could get then for a good > price per unit. By doing this they could cover off this nagging codec > issue and allow the people who want to stay free to do so.
Just wondering, does Dell install anything non-standard at all? I know there is a Connexant modem driver for their machines, but do they come with it already installed? If they don't make any modifications to the base install, even for hardware issues, then I doubt they'd do so for codecs. On the other hand, if they do preinstall some extras, then the European ones (at least the UK ones AFAIK) could come with LAME no problem (no software patents) and DeCSS (no DMCA), which would seem to solve the problems pointed out in the article for those who have no legal problems with such things (since the code itself is free software so there's no licensing issues). Of course, that would be no help to the Wall Street Journal, but it could prevent unneeded hassle for users in other countries and improve opinions in any reviews of those machines. Just a thought, Chris Warburton PS: I'm pretty sure Windows XP can't play DVDs by default (since I've fixed that for a few people by giving them VLC), but OEMs usually add it themselves. Not sure about Vista though (I don't go near it). -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
