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Good move by Cisco. Mozilla response seems lukewarm though? Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich: “Although H.264 will become available to Firefox users thanks to Cisco’

by gz5 13y ago

Good move by Cisco. Mozilla response seems lukewarm though? Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich: “Although H.264 will become available to Firefox users thanks to Cisco’s move, the codec still comes with restrictive licensing that we believe is not in the long-term best interests of users and the Web, compared to the situation with a truly free and unrestricted codec.”

hyperpape 13y ago
That makes sense to me. This is a reasonable compromise for Mozilla, but it's still a compromise. What they want is a free (as in FOSS) codec. What they got is a single free of charge implementation of a patent encumbered codec.
kibwen 13y ago
Here's the announcement from Eich himself: https://brendaneich.com/2013/10/ciscos-h-264-good-news/ https://brendaneich.com/2013/10/ciscos-h-264-good-news/ I wouldn't say that the reaction is lukewarm, but rather reserved. Mozilla's never been a fan of H.264, but supporting it has long since transformed from a philosophical choice to a political necessity. This move helps Mozilla, no question, but it doesn't advance their agenda of patent-unencumbered web standards. Let's hope that VP9 and Daala can do better on this front in the coming years.
nly 13y ago
Personally I'm overjoyed by that lukewarm response.
rubiquity 13y ago
It seems that Mozilla is in a position of doing what is right for pushing the Web forward for end users and doing what is right for the open Web. It's nice to see them choose on the side of end users but I doubt Mozilla will stop looking for a more open alternative.
- mpyne 13y ago
  Not only has Moz not stopped looking for something better, they continue to actively develop something better (i.e. Daala)
mpyne 13y ago
Of course the response is lukewarm, this still represents a failure of open web usage. As a practical measure this is a good move, but that doesn't make this a principled measure.
shmerl 13y ago
It's a "move" but not a solution. Just a temporary workaround. The solution is work on Daala. See http://xiphmont.livejournal.com/61927.html http://xiphmont.livejournal.com/61927.html

by gz5 13y ago

hyperpape 13y ago

That makes sense to me. This is a reasonable compromise for Mozilla, but it's still a compromise. What they want is a free (as in FOSS) codec. What they got is a single free of charge implementation of a patent encumbered codec.

kibwen 13y ago

Here's the announcement from Eich himself: https://brendaneich.com/2013/10/ciscos-h-264-good-news/ https://brendaneich.com/2013/10/ciscos-h-264-good-news/ I wouldn't say that the reaction is lukewarm, but rather reserved. Mozilla's never been a fan of H.264, but supporting it has long since transformed from a philosophical choice to a political necessity. This move helps Mozilla, no question, but it doesn't advance their agenda of patent-unencumbered web standards. Let's hope that VP9 and Daala can do better on this front in the coming years.

nly 13y ago

Personally I'm overjoyed by that lukewarm response.

rubiquity 13y ago

It seems that Mozilla is in a position of doing what is right for pushing the Web forward for end users and doing what is right for the open Web. It's nice to see them choose on the side of end users but I doubt Mozilla will stop looking for a more open alternative.

mpyne 13y ago
Not only has Moz not stopped looking for something better, they continue to actively develop something better (i.e. Daala)

mpyne 13y ago

Of course the response is lukewarm, this still represents a failure of open web usage. As a practical measure this is a good move, but that doesn't make this a principled measure.

shmerl 13y ago

It's a "move" but not a solution. Just a temporary workaround. The solution is work on Daala. See http://xiphmont.livejournal.com/61927.html http://xiphmont.livejournal.com/61927.html