[Olpc-open] G1G1 and youtube

[Denver Gingerich]

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On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:49 AM, John Kintree  wrote:
> Will the XOs sold in the upcoming G1G1 support watching youtube
> videos?

Disclaimer: I don't work for OLPC or have any official knowledge of
their plans.  This will be speculation.

It is highly unlikely that XOs shipped in this year's G1G1 will be
able to watch YouTube out-of-the-box.  However, XO users can use the
following instructions to install Adobe Flash on their XO, which
supports YouTube:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Adobe_Flash#Installation


XOs will not be able to watch YouTube out-of-the-box because the
people at YouTube have decided to use restricted formats[1] on the
videos they host.  This means that OLPC would have to negotiate a
license with a patent-holder or a software company that provides
restricted format support if they want to provide YouTube support
out-of-the-box.  Usually this involves paying money, which OLPC does
not have the resources to do.

Instead, OLPC has chosen to use and support exclusively free and open
source software that is unencumbered by patents [2], which promotes
the freedom and empowerment that OLPC stands for.  Dailymotion, an
online video site similar to YouTube, has recognized this noble goal
of OLPC and made a bunch of their videos available in free formats.
You can find these videos at:

http://olpc.dailymotion.com/


For more information about the issues with YouTube, see the following:
a. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Audio_format - YouTube uses
MP3 for audio
b. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3#Licensing_and_patent_issues - MP3
is a restricted format
c.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Standard_and_high_quality_videos
- - YouTube uses Sorenson H.263 for video
d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffmpeg#Legal_status - Sorenson is a
restricted format


If you have questions about any of this, I would be happy to answer them.

Denver


1. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Restricted_Formats
2. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_on_free/open_source_software

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