[OLPC-Philippines] getting mp3 sound working w/ Gnash easily

[Jerome Gotangco]

On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 9:31 PM, Mj Mendoza IV <mjmendoza at ymail.com> wrote:
>> I don't think there's really anything preventing us from using and
>> recommending Flash (especially in the Philippines where we're less
>> encumbered by software patents -- I think in current Philippine law,
>> there's no legal restriction on algorithms, there's only software
>> copyrights, and copyrights are different from patents.)
>
> Oh. So, just in case Coca-Cola Philippines doesn't exists and Pop Cola copied the recipe of Coke, the Coke USA can't sue Pop Cola because their patent is only good in US?!?
>
> I'm not a lawyer. Can anyone clear this up to me?

Yes because a patent is only good where it is applied with. But with
the advent of trade and tariff agreements across the globe, it has
become pervasive all throughout.

The restriction of Adobe flash is with distribution, that basically,
unless given permission to do so, you cannot bundle it to your product
and should be taken from Adobe itself. That's why most Linux distros
don't bundle it, or use scripts instead to grab and install nonfree
components. Not sure how others who bundle handle it though but I
think Adobe doesnt care much at all anyhow its still a win for them.

>> it's just that the XO ships with Gnash pre-installed and that
>> there's a strong leaning towards Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) with the OLPC.
>
> From http://mako.cc/copyrighteous/20080429-00:
> "It is the reason that OLPC's embrace of constructionist philosophy is so deeply important to its mission and the reason that its mission _needs_ to continue to be executed with free and open source software. It is why OLPC _needs_ to be _uncompromising_ about software freedom."
>
> As Philippine sector/chapter of OLPC, maybe we could abide by this?
>
> Benjamin (advisor to OLPC) also authored the "reasons why use FOSS" -- not free-to-download software.
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_on_free/open_source_software

Mako is a very good friend coming from my involvement in the community
governance board of Ubuntu before he went to MIT :-) We can certainly
look how it fits in our setting, but we should always be on the side
of pragmatism to be able to sustain and scale

-- 
Jerome G.

Website: http://www.gotangco.com
Blog: http://engage.wordpress.com