Re: MPlayer revisited
On Fri, Jun 10, 2005 at 08:34:39AM +0000, MJ Ray wrote:
> Diego Biurrun <diego@biurrun.de> wrote:
> > On Wed, Jun 08, 2005 at 05:34:02PM +0000, MJ Ray wrote:
> > > Bugs in some package already in debian doesn't let another package
> > > with those bugs in as a right, though. It just means we have bugs
> > > to deal with.
> > Yes. Still Debian's position needs to be consistent and credible as
> > well. If MPlayer has problem X and therefore cannot enter Debian, then
> > the other multimedia players sharing problem X would have to be removed,
> > wouldn't they?
>
> The other multimedia players should have a bug of the appropriate
> severity reported to them. I'd expect anything serious enough to
> keep MPlayer out would cause them to be removed from a release,
> or maybe even the archive entirely.
OK.
> > > or maybe nothing mplayer team will be good enough and
> > > we need to get a lawyerly opinion.
> > Sorry, I don't understand this sentence, could you please clarify?
>
> Sorry, I seem to have missed words. Should read "maybe nothing
> the mplayer team can say will be good enough".
I surely hope we're not at the point where constructive dialog has
become impossible. I ask all of you to judge my words on their merit
and not past statements made by other people.
> > MPlayer includes both libdvdcss and libdvdread in the libmpdvdkit2
> > directory. IIRC Andrea removed it and decided to link to the Debian
> > libdvdread dynamically.
>
> I think my summary is accurate but unclear. I'll improve it later.
I beg to differ. The sentence
DeCSS code: removed and mplayer-debian uses libdvdread3 instead
has two problems:
1) It implies that MPlayer contains DeCSS, which it does not. MPlayer
contains libdvdcss.
DeCSS and libdvdcss are not the same. DeCSS is based on a key that was
leaked to the internet, while libdvdcss basically bruteforces the weak
CSS encryption. DeCSS has been the subject of several lawsuits (which
were all won by the forces of light), while libdvdcss has never had any
legal troubles.
2) It suggests that libdvdread is a replacement for libdvdcss, which it
is not.
libdvdread provides access to the different types of information stored
throughout a DVD, it's essential for any kind of DVD playback.
libdvdcss decrypts CSS, it's only necessary for playing encrypted DVDs.
Sorry, I really do not want to sound argumentative. It's just that I
encounter these misconceptions all the time when I talk to people about
the situation of Debian and MPlayer. I have to clarify these two points
constantly, that's why I am insisting here.
Diego
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