News about the open source digital audio format Ogg Vorbis

 OggConvert makes Ogg converts (and converts to Oggs), Dec 22, 2007

OggConvert is a simple, GUI-based video transcoder that outputs only to the free Theora and Dirac formats. It couldn't be any easier to use, and it's the quickest way to get a feel for the still-new Dirac codec. No need to tweak pages of arcane settings -- just drag, drop, and watch.

Several months ago a workgroup of the W3C decided to include Ogg/Theora+Vorbis as the recommended baseline video codec standard for HTML5, against Apple's aggressive protest. Now, Nokia seems to be seeking a reversal of that decision:

Mozilla ruffled some penguin feathers last month when the organization revealed that Firefox 3 would get an extensive visual refresh to maximize integration with Windows and Mac OS X, but not Linux. After the decision was widely criticized by Linux enthusiasts, Mozilla reversed its position and decided to revisit Linux theming.

Six years after the project was launched, developers at the Xiph.Org Foundation have released a beta version of the free video codec called Ogg Theora. The source code of the libtheora 1.0 Beta 1 codec library can be downloaded from the developer website.

There is clearly a need for a non-patented, royalty-free standard for video and audio on the web. The Xiph.Org Foundation provided such standards. Adobe Systems Incorporated decided to ignore this and back the use of formats with submarine patents and no clear advantage over Open Media formats. Interoperability on the Web? Nah, screw that.

I'm a big fan of Richard Stallman and his work – even though, the first time I interviewed him, he proceeded to criticise my questions before answering them, not a journalistic experience I'd had before. Without his vision and sheer bloody-mindedness in the face of indifference and outright hostility, we would not have the vast array of free software we enjoy today.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today launched PlayOGG.org, a campaign to encourage use of the patent- and license-free standard OGG Vorbis as an ethically, legally and technically superior audio alternative to the proprietary MP3 format.

An industry giant could drive support for Ogg, but why would they bother? What's the profit margin on free?

One of the most interesting contenders is Ogg Vorbis, an open-source, royalty-free rival to MP3 that also represents a generational improvement in sound quality.

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