Ubuntu Wiki

Summary

• Launchpad Entry: https://features.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/browser-multimedia-sanity

• Created: 2006-11-01 by PatrickWagstrom

• Contributors: PatrickWagstrom

• Packages affected:

Rationale

The current situation with multimedia, at least in terms of browser plugins, is unacceptable for the end user. As an experience Linux user I have trouble making sense of the cryptic error messages that default programs such as totem provide for me -- shudder to think about what a 12 year old at school or my 77 year old grandmother would think of the situation.

For most multimedia items on the web, Firefox tries to launch Totem-Mozilla to view the item -- this would be a good solution if the version of Totem that shipped with Ubuntu could actually view most of the files found on the web. Instead, what one most often sees is the error message of Totem not being able to open fd://0. An experience user knows that means it's trying to read a stream input, but for the end user, that's just confusing -- "I was visiting http://www.cnn.com/ not fd://0. How did it get confused?". The root issue is, of course, the multimedia codec situation. Ubuntu can't ship with many of the most common codecs because of patent issues. But the sad truth is that I've found no media on the web that Totem can play out of the box. The instructions to get it to play things are cryptic and require one to dig through forums, enable multiverse, and all sorts of other badness that many users won't put up with.

Proposal

• Improve the mime-type mappings on Firefox so Totem-Mozilla is only launched for formats that it is certain can be played without generating an error.
• For formats that there exist a plugin or method to get the codec legally (ie. through gstreamer-plugins-ugly or what not), have a dummy plugin take the user to a site where they are guided how to do the process, with screenshots showing exactly what they are doing. This site should also have an explanation of why these steps are needed.
• For formats that this is not possible due to patent issues or platform issues (ie w32codecs on a PPC or x86_64), take the user to a page that informs them of the issue and provides a method for the user to easily become an activist on the issue. Sorta like EFF's action center, pre-formatted letters they can send to the people in charge of the situation. Possible candidates include not only vendors but also government agencies responsible for the current mess.