FreeFormats

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There are a large number of Free Formats which are preferred over patent and copyright encumbered formats. They are listed here. ||<tablestyle="float:right; font-size: 0.9em; width:40%; background:#F1F1ED; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;" style="padding:0.5em;">'''Contents'''[[BR]][[TableOfContents(2)]]||
More information about open and / or free formats is available at these sites:
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_format
 * http://www.openformats.org
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|| Restricted Format || replaced by ||
|| mp3 || Ogg Vorbis||
|| aac || Ogg Vorbis ||
|| wma || Ogg Vorbis ||
|| wmv || Ogg Theora ||
|| avi || Ogg Theora ||		 There are a number of free formats which are preferred over patent and copyright encumbered formats. Keep in mind that some formats (like PDF or Flash) often have public or semi-public specifications but have some restrictions imposed by their patent-holders. Some replacement formats are listed here:

|| Restricted Format || Preferred format ||
|| mp3, aac, wma || [http://www.vorbis.com/ Ogg Vorbis]||
|| wmv, avi || [http://www.theora.org/ Ogg Theora] ||

= Purchasing equipment that supports free formats =
== Audio ==
If you are interested in purchasing new players (eg. portable audio players), please refer to [http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/VorbisHardware VorbisHardware] to see what equipment will play also these formats.

= Specific format / application information =
== Audio ==
=== MP3 ===
MP3 is patent-encumbered, for both encoding and decoding. These patents are being actively enforced, so usage and development of MP3-programs is not encouraged. As mentioned before, you should considering using Ogg Vorbis, which is a free and higher quality alternative to MP3 (you just need to buy audio equipment more carefully).

Other free audio formats:
 * FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) for eg. music archival
 * Speex (high quality speech compression)

== Video ==
=== DVD ===
Non-encrypted DVDs should play, however be aware that mpeg2-video is somewhat patent encumbered and the support for it is not shipped on the CDs

Full DVD-Video support requires support of the Content Scrambling System (CSS). Though the encryption is weak, using libdvdcss to avoid this is classed as a 'circumvention device' and is such illegal in the United States and some other jurisdictions.

However, as you can read at [http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/dvd.htm the DeCSS information page], in most European countries, DVD backup is legal. In fact, you can backup anything that you own in, eg. Norway, Sweden, etc. If you do not require compatibility with a DVD player, consider encoding your videos in [http://www.theora.org/ Ogg Theora].

Other free video formats:
 * [http://dirac.sourceforge.net/ Dirac] (another free video format in development)

== Desktop publishing, graphics ==
 * ODT (Open Document Text) - This format is used starting with [http://www.OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org 2].
 * [http://www.svg-whiz.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page SVG] (Scalable Vector Graphics) - There's a list of [http://www.svg-whiz.com/wiki/index.php?title=Design_Tools design tools] that support this format

[http://docs.scribus.net Scribus] is also a good alternative for desktop publishing.

== General multimedia ==
=== Flash ===
There are two projects working to create a free implementation of flash, so that people could view Flash animations without resorting to non-free software:

 * [http://gplflash.sourceforge.net GPLFlash] (and GPLFlash2)
 * [http://www.schleef.org/swfdec/ SWFDec]

== Other ==
=== Java ===
Free implementation of Java is ongoing in many places, including [http://gcc.gnu.org/java/ GCJ], GNU Classpath, [http://www.nongnu.org/gcjwebplugin/ gcjwebplugin] and the new Apache Harmony. Together they aim to provide full Java platform as free software. Current implementations are already being used to run OpenOffice.org 2's Java-parts, Eclipse and many other software. Eventually, the need for non-free Java should hopefully disappear.

More information about open and / or free formats is available at these sites:

There are a number of free formats which are preferred over patent and copyright encumbered formats. Keep in mind that some formats (like PDF or Flash) often have public or semi-public specifications but have some restrictions imposed by their patent-holders. Some replacement formats are listed here:

Restricted Format

Preferred format

mp3, aac, wma

[http://www.vorbis.com/ Ogg Vorbis]

wmv, avi

[http://www.theora.org/ Ogg Theora]

Purchasing equipment that supports free formats

Audio

If you are interested in purchasing new players (eg. portable audio players), please refer to [http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/VorbisHardware VorbisHardware] to see what equipment will play also these formats.

Specific format / application information

Audio

MP3

MP3 is patent-encumbered, for both encoding and decoding. These patents are being actively enforced, so usage and development of MP3-programs is not encouraged. As mentioned before, you should considering using Ogg Vorbis, which is a free and higher quality alternative to MP3 (you just need to buy audio equipment more carefully).

Other free audio formats:

  • FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) for eg. music archival
  • Speex (high quality speech compression)

Video

DVD

Non-encrypted DVDs should play, however be aware that mpeg2-video is somewhat patent encumbered and the support for it is not shipped on the CDs

Full DVD-Video support requires support of the Content Scrambling System (CSS). Though the encryption is weak, using libdvdcss to avoid this is classed as a 'circumvention device' and is such illegal in the United States and some other jurisdictions.

However, as you can read at [http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/dvd.htm the DeCSS information page], in most European countries, DVD backup is legal. In fact, you can backup anything that you own in, eg. Norway, Sweden, etc. If you do not require compatibility with a DVD player, consider encoding your videos in [http://www.theora.org/ Ogg Theora].

Other free video formats:

Desktop publishing, graphics

[http://docs.scribus.net Scribus] is also a good alternative for desktop publishing.

General multimedia

Flash

There are two projects working to create a free implementation of flash, so that people could view Flash animations without resorting to non-free software:

Other

Java

Free implementation of Java is ongoing in many places, including [http://gcc.gnu.org/java/ GCJ], GNU Classpath, [http://www.nongnu.org/gcjwebplugin/ gcjwebplugin] and the new Apache Harmony. Together they aim to provide full Java platform as free software. Current implementations are already being used to run OpenOffice.org 2's Java-parts, Eclipse and many other software. Eventually, the need for non-free Java should hopefully disappear.

FreeFormats (last edited 2008-08-06 16:19:29 by localhost)