'Commercial Partners'

[Bill Crawford]

On Friday 31 March 2006 09:51, Eric S. Raymond wrote:

> In truth, I think we can get away with not supporting WMA.  But no MP3
> is a complete laugh-at-those-idiots showstopper.  QuickTime is
> somewhere in the middle.

 I'd actually like to disagree. Most of my friends (who are very nontechnical 
on the whole, though "edjicated") use WMA for download onto memory sticks and 
mp3 players; and I can only easily listen if I have wma support.

 The positive point to make is this: a friend came over last weekend with a 1G 
mp3 player in hand. I was able to stick it in an unused USB port (on the back 
of the machine alas; I'm sooo behind the times) and access the tracks in 
about 3 seconds using amaroK. Simple as that. She was able to quite happily 
navigate track lists and play songs without a whimper. Not once was there a 
single comment about the "odd" desktop.

 So, "Linux" (in this case: KDE + X.org + GNU + LInux kernel) *is* now usable 
and functional. I consider it better, for most use, than the last Windows 
desktop I tried. I believe that issue - the "not ready for prime time" can be 
finally buried.

 That said: agreed on the MP3 support. But it is unlikely to go in FC before 
the patent runs out.