<nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1156253609.841089.50880@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
r compromise is necessary to get full
| multimedia capability on Linux so non-technical users don't dismiss
| us out of hand," Raymond shouted.
Offhand, I'm sympathetic to Raymond's position. Multimedia should be
easy, easy, easy for novices, and you'll see greater Linux uptake.
But I don't know the security ramifications of having unknown binary
drivers in your system, maybe someone can fill me in.
I thought the problem with multimedia on Linux wasn't so much the
drivers (i.e. the software which allows the OS to communicate with the
hardware), but the codecs (i.e. the software which tells the media player
how to decode this stream of bits into audio or video data).
FWIW, on Windows, drivers can be cryptographically signed by Microsoft.
If they're unsigned, WinXP will display a warning and ask if you want to
install the drivers anyway. Us Windows users are used to installing "unknown
binary drivers" and usually think nothing of it. I've installed plenty of
signed drivers, and maybe a dozen or so unsigned drivers, and I think only
two of the unsigned drivers gave me problems. The problems were quickly
fixed by simply uninstalling the drivers.
The fear wasn't so much against malware. It's presumed by companies like
ASUS, ABIT, nVidia, ATI, etc. would not be willing to tarnish their public
image by packaging malware with their drivers, especially given that the
people most likely to actually seek out and install these drivers are
technical users who are familiar with the Internet. The news would spread
very quickly across the phpBB boards. Rather, the fear was that you'd
misidentify the hardware you have, install the wrong driver, and somehow
cause permanent damage.
This "permanent hardward damage" really isn't an issue with codecs.
However, again in the Windows world, there are conflicting advices about the
best way to install codecs on your system. Some people recommend you get
"codec packs" which are intended to be hassle free ways of getting
everything you need to play every movie you'll ever find. As the name
implies, codec-packs package a whole bunch of codecs together (mp3, ogg,
theora, divx, xvid, rv, flv, qt, etc.) Some people claim that codec-packs
will FUBAR your system, and recommend downloading and installing each codec
individually.
Some of these codecs are open source (ogg, theora, xvid), but IME most
Windows users don't really care about OSS vs CSS, or even whether the codecs
they're downloading is even legal (you're supposed to pay royalties for
using the mp3 codec, for example). They'll just do whatever takes the least
effort to get their movie to play, which usually means downloading
pre-compiled binaries.
- Oliver
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