[Linux-aus] New ABC services

[Bret Busby]

On Wed, 12 Mar 2008, James Purser wrote:

> Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:21:14 +1100
> From: James Purser <james at jamespurser.com.au>
> To: Andrew Donnellan <ajdlinux at gmail.com>
> Cc: linux-aus <linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au>
> Subject: Re: [Linux-aus] New ABC services
> 
>
> On Wed, 2008-03-12 at 21:14 +1100, Andrew Donnellan wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> In case you haven't heard the ABC is launching some new online
>> services over the next few months[0] which sound really awesome:
>>
>> * ABC Playback - three online high quality customisable TV channels
>> * ABC Shop Downloads - digital versions of various ABC products
>>
>> This sounds to me like what the BBC did with the iPlayer.
>>
>> However, from what I gather from their videos, it seems that the new
>> services will use Flash and/or some form of DRM - a 'rent' option is
>> available for the shop downloads - and probably isn't too
>> FLOSS-friendly.
>>
>> While of course the ABC is too far in the development of Playback and
>> Downloads right now to make something more Linux-friendly, I suggest
>> we start a bit of petitioning and formal complaining about it.
>
> Andrew,
>
> I actually picked this up last December when it was first announced so I
> shot off an email to the ABC to ask about both Linux Development and Ogg
> take up vs Mp3/RealMedia.
>
> Here's the response I got:
>
> Dear James,
>
> Thank you for your message regarding ABC Now.  ABC Now does have a
> little similarity to the BBC's iPlayer but is not intended to be the
> same service - instead we offer a way for our audience to aggregate a
> selection of our most current radio, TV, news, sport and weather
> content into a small desktop application.
>
> With regard to your query regarding a Linux version - due to the
> technical requirements of ABC Now we have been unable to find a
> robust and secure tool for making the Flash based code into a stable
> Linux version at this time.
>
> We are keeping an eye on developments in this area and hope to bring
> a Linux version to you as soon as practicable.
>
> In terms of our use of Real Player with ABC Now - our audience has
> the choice to use either Real Player or Windows Media to listen to
> live radio via ABC Now, and this is because we are aggregating live
> streams from around ABC Online which use these formats.  In the
> future we are hoping that all live streams will be offered in mp3
> format so that we can drop the need for Real/Windows from ABC Now but
> this is yet to be resolved.  We've passed your feedback regarding
> this issue onto our production team and technical staff.
>
> Kind regards,
> The ABC Now team.
>
> http://abc.net.au/now
>
>
> -- 
> James Purser
>

This is probably naive, but why can't they just publish the video stuff 
as .mpg or .avi files?

That would eliminate proprietary software requirements, wouldn't it?

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................