Open Source VLC Media Player Coming To iPad 232
Stoobalou writes "The people behind VLC, quite probably the most useful media player available right now, have submitted an iPod version to the Apple software police. VLC — which is rightfully famous for having a go at playing just about any kind of audio or video file you care to throw at it — should appear some time next week, if it makes it through the often unfathomable approval process implemented by Apple. The Open Source Video Lan Client has been tweaked to run on the iPod by software developer Applidium."
Re:Quicktime? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:GPL Violation? (Score:4, Insightful)
What? You mean like how I can't release a windows app as GPL without open sourcing Windows?
Re:Quicktime? (Score:4, Insightful)
They allowed the Opera Mini browser, even though it directly competes with (and is ~5 times faster than) Apple's Safari browser. So I'm betting Apple will approve VLC too. - If they do reject it the reason will be something else - like ability to hack into iPad internals (same reason the C64emultator was rejected from iStore) rather than because of fear of competition.
offtopic:
Why isn't SeaMonkey listed on the EU's browser choice screen? I like its old Netscape style. :-|
Re:GPL Violation? (Score:4, Insightful)
Heh, anyone who's been around long enough should be very aware of those exception clauses. The GPL, Emacs, and GCC all predate glibc and Linux by a lot. Back in the day when I wanted to run GPLed software, I had to run it on a SunOS (the name "Solaris" hadn't been invented yet) or Ultrix or AOS system using the vendor's C library (and often compiler). The GPL does not "infect" the whole "stack" from kernel to system libraries to universally included frameworks.
Re:GPL Violation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Waiting until Apple can give feedback on it, as long as the wait is not too long, is a way to demonstrate to Apple that you're acting in good faith and attempting to comply with their policies and processes. It shows that if Apple finds a minor fault with the app and requests something be changed, they're willing to wait to incorporate those changes before letting non-compliant versions get "out into the wild".
The wait may not be necessary, but it's certainly a decent idea for someone who wants to work with Apple instead of adopting a "fight the power!" attitude. It's a show of respect. And the gesture probably does appreciably increase the odds that it'll get approved.
Re:I missed something (Score:2, Insightful)
From the article it seems more like a giant Iphone though, but with out the talking.
That's the iPad in a nutshell.
Shouldn't you beable to install what ever you want on a tablet computer?
Yes you should, but Steve objects to it so it doesn't happen. Plenty of reasons for and against it, but as far as I'm aware you can only install apps through the marketplace. I'd much prefer an android style system, they control the marketplace and keep it a nice and safe environment, with the option (with plenty of warnings of the risks) to install things through other means. They get their walled garden, I get a gadget I'd actually pay for.
There never seems to be a happy medium. The ability to install what I want on android is awesome, but their marketplace could do with a bit more filtering and checking. The safe marketplace on iPhone is awesome, but sometimes I want to something better that they won't let through.
Re:Quicktime? (Score:3, Insightful)
This just means VLC cannot play music form the music library. music outside the music library is no problem....
But then, if apple thinks different you still have a problem, not apple.
Re:Custom mediaplayer on the appstore? (Score:2, Insightful)
The iPad has a pretty capable processor. It can probably handle pretty much anything SD entirely in software, possibly even some 720p content with a very well written decoder.
Regardless, the hardware support doesn't care about the container format, so there's nothing stopping VLC from playing an MKV file with hardware acceleration (for video, at least), so long as the h.264 stream in the MKV container is compliant with the decoding restrictions. I imagine that it could then use overlays to display subtitles...
This would finally enable easy fansub playback on the iPhone.
Re:Woo! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:summary and article incorrect: iPod != iPad (Score:5, Insightful)
The iPad is just a big iPod touch--in the same way that a swimming pool is "just a big bathtub." People who say that tend to not realize that size alone makes totally different things possible. (Cue corny jokes in 3... 2... )
Re:You missed something (Score:3, Insightful)
Much for the same reason I wouldn't call an Xbox 360 or PS3 or Wii a general purpose computer. Unless hacked/jail broken you can't install software that hasn't been approved by the company that creates the device (Sony, MS, Nintendo, Apple). Nor can you program it and install your own programs.
The one thing that separates these products from general purpose computers is the limitations imposed on the devices through DRM and their company policies.
You can say that you can get around the DRM and make them general purpose but that still carries potential problems such as voided warranties and no support from the companies that make them.
Re:GPL Violation? (Score:2, Insightful)
What's sticking it to Apple about releasing open source in a "non certified" state? That's the whole point of open source, that users can choose how it works.
You're just being deliberately confrontational here. When you go in with the attitude, "hey, fuck you, I'll do whatever the hell I want", you're not starting off with a very cooperative attitude is all I'm saying. It's Apple's store, if you're asking them to sell your product, walking in with your middle finger in the air isn't the most rational way of getting things off the ground.
If Apple thinks they can exert control here they aren't really open source compatible except via the tivo-loophole and they need to be more honest about it.
GPL != open source, it's just one license. Apple is very open source compatible. The core of their OS is open source. WebKit, and literally dozens of other things are open source at Apple.
Their App Store also supports the inclusion of open source software. The GPL, for all its benefits, is notoriously non-compatible. It's not even compatible with other open source licenses. You can't say that Apple isn't compatible with open source just because it's not compatible with the GPL (an unclear statement itself, but let's go ahead and assume it for the moment). BSD isn't compatible with the GPL. In fact, very few open source licenses are compatible with the GPL.
And yeah, it's called "cooperation" in those air-quotes because it goes one way only. You sit and wait while Apple does who the hell knows what, leaves you hanging, and you "cooperate" by not discussing the issue on your blog where it might make them look bad.
I don't know what you're talking about here. Appidium is discussing it right now. But going in with a "fuck you, I'll do what I want" attitude, while your right, isn't starting things off on the right foot.
Re:Custom mediaplayer on the appstore? (Score:3, Insightful)
No. The iPad has a rather pathetic processor for 2010.
It has a 1GHz (single core) Cortex A8. That's pretty much the fastest ARM processor shipping in a handheld device today; there were, if memory serves, a few devices running at 1.2GHz, but there aren't any devices shipping with the Cortex A9 yet. The iPad is still pretty close to the state of the art in handheld-class processors.
No it can't. Not even close.
It's a dual-issue in-order processor, with some decent vector extensions (NEON). It's got more than enough power to decode SD content in software, and I'll stand by my original statement; there's enough power available to do SD in software, but 720p is tricky (and unlikely, especially for anything beyond SP or ASP MPEG-4).
Try your cult-of-Jobs propaganda to someone that hasn't already tried it.
I'm a Windows user, you insensitive clod.