Re: legal issues on media codecs (was Re: very rough pre-gep tentative new modules list)

[Alan Cox <alan redhat com>]

> ogg ourselves. If the plugin system is compatible with non-GPL plugins
> (say an X/BSD-style license plugin), then people could license the mp3
> patent and then include an mp3 plugin, for example, at some point in
> the future.  If the plugin system requires plugins to be GPL, then
> patent licenses are impossible - which may be a policy decision we
> want to make, but I'm not sure it makes sense. Or another alternative
> might be to allow GPL only but have an exception for codec patent
> licenses.

That realyl I think is up to the people who write the program the plugins
are for. GPL is workable but means you have to do deal with national 
restrictions on codecs (the GPL allows original authors to add national
limits due to patents and the like but not for other reasons eg 
"because they are french").

All that becomes a problem for the codec module authors, sellers not
GNOME.