Linux.com

Xvid is not a free format just because it is distributed under the gpl. It seems it is still patent encumbered due to being based off of MPEG-4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xvid#Patent_issues). Note that many other proprietary codecs have gpl code for playing and encoding them, this does not magically make them free either. Please talk to xiph.org about quality issues with Theora which are being worked on. Please read http://web.mit.edu/xiphmont/Public/theora/demo.html for an honest assessment of where Theora is and where it is going. I am not saying don't distribute whatever formats you wish but please also have a Ogg Theora link for those of us who want to view your content with a non-proprietary codec.

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