this post was submitted on 30 May 2024
246 points (93.6% liked)
Linux
48186 readers
1365 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
They don't pay Royalties to the patent holders. Not really illegal but still interesting. You a extremely unlikely to get sued for using VLC
I assume you're referring to codecs like H.264, which is owned and licensed by Apple. But are you sure using those codecs to play media is illegal? I thought it was only required to pay to encode.
I can't imagine that Firefox is illegally breaking the law too..
Its a grey area
so many questions. what patents? how should they know you use it?
It is a grey area