GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 611112
Jamendo not supporting ogg anymore?
Last modified: 2012-03-28 22:37:56 UTC
Created attachment 154708 [details] [review] The patch, as I received it It turns out that Jamendo may no longer support ogg vorbis streaming (from http://www.jamendo.com/en/forums/discussion/10508/2/#Item_40 ): "So, should we continue supporting Ogg ? I'm a strong supporter of open source but in this case, with the MP3 patents soon expired, the Ogg usage abysmally low, the impossibility to use Ogg either in webpages for everyone, or in any *popular* mobile device... well it's frankly hard to justify continuing ogg support. If it's just to give us a good image in the community it's stupid." Apparently in the plugin now, trying to play a file results in a redirect loop. I was emailed a patch that adds an option to use mp3 instead of ogg. There are a couple of minor issues with the patch, but I think the bigger issue is what will happen if Jamendo's lack of vorbis support becomes permanent. As I see it there are a couple of options, with tradeoffs for each: - Add the option to change stream formats. If Jamendo drops vorbis, this means that the plugin won't work in its default configuration (assuming vorbis is default) - Make mp3 the default or only format, keeping the plugin enabled by default. This means that many people who install a linux distro will have a source in rhythmbox that they can't play from (since many distros don't include mp3 support out of the box) - Make mp3 the default or only format, and disable the plugin by default. This would work, but many people wouldn't enable the plugin, and even though I don't use Jamendo myself, I think that would be a shame for open music.
I sent the patch to Adam via e-mail. The code worked for me in versions 0.12.5 and the current version of the GIT repository. I agree with what Adam raised. The use of OGG is very small compared to the MP3, although I wish it were otherwise. My vote is for the first option: allow the choice of streaming format until the Jamendo choose to terminate the support Ogg About the default format, could "detect" if the MP3 support is available or not, and make it the default (just an idea ...)? It would be interesting to contact someone from the Jamendo team to assist in the decision. If they do not support more Ogg, MP3 is now a dependency to hear it, and is therefore a dependency to the plugin.
I don't think it's a good idea to add a config item that switches between "works" and "doesn't work", which is all it would do at present. Do the ogg vorbis torrents still work, or are they dead too? I'm not overly concerned about defaulting to mp3 format. Ubuntu and Fedora don't include mp3 playback plugins by default, but they do include automatic codec installation.
You're right, Jonathan. I had not thought this way, but the option really let the User choose between something that works and something does not work. If ogg is removed from Jamendo and from the plugin, we could detect the presence of MP3 support, and then display a warning? Maybe a link/button to install it? I I think this would be the best solution, given the circumstances.
If the user tries to play an MP3 stream (from anywhere, not just jamendo), but they don't have the necessary GStreamer plugins, the codec installer will come up and guide them through the install process.
Comment on attachment 154708 [details] [review] The patch, as I received it For now, I think we should just change the stream format to 'mp31'.
I agree. That was my first change on my install of Rhythmbox. I made the patch to try supporting both formats, but this was my first choice. This wold be as easy as change one line of code.
I've just committed the ogg2->mp31 change. We'll probably have to do something similar for the torrent downloads too.
The jamendo plugin no longer exists.