I sure am having fun thinking about OpenConsole, i.e., a Linux based set top box that plays in the same space as Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo, but is really an evolution of the Home Theater PC (HTPC) into gaming, but all using open licensing so you don't have to pay the big boys to write applications for this platform. The underlying technologies are pretty cool as I play with adding OpenGL graphics to the qemu emulator. But the business side of it is interesting as well.
In particular, my thoughts turned to multimedia support on open platforms. This is where the insistence on Linux being free is really biting the hand that feeds you. Not all good software can be free. We do live in a world of patents and a lot of the key technology that goes into a multimedia system is protected by patents and require a license to legally distribution implementations of that technology.
You know, I have no problem with that. As I've stated in the past, complex algorithms are hard to get right and multimedia is complex to get good quality results. And I don't blame the creators of this work wanting to get something out of it. If they didn't, they probably wouldn't have created it to begin with and we'd be waiting for some kind soul to donate this for free. Wishful thinking I'd think.
But you know, the costs aren't that bad. One I was looking at was the DVD format licensing. There is a company in Japan that controls this and their pricing information is here. It's about $5K for the book (under NDA), $15K for the license, then another $10K or so for verification. That's not too bad if you're selling thousands of units. But it's also not zero. And the NDA also prevents the implementation from being open source to begin with anyway.
And there are similar fees for the very popular MP3, (minimum $15K). Blu-ray is similar. And some of these are yearly fees. So as you can see, if you want to produce a multimedia platform you can redistribute, the costs are non-zero. So why do people expect these platforms to cost zero...
If a component provider has a patented algorithm and wants to charge for application developers to ship their component, that is all fine and dandy. I don't mind if someone wants to charge for their work.
ReplyDeleteBut platforms should be made of replaceable components and open interfaces. Developers should not need proprietary software to build on a platform. No need of knowledge of internals should be required either, so no NDAs would be required.
That's true. For a platform to be popular with developers, you need open APIs and tools and that's what Linux has to a tee. Even Windows has open APIs, for the most part, and no NDA is needed to build a Windows app.
ReplyDeleteBut, I think you made the right point. Despite Windows APIs being open, you still are restricted when developing for one of the most popular Windows platforms, XBOX 360.
That's why I see the need for this OpenConsole concept. In fact this all started when I began to wonder why the XBOX 360 doesn't have a web browser.
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteHave you tried MythTV? I'm using it at home on a ubuntu installation. With the MythGames plugin, I think you got the foundation laid for a decent console imho. Some better way of managing new games, etc, it's all good.
I admit, it does require some fancy hardware to run (Ie, you wont get away with a wii-price), and the installation of Myth is horrible if you don't get a distribution such as Mythbuntu, and the game availability is... well, it's Linux, it sucks ;-). I just finished setting this all up this weekend at home, but the idea is really nice. I can watch cable and internet tv, cable and internet radio, dvd's, music cd's, mp3's, play (some) games, and interface with it via a console and a really nice GUI on the tv.
I sound like an advertisement :). I really do think it's got some merit though, and as long as you either do the installation cause it's fun, or use a pre-made distro, it's very nice i think.
Oh, erh, I almost forgot to say, but I think you might unfortunately be right. The way "the system" works, it is very hard to make an absolutely free console. I'm not going to debate on what it should cost etc. I can say this much, the machine I told about in the previous post cost about 800USD, it's got a rather fancy silverstone chassi which cost about 500USD including PSU and fans. No cost for software except about 60-80 hours installation time for everything.
ReplyDelete