I just read https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/open-source-minimizes-web-me... on the train and wounder if anyone of you knows if Big Blue Button is Free Software?
Regards, Matthias
Am 29.08.2013 14:00, schrieb Matthias Kirschner:
I just read https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/open-source-minimizes-web-me... on the train and wounder if anyone of you knows if Big Blue Button is Free Software?
It's licensed under the LGPL: http://www.bigbluebutton.org/open-source-license/
The contained red5phone is livenser under the GPL.
They heavily rely on Flash, served through the OpenSource Red5 server. I guess the use of Flash deems them to be non-free, though Red5 is licensed under the GPL... Hm.
With kind regards,
Robert Kehl
BBB is considered open source. Not sure if it qualifies for "Free Software" under FSF definition.
Cheers On 2013-08-29 12:00 PM, "Robert Kehl" rk23@fsfe.org wrote:
Am 29.08.2013 14:00, schrieb Matthias Kirschner:
I just read https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/**community/osor/news/open-** source-minimizes-web-meeting-**costs-italian-environment-**agencyhttps://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/open-source-minimizes-web-meeting-costs-italian-environment-agency on the train and wounder if anyone of you knows if Big Blue Button is Free Software?
It's licensed under the LGPL: http://www.bigbluebutton.org/**open-source-license/http://www.bigbluebutton.org/open-source-license/
The contained red5phone is livenser under the GPL.
They heavily rely on Flash, served through the OpenSource Red5 server. I guess the use of Flash deems them to be non-free, though Red5 is licensed under the GPL... Hm.
With kind regards,
Robert Kehl
______________________________**_________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion@fsfeurope.org https://mail.fsfeurope.org/**mailman/listinfo/discussionhttps://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
Am 31.08.2013 00:14, schrieb Immanuel Giulea:
BBB is considered open source. Not sure if it qualifies for "Free Software" under FSF definition.
The components of BBB seem to all be open source, yes, but they use Adobe's Flash technology as the only component to access content offered by the product. So the users are forced to use Adobe's Flash viewer, which is closed source.
Correct me if there is a free or even an open source version of a flash viewer - I don't think there is. Hopefully there will never be, as HTML5 is the uprising star in active web contents in my eyes.
So, how can a server software be free if we need to use non-free client software to be able to use it?
Cheers,
Rob
On Aug 31, 2013, at 3:23 AM, Robert Kehl rk23@fsfe.org wrote:
Am 31.08.2013 00:14, schrieb Immanuel Giulea:
BBB is considered open source. Not sure if it qualifies for "Free Software" under FSF definition.
The components of BBB seem to all be open source, yes, but they use Adobe's Flash technology as the only component to access content offered by the product. So the users are forced to use Adobe's Flash viewer, which is closed source.
Correct me if there is a free or even an open source version of a flash viewer - I don't think there is. Hopefully there will never be, as HTML5 is the uprising star in active web contents in my eyes.
There is (was?) https://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/ But you are right, flash is almost dead.
On Aug 31, 2013, at 3:23 AM, Robert Kehl rk23@fsfe.org wrote:
Am 31.08.2013 00:14, schrieb Immanuel Giulea:
BBB is considered open source. Not sure if it qualifies for "Free Software" under FSF definition.
The components of BBB seem to all be open source, yes, but they use Adobe's Flash technology as the only component to access content offered by the product. So the users are forced to use Adobe's Flash viewer, which is closed source.
Correct me if there is a free or even an open source version of a flash viewer - I don't think there is. Hopefully there will never be, as HTML5 is the uprising star in active web contents in my eyes.
There is (was?) https://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/ But you are right, flash is almost dead.
Am 31.08.2013 01:43, schrieb Anton Nikishaev:
On Aug 31, 2013, at 3:23 AM, Robert Kehl rk23@fsfe.org wrote:
Correct me if there is a free or even an open source version of a flash viewer - I don't think there is. Hopefully there will never be, as HTML5 is the uprising star in active web contents in my eyes.
There is (was?) https://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/ But you are right, flash is almost dead.
If I see it correctly, gnash "only" supports Flash (SWF) 9, the most recent (and last) Linux version is 11. I would not want to guess what the porn sites of this world would look like with 9, if they would ever run.
Not that I'm into porn sites (who is?), but they are the main reasn that Flash is still there and actively sought after by the users. Just like the Video Home System (VHS) has made its way back in the 80's - there were superior technologies available (Video 2000, Beta), but when the porn industry set on VHS, all other died. So: "Sex sells." Really!
Now, back to work :)
Cheers,
Rob
On 08/31/2013 01:23 AM, Robert Kehl wrote:
Am 31.08.2013 00:14, schrieb Immanuel Giulea:
BBB is considered open source. Not sure if it qualifies for "Free Software" under FSF definition.
The components of BBB seem to all be open source, yes, but they use Adobe's Flash technology as the only component to access content offered by the product. So the users are forced to use Adobe's Flash viewer, which is closed source.
Correct me if there is a free or even an open source version of a flash viewer - I don't think there is. Hopefully there will never be, as HTML5 is the uprising star in active web contents in my eyes.
So, how can a server software be free if we need to use non-free client software to be able to use it?
There's gnash, but it doesn't work too well.
But if BBB is under the GPL, it's free software. Its dependency on Adobe Flash is, if explicit, a design flaw, but that doesn't make BBB any less free in itself. Anyone who wanted could switch it to a another format provided it's feasible, technically.
Thank you all for your feedback. I now remembered that I saw the software at a conference.
* Carsten Agger agger@modspil.dk [2013-08-31 08:35:21 +0200]:
But if BBB is under the GPL, it's free software. Its dependency on Adobe Flash is, if explicit, a design flaw, but that doesn't make BBB any less free in itself. Anyone who wanted could switch it to a another format provided it's feasible, technically.
For me those questions are important:
- Can you run it on the server, without the need to install non-free software? - Can you use it to do a video conference on your machine without the need to install non-free software?
Regards, Matthias
Am 31.08.2013 12:12, schrieb Matthias Kirschner:
For me those questions are important:
- Can you run it on the server, without the need to install non-free software?
- Can you use it to do a video conference on your machine without the need to install non-free software?
Same for me. With Flash being mandantory to access BBBs contents, it's a no-go.
Does anyone know another conference software that delivers as much and runs as smooth as BBB and is completely free software, also when it comes to the client needed to access the content?
With kind regards,
Robert Kehl
Hi,
Am 2013-09-02 00:15, schrieb Robert Kehl:
Does anyone know another conference software that delivers as much and runs as smooth as BBB and is completely free software, also when it comes to the client needed to access the content?
I'm hoping for something built on WebRTC. That's still quite new, though.
Best wishes Michael