https://wiki.xiph.org/index.php?title=Spread_Open_Media/en/Thoughts_on_Open_Format_Obstacles&feed=atom&action=historySpread Open Media/en/Thoughts on Open Format Obstacles - Revision history2024-03-28T17:29:26ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.40.1https://wiki.xiph.org/index.php?title=Spread_Open_Media/en/Thoughts_on_Open_Format_Obstacles&diff=7235&oldid=prevSaoshyant at 21:37, 12 August 20072007-08-12T21:37:30Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>A discussion on the [http://lists.xiph.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy Xiph.org Advocacy Mailing List] about the lack of available [http://wordpress.org/ Wordpress] plugins for Open Formats got me thinking about the obstacles these formats face in becoming popularized.<br />
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In this specific case, we were attempting to find a good plugin for the SOM blog that would allow us to embed [http://theora.org/ theora video] and [http://vorbis.com/ vorbis audio] in our posts. To do so meant modifying a pre-existing plugin so they can accept these formats. It is frustrating for a “mid-level” user (of which I consider myself), with knowledge of open formats and their importance, to be unable to implement using them.<br />
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Thankfully, there are those of us who understand code quite well. In my case, I know very little about PHP, and as such, find the idea of modifying actual code quite intimidating, as would probably many mid-level users.<br />
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The question that arises is how do we expect Open Formats to take off without the ability for average and mid-level users to integrate these formats easily? Obviously this gets at a central issue that SOM will hope to solve &mdash; taking Open Formats from the more obscure to the more commonplace. A plugin that plays well with theora and vorbis is a great resource we can hopefully offer to the WP community, but that is only one of many ways we can move open formats into a more common area.<br />
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Keeping the average user in mind is very important. To truly spread open media, we have to always keep the lowest-common-denominator in the back of our mind in terms of technological prowess. Without that, Open Formats will potentially remain niche as opposed to ubiquitous.</div>Saoshyant