BBC iPlayer Welcomes Linux (and Macs) 259
h4rm0ny writes "After previously limiting their iPlayer to only the Windows platform (as we discussed earlier here and here), the BBC's content is now available to UK-based users of Linux and Mac OS X. From their site: 'From today we are pleased to announce that streaming is now available on BBC iPlayer. This means that Windows, Mac and Linux users can stream programs on iPlayer as long as their computer has the latest version of Flash. Another change is that you do not have to register or sign in any more to download programs ...' It seems that the BBC have listened to people who petitioned them for broader support and an open format. Well, Flash isn't exactly open, but its a lot more ubiquitous than Windows Media and Real Player formats."
An Improvement (Score:5, Insightful)
Even if there were a Mac/Linux version available, I think I'd still lean more towards the Flash service for the odd times I need it since the downloadable version will get torpedoed after seven days anyway.
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Obviously the ideal is to have a downloadable version that can be watched anywhere for any length of time, but that's not happening any time soon.
Re:All Hail the Lowest common denominator (Score:4, Informative)
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Streamed requires that you have sufficent bandwidth thoughout the whole time you are watching. As there often being problems with web based "players" being somewhat primative in terms of features.
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good job bbc (Score:2)
Well, that's great... (Score:2)
I don't know -- I probably won't be using the service anyway, and I'm not a British citizen anyway, so I don't really feel that I have the right to complain, but it still bothers me when public services don't actually make their service free for real. I know I'd be bothered for real if my own government did something like it, at least.
Re:Well, that's great... (Score:5, Insightful)
can you suggest an open source solution that the BBC can use instead of iPlayer that is not proprietary and works on Windows/Mac and Linux???
Re:Well, that's great... (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly. Flash is probably on at least 95% of PC's, and probably 99% of the people who don't have flash can install it with a few clicks. The BBC could have used something like Ogg Theora, but then 95% of users would have had to download and install something to play it.
The thing that always gets me about open source zealots who complain "Flash is proprietary" is that they offer no solution. There's Gnash, which is a re-implementation of Flash, but people complain about disseminating documents in MS Office formats even though they can read them with open source suites, so I can't imagine Gnash being full featured would stop the complaints about Flash. If people in the open source community want to complain about websites using flash for various reasons, they need to offer up an alternative that would be acceptable to them.
For what it's worth, I'm a Linux user and avoid proprietary software wherever possible, but I've been taught not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and not to complain when you can't offer an alternative.
Not a gift horse (Score:5, Informative)
It's not a gift horse. Access is restricted (at least in theory) to UK citizens, who have already paid for this service through their TV licence fees.
Actually, there ARE better solutions ! (Score:2)
[1] http://mediathek.zdf.de/ [mediathek.zdf.de]
The problematic part is not "proprietary" (Score:2)
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Crap, I guess I should just throw out this G5 iMac then...
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But that's nothing compared to what this guy [ilovett.com] did...
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Now that Sun's Java is open source, wouldn't it be great if there was an open source Java applet that could download streaming video and audio in an open format that could then be used by everyone, w
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>download and install something to play it.
>The thing that always gets me about open source zealots who complain "Flash is proprietary"
>is that they offer no solution.
Theora (or something like it) was indeed the right solution, or at least the foundation for one. If anyone could make that happen, the BBC could. They certainly had the budget and the staff. The BBC could then have made a browser plugin av
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I hate this attitude. Corporations are full of people who spout this nonsense. It is the guaranteed path to mediocrity and dissatisfaction. It is a form of censorship and should be abhorred. It is a mechanism that the weak use to protect their mediocre ideas. It is a way of suppressing great ideas, better
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instead of moaning about it
can you suggest an open source solution that the BBC can use instead of iPlayer that is not proprietary and works on Windows/Mac and Linux???
Just don't suggest any TV professional to use Ogg Theora format. They have given up VP3 (the actual format) some years ago. :)
There are 3 issues here:
1) Allergy to Real Networks who produces a media player down to AIX. Even after they opened entire source excluding codecs.l
2) Apple's Allergy to Linux/BSD and not producing Quicktime for those platforms.
3) Open Source Linux users allergy to closed source since Apple will want to keep Quicktime closed source binary.
So it is Flash. Flash container became stand
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I have a demo I like to do where I decode and play back 1080p HD using CoreAVC [coreavc.com], on a 1GHz laptop (downclocked - it's hard to find a PC with a native resolution of 1920x1200 and a clock speed of 1GHz). Yes, it drops some frames, but it's quite watchable.
I also do 320x[240-320] H.264 (full screen) playback on a Treo 650. It's got a 312MHz ARM processor, and 32MB of RAM (~24 available).
None of this is hardware accelerated.
BenchMarks her [behardware.com]
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theora (not recommended. not ready yet)
x.263
x.264
whatever realplayer uses.
For audio:
vorbis (recommended. free, open, patent license is free for all)
mp3 (almost everybody has it on their computers already. I prefer vorbis over mp3, but mp3 over flash)
flac (much too big for downloads. just saying it is there)
aac
The real problem is DRM. The BBC does not want you to be able to keep the file on your computer. If they would forgo that requirement, then they could just use AV files, rather than using an
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The real problem is DRM. The BBC does not want you to be able to keep the file on your computer. If they would forgo that requirement, then they could just use AV files, rather than using an intentionally limiting solution.
It's not about what the BBC wants, it's about what the content owners will allow them to do. The BBC doesn't make much of its content in house these days, and the production companies aren't going to give away for free (apart from the licence fee) content that people will happily buy on DVD. I'd rather have a system where I can download/stream a whole bunch of stuff for 7 days after broadcast than a system where I can watch next to nothing indefinitely.
Re:Well, that's great... (Score:5, Insightful)
mpeg. (Score:2)
There are mpeg2 decoders everywhere -- it's just about as ubiquitous as Flash. And there's no reason they can't do both.
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Re:Well, that's great... (Score:5, Funny)
So that meant I was denied access from my 8 track [wikipedia.org] simply because they refused to supply the broadcasts on it! Boy, was I mad! How was this TV service supposed to be free if they make you buy certain equipment first?!
And now they're demanding that I go out of my way to download a free software package! Their thoughtless arrogance knows no bounds!
Just to clarify (Score:2)
Now personally I'm more than happy to pay, but it does mean it can't just be broadcast free to anybody on the planet with an internet connection.
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Wrong. [tvlicensing.co.uk]
"You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, set-top boxes, video or DVD recorders, computers or mobile phones to watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV." (my emphasis)
Just to reiterate, you don't need a license to just own a television.
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rippage (Score:5, Interesting)
mplayer -dumpstream -dumpfile $outfile.ra $thestream
rip the stream like what the Real stream can be ripped? (Yes I'm talking radio, it's Radio Four Boy here and without being able to rip I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue [wikipedia.org], as I've been doing for the last few years, having migrated from the Mark II Compact Cassette Tape that worked so well throughout the 80s and 90s, life ain't gonna be worth living.) Samantha agrees - the wow and flutter of older technology is a real turn-off, although she does enjoy flicking through some favourite flash videos.
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I've set up an email address that calls a script which takes the start time, duration, and channel name from the subject of the email, and schedules a cron job for that. Voila. I'm on the other side of the world, and I forgot that I wanted to record Peep Show [calum.org]? (Not from the Beeb, but..) A simple email from anywhere does it.
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I thought about encoding it as I record it, but usually I just watch the stuff a few days later, and delete, so no need. I've got Roberto Succo to watch from BBC2 a few days ago, and Run Lola Run. Then I can reclaim 6GB of space. Hurrah.
PS. If anyone knows how to speed up postgres SELECT * FROM tv WHERE title ILIKE '%searchterm%' queries, please let me know. Indexes don't seem to hel
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Here are all the TV and Radio channels I have access to from Linux (with Mplayer, VLC, etc):
tvtv DIGITAL Sky Text Virgin Radio Clyde 1 Premier Radio talkSPORT smileTV E4+1 Dave SKY THREE Sky Spts News Sky News BBC ONE BBC THREE BBC NEWS 24 BBCi CBBC Channel BBC TWO ITV1 ITV2 CITV Teletext Teletext Cars Teletext on 4 Channel 4 E4 More 4 Channel 4+1 ITV4
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A lot of radio stations are carried on DVB-S, and presumably DVB-T too (there is no DVB-T where I come from, and no coverage planned. Thanks guys.) including "out of area" channels.
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kudos to the BBC. (Score:2)
Flash may not be open or perfect - but there are enough cross platform implementations to make it nearly ubiquitous. Given the choice between windows DRMware or Flash I would of made the same choice any day of the week. I am linux only at home, so I'm happy about this.
BBC is full of fail: German ZDF does better. (Score:3, Interesting)
[1] http://mediathek.zdf.de/ [mediathek.zdf.de]
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That's awesome! Now, can you come back and let us know when they produce something we might want to watch?
Better than iPlayer, by all accounts (Score:2)
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Hear, hear. I can't comment on what the old iPlayer is like, because having downloaded the installer, I then read the attached Ts&Cs. I'm hardly a picky licensing geek, but some of the conditions were pretty much outrageous, and no sane person with a clue about technology would ever agree to them if they read them.
A TV repeat service like this is a great move by the BBC, but only if it's not a serious threat to anyone who installs their damageware player. This move neatly avoids the latter problem ent
BBC Trust and OSC response (Score:2, Informative)
Misleading summary (Score:5, Informative)
Shhh. No there aren't (Score:5, Funny)
And there are especially no Firefox plugins to download them with one easy click.
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Dear BBC and other Tv netowrks or entities. (Score:5, Insightful)
If you must have DRM in it, then have your crap in iTunes. if you are one of the few smart companies and dont care about DRM, then a podcast with a format that plays on an iPod will do nicely.
This will get the largest possible market for your video. and 320X240 is acceptable on a ipod and not desired o be traded by pirates (yarr! It's low res, off to greener lands me matyes! yarr!)
As a consumer that is interested in actually watching TV the way it should be here in 2007/2008 I dont want your website, I want it in a way I can download it and play it on my ipod or phone, not your crappy website.
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I dont want your website, I want it in a way I can download it and play it on my ipod or phone, not your crappy website.
Maybe you do, but the success of YouTube has shown that many people find a web accessible service easier to use than a download service. I just watched this debate [bbc.co.uk] and found it acceptable - the video quality seems better than YouTube. I think the BBC just killed their iPlayer download software; most people aren't going to bother messing about with p2p download software when the have a high quality streaming alternative.
Now we just need an open source flash... gnash, anyone?
Re:Dear BBC and other Tv netowrks or entities. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Dear BBC and other Tv netowrks or entities. (Score:5, Insightful)
Or even accept that trying to use "DRM" is rather daft after you have broadcast it.
I am sick of having to go to random websites and having to use the half-assed players you guys think are acceptable.
It really disn't make any sense if these are harder to use than the "pirate option".
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There, fixed that for you
As a long time supporter of the BBC (or "TV tax" as most Americans like to call it), I'm not quite sure what the insistence on DRM is either. Auntie says their partners (NBC and CBC possibly) demand it for online content, but what pirate in his right mind will bother trying to strip the DRM
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Quit with the bullshit formats and half assed attempts.
With you here.
If you are really that desperate to protect your precious from the Evil consumers then get it on iTunes and be done with it. I am sick of having to go to random websites and having to use the half-assed players you guys think are acceptable.
What? There is nothing more evil than that POS iTunes on Windows. They must have used the million monkey method to develop that thing, then cheaped out on the monkeys. It's even worse than the
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If you are really that desperate to protect your precious from the Evil consumers then get it on iTunes and be done with it.
and then...
I am sick of having to go to random websites and having to use the half-assed players you guys think are acceptable.
As far as I'm concerned iTunes is a half-assed player and really isn't of acceptable quality (compared to say.. mplayer or Media Player Classic).
Just release everything in a non-drm format and be done with it; people will pirate it regardless of if it's DRM'd or not. There's absolutely no point in trying to stop a glacier from moving, once the momentum is in place you can only watch what happens.
Personally I think the results will be beautiful and result in much more social value, rather than m
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> As a consumer that is interested in actually watching TV the way it should be here in 2007/2008 I dont want your website, I want it in a way I can
> download it and play it on my ipod or phone, not your crappy website.
Dude, it's 2007 - why can't your phone stream video?
My smart phones since 2002 can stream video thanks to Symbian and Realplayer. Phones can stream video, "i"Phones can't :) In fact, phones supporting DVB-H can actually be called portable TVs too.
Hopefully that SDK announced will mean Helix/Real Player for iPhone. They already have significant expertise on ARM.
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Good news (Score:3, Interesting)
Flash will suit me fine. Almost every device I have can play it in some form (except the iphone, but hopefully that's coming one day).
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Phillip.
Not good enough. (Score:5, Interesting)
Just one reason amongst many why I hope this is not the end of the BBC's plan to open up the iPlayer content to other platforms, although I expect that it probably is.
Uk only (Score:3, Interesting)
"Can I download programmes from outside the UK?
The BBC uses Geo-IP technology to identify where your are based on the location of your internet service provider (ISP). This ensures that only internet users in the UK can enjoy programmes on BBC iPlayer.
If you download a programme to your laptop or a portable hard drive, you can watch this wherever you are in the world. However, you will only be able to download new programmes once you return to the UK.
Why do I need to be in the UK to use BBC iPlayer?
Rights agreements mean that BBC iPlayer is only available to users in the UK. However, BBC Worldwide is working on an international version, which we will make available as soon as possible."
Re:Uk only (Score:5, Informative)
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Why not have that GEO-loc system give UK residents 'free' access, and the rest of the world a paywall? That would mean even more money for the Beeb (and other tv-networks that get behind this). More money for quality programming.
Seems to me to be a win-win situation.
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Speak for yourself. My TV provider [1] offers BBC 1 and 2 plus several BBC radio channels. They pay the BBC for the privilege. Why shouldn't I be able to access the same programming via the Web?
1: and pretty much every TV provider in the Netherlands
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Volume Control (Score:2)
That's for watching TV really loud
Obligatory Spinal Tap Quote (Score:2, Insightful)
Nigel: You see, most blokes will be playing at 10. Youre on 10, all the way up, all the way up...Where can you go from there? Nowhere. What we do, is if we need that extra push over the cliff...Eleven. One louder.
DiBergi: Why dont you just make 10 louder and make 10 be the top number, and make that a little louder?
(small pause)
Nigel: These go to 11.
Flash available On Linux? Or is that Linux/x86-32? (Score:2)
So, we're just waiting on Adobe to release Flash for Linux/x86-64, Linux/PPC, Linux/Alpha, Linux/Sparc, Linux/ARM, etc...
*tumbleweed rolls by...*
Yeah, right. Thought so.
After all, it's not like there aren't truly cross-platform streaming formats out there. Oh no, wait, there are!
Aaaaaarrrghhhhh!!!!
AND STOP SAYING "LINUX" WHEN YOU MEAN LINUX/X86-32 . Linux is *so* much more
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Yes, the developers are doing great work, and I have a lot of respect for them, and I couldn't ask for anything more from them given the hurdles and reverse-engineering they're having to surmount. But if the BBC is requiring "the latest version of Flash" then swfdec (or Gnash) just can't cut it at this time.
Rebroadcast Abroad? (Score:2)
Maybe a copyright? Under UK law, don't I have a protected ability to retransmit content from one place to another for my personal consumption, the way I do in US law (if not always in US courts)?
hear, hear! (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, this is sarcasm. There's going to be some place where they have to draw the line, and currently that line lays with whatever support Flash (sorry to hear the FLOSS coders haven't gotten to 64bit yet
Hardly (Score:2)
Until they're using open technology, this is a hollow gesture to remove the political and social pressure on them. I just hope that the people who really care don't give up their campaign to make the BBC be open.
Oh, please. Your post is complaining about something imperfect, giving no credit for the fact that it is still very much better than the previous version for most people.
This version will allow many users on probably the second and third most popular platforms to view content they otherwise couldn't view at all. It will allow many people using Windows to access the content much more easily and without having to install dubious P2P software with very dubious conditions attached on their PCs (which is the
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In addition the programs are a source of income for BBC Worldwide. The BBC sells rights to programs to foreign channels and DVDs, etc... Downloading bittorrents of BBC programs from pirate sites is still a fairly high barrier for many people whereas going to the BBC's website is a much lower barrier. The BBC are not going to jeopardise that income, at least not in the short term.
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Remember, its illegal in the UK to use a TV without a BBC license, regardless of what channels you watch or purpose you have for using it
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Uhm, no. You can use a TV in the UK without a TV licence just fine. If you're not watching broadcast TV, you don't need a licence. Very simple.
You do *not*, under any circumstances, need a TV if it's connected to (for example) a games console or a computer (unless you've got a TV capture card hooked up to an aerial in the computer). There's nothing to stop you downloa
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The issue is: Content BELONGS to BBC
And the BBC BELONGS to their licence payers in the UK in an arrangement enforced by law through the UK elected parliament. This means the service is being paid for by residents of the UK.
and we would pay 2x price if it was offered to foreigners with "geo IP" technology rather than watching someone's sub optimized divx ripped from TV broadcast.
They are lagging the real thing on purpose just to claim the multi platform changes were not needed. How hard is it to setup "World" site same time with added price?
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How hard is it to setup "World" site same time with added price?
Probably very hard indeed. It isn't just a matter of sticking the files onto a big server with a paypal link.
If you are attempting to do this legally and collect money for it legally, there is no end of licensing and bargaining that has to be sorted. You only have to look at the current writers' strike in the US to see that it isn't a straightforward issue. Everyone wants their cut of the action and the laws you need to comply with are different in different countries. Plus you'd want to ensure that a s
Re:...But it is closed to entire Planet except UK (Score:4, Funny)
The BBC have done this for one reason and ONLY one reason: To back up their ridiculous stance that anyone with a 'net connection in the UK needs a TV licence. Wouldn't want the OSS hippies to find a loophole in that, now, would we? That's it. Nothing to see here besides another money grab on the back of new media and shared resources. The reason you're not getting iPlayer if you're a "Johnny Foreigner" is because you don't pay the Beeb tax. Congratulations. I wish I didn't either.
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Nice troll. The fact that you claim to have a) never missed Eastenders and b) have not killed yourself from the sheer depressingly transparent fictic
Not entirely open. (Score:2)
From the Wikipedia page:
In other words, not like PDF at all.
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I know ActionScript, but I prefer to write what little Flash stuff I do in HaXe, for example. There are also Rebol Flash dialect (RSWF), an ActionScript virtual