Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason wrote:
There is an ongoing discussion whether MP3 files
should be allowed on
Wikipeda, check it out -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Sound#MP3_on_Wikipedia
To me, this is a very simple question. If a file format can't be read
with free software, then we must not use it. If a file format can be
read with free software, but can't be created with free software, then
we should strongly discourage the use. Notice that the GIF patent
threat was to creators of software like The Gimp (to make the files)
rather than to creators of software like Mozilla (to read the
files). The situation with MP3 is, as I understand it, much
worse. Here the threat is to both encoders and decoders. Therefore we
must not use MP3 files.
It is important to undertsand that the issue of convenience is at the
heart of our fight for freedom. People continue to use proprietary
formats and proprietary software because they perceive it as being
more convenient. One of the most important things that we can do is to
illustrate that proprietary formats are actually inconvenient, so long
as some people choose to use formats that are free. And if we at
Wikipedia do our small part to get people to download and install a
proper free decoder (this will generally just be a codec in a player)
so that we make the free Ogg Vorbis format as convenient as the
proprietary format, we will have achieved something important.
--Jimbo