[xiph-commits] r10170 - websites/vorbis.com/faq
giles at svn.xiph.org
giles at svn.xiph.org
Mon Oct 17 10:06:17 PDT 2005
Author: giles
Date: 2005-10-17 10:06:16 -0700 (Mon, 17 Oct 2005)
New Revision: 10170
Modified:
websites/vorbis.com/faq/index.shtml.en
Log:
Fix the link to the dare to compare page.
Modified: websites/vorbis.com/faq/index.shtml.en
===================================================================
--- websites/vorbis.com/faq/index.shtml.en 2005-10-17 11:44:48 UTC (rev 10169)
+++ websites/vorbis.com/faq/index.shtml.en 2005-10-17 17:06:16 UTC (rev 10170)
@@ -1,507 +1,507 @@
-<!--#include virtual="/ssi/header.include" -->
-<!-- Enter custom page information and styles here -->
- <title>Vorbis.com: FAQ</title>
+<!--#include virtual="/ssi/header.include" -->
+<!-- Enter custom page information and styles here -->
+ <title>Vorbis.com: FAQ</title>
</head>
<body>
-<!--#include virtual="/common/xiphbar.include" -->
-
-<!--#include virtual="/ssi/pagetop.include" -->
-<!-- All your page content goes here -->
-
-<a name="top"></a>
-
-<h2 style="margin-top: 0;">What Is It?</h2>
-<ul>
- <li><a href="#what" id="_what">What is Ogg Vorbis?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#names" id="_names">What do all the names mean?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#mean" id="_mean">Where do the names come from?
- What does the logo mean?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#mimetype" id="_mimetype">What is the MIME content type for an Ogg Vorbis stream?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#replace" id="_replace">Does Vorbis completely replace MP3, or is it just a
- complementary codec?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#artist" id="_artist">I'm an artist. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#fan" id="_fan">I'm a music fan. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#dev" id="_dev">I'm a developer. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#company" id="_company">I run a music label. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<h2>Licensing</h2>
-<ul>
- <li><a href="#flic" id="_flic">What licensing applies to the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#slic" id="_slic">What licensing applies to the included Ogg Vorbis software?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#com" id="_com">We make commercial, closed source software.
- Can I use Ogg Vorbis at all? What licensing do I need to pay?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#sell" id="_sell">Are there licensing fees for distributing, selling, or
- streaming media in the Ogg Vorbis format like there are in other formats,
- such as MP3?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#money" id="_money">If there aren't any licensing fees, how are you going
- to make money off the format? Will you charge fees later, after Vorbis becomes
- popular?</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<h2>Audio Quality</h2>
-<ul>
- <li><a href="#lossy" id="_lossy">I've heard that Vorbis is a "lossy" codec.
- What does this mean?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#sound" id="_sound">Does Ogg Vorbis sound better than MP3?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#other" id="_other">Why is Ogg Vorbis better than the other "New MP3"
- codecs that are available?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#transcode" id="_transcode">Can I convert my MP3 collection to
- the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#test" id="_test">You're claiming that Vorbis has great audio quality.
- Have you done any listening tests to back this up?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#bugs" id="_bugs">I've heard some test samples that had audible
- artifacts. Why did this happen?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#quality" id="_quality">What does the "Quality" setting mean?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#speech" id="_speech">How does Vorbis fare for speech compression?</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<h2>Features</h2>
-<ul>
- <li><a href="#comments" id="_comments">Does Ogg Vorbis have the capability to show song
- titles and artist information when the file is played or streamed?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#video" id="_video">Where's video?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#stream" id="_stream">What about streaming in Ogg Vorbis format?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#support" id="_support">What software and hardware support Ogg Vorbis?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#container" id="_container">Can I bundle Vorbis and another media type
- (like text lyrics or pictures) in the same file?</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<h2>Development</h2>
-<ul>
- <li><a href="#startdev" id="_startdev">How do I get started with Ogg Vorbis development?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#fpsupport" id="_fpsupport">Is it feasible to port the Vorbis decoder/encoder to
- a platform without floating point support?</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<h2>Meta-FAQ</h2>
-<ul>
- <li><a href="#FAQmorequestions" id="_FAQmorequestions">I have a question that isn't answered by
- this FAQ. Where can I turn for help?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#FAQcontribute" id="_FAQcontribute">Where can discussions about and contributions
- to this FAQ be made?</a></li>
- <li><a href="#FAQcurrent" id="_FAQcurrent">How current is this FAQ?</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<hr/>
-<h3>What Is It?</h3>
-<dl>
- <dt><a href="#_what" id="what">What is Ogg Vorbis?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Ogg Vorbis is a new audio compression format. It is roughly
- comparable to other formats used to store and play digital music,
- such as MP3, VQF, AAC, and other digital audio formats. It is different
- from these other formats because it is completely free, open, and unpatented.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_names" id="names">What do all the names mean?</a></dt>
- <dd>
- <p/><dl>
- <dt><dfn>Ogg</dfn></dt>
- <dd>Ogg is the name of Xiph.org's container format for audio,
- video, and metadata.</dd>
-
- <dt><dfn>Vorbis</dfn></dt>
- <dd>Vorbis is the name of a specific audio compression scheme
- that's designed to be contained in Ogg. Note that other
- formats are capable of being embedded in Ogg such as
- <a href='http://flac.sourceforge.net/'>FLAC</a> and
- <a href='http://www.speex.org/'>Speex</a>.</dd>
- </dl><p/>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_mean" id="mean">Where do the names come from?
- What does the logo mean?</a></dt>
- <dd><p><a href="http://www.xiph.org">Xiph.org</a> has <a href="http://www.xiph.org/xiphname.html">a page</a>
- explaining the sources and meanings of the names and logos.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_mimetype" id="mimetype">What is the MIME content type for
- an Ogg Vorbis stream?</a></dt>
- <dd><p><code>application/ogg</code>.</p>
- <p>The official mimetype was approved in February 2003. The experimental
- <code>application/x-ogg</code> may still be out there, though.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_replace" id="replace">Does Vorbis completely replace MP3,
- or is it just a complementary codec?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Ogg Vorbis has been designed to completely replace all proprietary,
- patented audio formats. That means that you can encode all your music or
- audio content in Vorbis and never look back.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_artist" id="artist">I'm an artist. Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>There are a couple of reasons:</p>
- <ul>
- <li>Vorbis files can compress to a smaller file size and still sound fine;
- <strong>Vorbis' better compression will cut down on bandwidth costs</strong>
- and keep you from being a victim of your own popularity.</li>
-
- <li>Vorbis' standardized, easily-edited comment header provides a space
- for you to scribble all sorts of notes about yourself to distribute
- with the music; this helps fans find you, your site, and where to buy
- your stuff.</li>
-
- <li>If you decide to sell your music in MP3 format, you are
- responsible for paying Fraunhofer a percentage of each
- sale because you are using their patents.
- Vorbis is patent and license-free, so you will never
- need to pay anyone in order to sell, give away, or stream
- your own music.</li>
- </ul><p/>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_fan" id="fan">I'm a music fan.
- Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Because Vorbis provides a high-quality format for you to listen
- to your music.</p>
- <ul>
- <li>For a given file size, Vorbis sounds better than MP3. This means:
- <ul>
- <li>You can keep your music collection at about the same
- quality level, but it'll take up less space</li>
- <li><strong>or</strong> you can have your music collection take
- up about the same amount of space, but have it sound better.</li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
- <li>Vorbis already enjoys widespread player support and
- work is underway to play Vorbis files on portable hardware.</li>
- </ul><p/>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_dev" id="dev">I'm a developer. Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Epic Games (the makers of Unreal Tournament, et. al.) have used Vorbis
- in their games ever since releasing Unreal Tournament 2003 to compress game
- music without having per-game license fees sap profits from every game sold.
- <strong>Vorbis saves developers money by avoiding patent-license fees.</strong></p>
- <p>Epic isn't alone; other Vorbis users include:</p>
- <ul>
- <li>Crystal Dynamics (Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2)</li>
- <li>Croteam (Serious Sam: The Second Encounter)</li>
- <li>Pyrogon (Candy Cruncher)</li>
- <li>PopCap Games (Alchemy)</li>
-
- <li>EA Games (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)</li>
- </ul>
- <p>Interested? see our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/'>developer site</a>.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_company" id="company">I run a music label. Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
- <dd><p/>
- <ul>
- <li>Vorbis' free encoders and high quality-to-filesize ratio can
- <em>minimize bandwidth costs</em> and <strong>eliminate</strong>
- compression licensing costs.</li>
-
- <li>Think of a grocery store that provides free samples; your customers are
- more likely to buy your product if it's well-presented. You can then show your
- potential customers what your bands <em>really</em> sound like with Ogg Vorbis.</li>
- </ul>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
-<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
-
-<hr/>
-<h3>Licensing</h3>
-<dl>
- <dt><a href="#_flic" id="flic">What licensing applies to the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>The Ogg Vorbis specification is in the public domain. It is completely free
- for commercial or noncommercial use. That means that commercial developers may
- independently write Ogg Vorbis software which is compatible with the specification
- for no charge and without restrictions of any kind. However, the software packages we
- have developed are available under various free/open-source software licenses with varying
- allowances and restrictions.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_slic" id="slic">What licensing applies to the included Ogg Vorbis software?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Most (but not all) of our utility software is released under the terms of
- the <a href='http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html'>GNU GPL</a>. The libraries and SDKs
- are released under our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/licenses/bsd/'>BSD-like license</a>.</p>
- <p>Note that developers are still free to use the specification to write implementations
- of Ogg Vorbis licensed under other terms.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_com" id="com">We make commercial, closed source software. Can I
- use Ogg Vorbis at all? What licensing do I need to pay?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Again, <strong>there are no licensing fees for
- <em style='text-transform: uppercase; font-style: normal;'>any</em>
- use of the Ogg Vorbis specification.</strong> As a commercial developer, you are
- free to create and sell (or give away) open or closed source implementations of Vorbis
- encoders, decoders, or other tools. However, if you use our software rather than writing
- an independent implementation, you must respect the terms of the license. Our libraries
- are available under <a href='http://www.xiph.org/licenses/bsd/'>our BSD-like license</a>
- and can be used whole or in part by closed source applications.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_sell" id="sell">Are there licensing fees for distributing, selling,
- or streaming media in the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></dt>
- <dd><p style="font-weight: bold;">No.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_money" id="money">If there aren't any licensing fees, how are you going to
- make money off the format? Will you charge fees later, after Vorbis becomes popular?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>The benefits of a patent-free, license-free format outweigh the concerns of
- making money directly from the format. The Vorbis format will always be free and in the
- public domain. Xiph.org is investigating a variety of models for funding development,
- some of which may include licensing non-free Vorbis-related programs and libraries to
- commercial projects. Nevertheless, the reference encoder and decoder will always be open
- source and third parties will always be free to modify or reimplement them.</p>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
-<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
-
-<hr/>
-<h3>Audio Quality</h3>
-<dl>
- <dt><a href="#_lossy" id="lossy">I've heard that Vorbis is a “lossy”
- codec. What does this mean?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>There are two broad classes of compression algorithms:</p>
- <dl>
- <dt><dfn>lossy</dfn></dt>
- <dd>Lossy compression algorithms <em>discard</em> data in order to compress it
- better than would normally be possible. Examples include <abbr>JPEG</abbr>,
- Vorbis, and <abbr>MP3</abbr> compression.</dd>
-
- <dt><dfn>lossless</dfn></dt>
- <dd>Lossless compression algorithms produce compressed data that can be decoded to
- output that is identical to the original. Zip is a common general-purpose lossless
- compression format; <a href="http://flac.sourceforge.net/">FLAC</a> is a lossless
- compression format that is specifically designed for audio.</dd>
- </dl><p/>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_sound" id="sound">Does Ogg Vorbis sound better than MP3?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Yes, definitely. Naturally, we invite you to judge this for yourself;
- please see our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/listen.html'>Dare to Compare</a>
- page for at least some of our listening samples.</p></dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_other" id="other">Why is Ogg Vorbis better than the other "New MP3"
- codecs that are available?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Vorbis sounds better. Vorbis is open, so you're free to use it on your favorite
- platform. Vorbis doesn't have intellectual property restrictions to get in the way.
- And Vorbis doesn't just try to sound better, it tries to do things fundamentally better
- in all the ways that it can.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_transcode" id="transcode">Can I convert my MP3 collection to the Ogg
- Vorbis format?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>You can convert any audio format to Ogg Vorbis. However, converting from one
- lossy format, like MP3, to another lossy format, like Vorbis, is generally a bad idea.
- Both MP3 and Vorbis encoders achieve high compression ratios by throwing away parts
- of the audio waveform that you probably won't hear. However, the MP3 and Vorbis
- codecs are very different, so they each will throw away different parts of the audio,
- although there certainly is some overlap. Converting a MP3 to Vorbis involves decoding
- the MP3 file back to an uncompressed format, like WAV, and recompressing it using the Ogg
- Vorbis encoder. The decoded MP3 will be missing the parts of the original audio that
- the MP3 encoder chose to discard. The Ogg Vorbis encoder will then discard other audio
- components when it compresses the data. At best, the result will be an Ogg file that
- sounds the same as your original MP3, but it is most likely that the resulting file will
- sound worse than your original MP3. In no case will you get a file that sounds better
- than the original MP3.</p>
- <p>Since many music players can play both MP3 <em>and</em> Ogg files, there is no reason
- that you should have to switch all of your files to one format or the other. If you like
- Ogg Vorbis, then we would encourage you to use it when you encode from original, lossless
- audio sources (like CDs). When encoding from originals, you will find that you can make
- Ogg files that are smaller or of better quality (or both) than your MP3s.</p>
- <p>(If you must absolutely must convert from MP3 to Ogg, there are several conversion
- scripts available on <a href="http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=convert%20ogg%20mp3">Freshmeat</a>
- .)</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_test" id="test">You're claiming that Vorbis has great audio quality.
- Have you done any listening tests to back this up?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Yes. Have a look at our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/listen.html'>Dare
- to Compare</a> page.</p>
- <p>Further, the German magazine c't published the results of a
- <a hreflang='de' href='http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/anw-08.09.02-000/'>listening test</a>
- which found that Vorbis sounded better than MP3 at lower bitrates/quality settings
- (around 64kbit/sec).</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_bugs" id="bugs">I've heard some test samples that had audible
- artifacts. Why did this happen?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>While the Vorbis file format is standardized, the Vorbis encoder has
- undergone several beta and prerelease testing cycles. If the files you heard were
- encoded using an earlier version encoder, they might contain serious audio quality bugs
- that have already been fixed. Try re-encoding from the source audio using the latest
- encoder. If you still think you've got a bug that produces unreasonable artifacts, please
- e-mail the vorbis-dev list with the details.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_quality" id="quality">What does the “Quality” setting mean?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Vorbis' audio quality is not <em>best</em> measured in kilobits per second, but
- on a scale from -1 to 10 called "quality". This change in terminology was brought about
- by a tuning of the variable-bitrate algorithm that produces better sound quality for a
- given average bitrate, but which does not adhere as strictly to that average as a target.</p>
- <p>This new scale of measurement is not tied to a quantifiable characteristic of the
- stream, like bitrate, so it's a fairly subjective metric, but provides a more stable
- basis of comparison to other codecs and is relatively future-proof. As Segher Boessenkool
- explained, “if you upgrade to a new vorbis encoder, and you keep the same quality
- setting, you will get smaller files which sound the same. If you keep the same nominal
- bitrate, you get about the same size files, which sound somewhat better.” The
- former behavior is the aim of the quality metric, so encoding to a target bitrate is
- now officially deprecated for all uses except streaming over bandwidth-critical
- connections.</p>
- <p>For now, quality 0 is roughly equivalent to 64kbps average, 5 is roughly 160kbps,
- and 10 gives about 400kbps. Most people seeking very-near-CD-quality audio encode at
- a quality of 5 or, for lossless stereo coupling, 6. The default setting is quality
- 3, which at approximately 110kbps gives a smaller filesize and significantly better
- fidelity than .mp3 compression at 128kbps.</p>
- <p>As always, if you need CD-quality sound, neither Vorbis nor MP3 (nor any other
- lossy audio codec) can provide <em>exact</em> reproduction; instead, consider using
- a lossless audio compression scheme like <a href='http://flac.sourceforge.net'>FLAC</a>.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_speech" id="speech">How does Vorbis fare for speech compression?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>It works well, but is generally not the optimal solution. Vorbis is designed
- for the compression of music and general purpose audio. Special purpose codecs can
- achieve much greater compression of speech than Vorbis. Vorbis also tends to have a
- latency that is too high for telephony, a common use of speech codecs. Read the
- <a href="http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/comp.speech/FAQ3.html">Speech Coding and Compression
- FAQ</a> for more details. Those looking for an pen-source, patent-free speech codec
- should take a look at <a href="http://www.speex.org/">Speex</a>.</p>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
-<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
-
-<hr/>
-<h3>Features</h3>
-<dl>
- <dt><a href="#_comments" id="comments">Does Ogg Vorbis have the capability to show song
- titles and artist information when the file is played or streamed?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Yes, Vorbis includes a
- <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/doc/v-comment.html">flexible, complete comment
- field</a> for song and artist info, as well as other track data. The official encoder,
- oggenc, allows you to enter comment info at encode time. Other tools tools also let
- you enter and edit track data.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_video" id="video">Where's video?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>If you're interested in our progress on a video codec, check out Theora at
- <a href='http://www.theora.org/'>theora.org</a>.</p></dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_stream" id="stream">What about streaming in Ogg Vorbis?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Ogg Vorbis is easily streamable. <a href='http://www.icecast.org/'>Icecast</a>,
- our streaming audio server, is capable of streaming Ogg Vorbis to players like
- <a href='http://xmms.org/'>XMMS</a>,
- <a href='http://classic.winamp.com/'>Winamp 2</a>, and
- <a href='http://www.foobar2000.org/'>foobar2000</a>.
- </p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_support" id="support">What software and hardware support Ogg Vorbis?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Many programs support Ogg Vorbis encoding and playback; it's included in popular
- players such as
- <a href='http://www.winamp.com/'>Winamp</a> an
- <a href='http://www.foobar2000.org/'>foobar2000</a> for Windows, and
- <a href='http://whamb.com'>Whamb</a> for OS X. It's also supported in popular audio
- applications such as <a href='http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/'>CDex</a> and
- <a href='http://www.goldwave.com/'>GoldWave</a>. For a more complete list, refer to
- <a href="http://www.vorbis.com/download.psp">our software page</a>.</p>
- <p><a href='http://wiki.xiph.org/'>Our wiki</a> has
- <a href="http://wiki.xiph.org/VorbisHardware">notes on hardware support</a> for Vorbis.
- </p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_container" id="container">Can I bundle Vorbis and another media
- type (like text lyrics or pictures) in the same file?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>Yes. The Ogg container format was designed to allow different media types to
- be multiplexed together; <a href='http://www.theora.org/'>Theora</a> will be mixed
- with Vorbis audio in an Ogg container to encode movies.</p>
- <p>In addition, <a href='http://flac.sourceforge.net/'>FLAC</a> can be embedded in
- Ogg and some preliminary work has been done to put MNG and MIDI content into Ogg files
- as well.Experimental code is available in the <tt>ogg-tools</tt> module in the
- <a href="http://www.xiph.org/cvs.html">Xiph.org CVS repository</a>. Programmers working
- on such extensions can discuss issues and questions on the
- <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vmail.html">vorbis-dev mailing list</a>.</p>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
-<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
-
-<hr/>
-<h3>Development</h3>
-<dl>
- <dt><a href="#_startdev" id="startdev">How do I get started with Ogg Vorbis
- development?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>It is important to first become familiar with current development efforts.
- The best ways to do this are:</p>
- <ul>
- <li>Download and compile the latest development code from
- <a href="http://www.xiph.org/cvs.html">the Xiph.org CVS repository</a>. The important
- modules for Ogg Vorbis development are <tt>ogg</tt>, <tt>vorbis</tt>, <tt>ao</tt>, and
- <tt>vorbis-tools</tt>. If you are interested in working on putting other media types
- into Ogg files, the <tt>ogg-tools</tt> module also has example code.</li>
-
- <li>Subscribe to the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vmail.html">vorbis user and
- developer mailing lists</a>.</li>
-
- <li>Talk to developers in IRC. They usually are hanging around in #vorbis on
- irc.freenode.net. They can tell you more about what projects would be interesting at
- the current moment.</li>
- </ul>
- <p>Once you have seen what others are doing, you will have a better chance to find
- a project to work on.</p>
- </dd>
-
-<!--
-<dt>
-<a href="#bugfix" id="bugfix">How do I contribute a bug-fix or enhancement of the Xiph.org Ogg Vorbis
-libraries and tools?</a>
-</dt>
-<dd>
-<p>If you want to contribute bug fixes or enhancements to vorbis-tools, the
-preferred method is to generate a patch against the latest <a href="http://www.xiph.org/cvs.html">CVS code</a>. You can do this by running
-the command "cvs diff -u > mybugfix.patch" from the source code directory you
-checked out from CVS.</p>
-<p>Once you have a patch, you need to file a bug/enhancement report on the <a href="http://bugs.xiph.org">Xiph.org Bugzilla server</a>. You can attach your
-patch to the bug entry. If you consider the enhancement to be of general
-interest or want comments from the developer community, you are encouraged to
-post a message to the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vmail.html">Vorbis
-development mailing list</a> describing the patch and linking to the bug entry
-with your patch.</p>
-<p>Please note that patches contributed under license terms not compatible with
-the existing package license (BSD for libogg and libvorbis, GPL for libao and
-vorbis-tools) will generally not be accepted.</p>
-</dd>
--->
-
- <dt><a href="#_fpsupport" id="fpsupport">Is it feasible to port the Vorbis decoder/encoder
- to a platform without floating point support?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>It's been done for the decoder.</p>
- <p><a href='http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/'>Tremor</a> is a fixed-point implementation
- of the Vorbis decoder suitable for chips found on portable devices. However, a fixed-point
- <em>en</em>coder has not been written.</p>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
-<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
-
-<hr/>
-<h3>Meta-FAQ</h3>
-<dl>
- <dt><a href="#_FAQmorequestions" id="FAQmorequestions">I have a question that isn't
- answered by this FAQ. Where can I turn for help?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>There are archived mailing lists for advocacy, user discussion, and development
- at <a href="http://www.xiph.org/archives/">Xiph.org's mailing list page</a>, as well
- as #vorbis on irc.freenode.net, an IRC channel.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_FAQcontribute" id="FAQcontribute">Where can discussions about and
- contributions to this FAQ be made?</a></dt>
- <dd><p><a href="http://xiph.org/archives/">Xiph.org's mailing list page</a> also
- has subscription info and archives of the vorbis mailing list. Contributions and
- discussion are welcome there.</p>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><a href="#_FAQcurrent" id="FAQcurrent">How current is this FAQ?</a></dt>
- <dd><p>It was updated on October 3, 2003.</p>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
-<hr/>
-
-<!--#include virtual="/ssi/pagebottom.include" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/common/xiphbar.include" -->
+
+<!--#include virtual="/ssi/pagetop.include" -->
+<!-- All your page content goes here -->
+
+<a name="top"></a>
+
+<h2 style="margin-top: 0;">What Is It?</h2>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="#what" id="_what">What is Ogg Vorbis?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#names" id="_names">What do all the names mean?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#mean" id="_mean">Where do the names come from?
+ What does the logo mean?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#mimetype" id="_mimetype">What is the MIME content type for an Ogg Vorbis stream?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#replace" id="_replace">Does Vorbis completely replace MP3, or is it just a
+ complementary codec?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#artist" id="_artist">I'm an artist. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#fan" id="_fan">I'm a music fan. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#dev" id="_dev">I'm a developer. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#company" id="_company">I run a music label. Why should I be interested?</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Licensing</h2>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="#flic" id="_flic">What licensing applies to the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#slic" id="_slic">What licensing applies to the included Ogg Vorbis software?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#com" id="_com">We make commercial, closed source software.
+ Can I use Ogg Vorbis at all? What licensing do I need to pay?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#sell" id="_sell">Are there licensing fees for distributing, selling, or
+ streaming media in the Ogg Vorbis format like there are in other formats,
+ such as MP3?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#money" id="_money">If there aren't any licensing fees, how are you going
+ to make money off the format? Will you charge fees later, after Vorbis becomes
+ popular?</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Audio Quality</h2>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="#lossy" id="_lossy">I've heard that Vorbis is a "lossy" codec.
+ What does this mean?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#sound" id="_sound">Does Ogg Vorbis sound better than MP3?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#other" id="_other">Why is Ogg Vorbis better than the other "New MP3"
+ codecs that are available?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#transcode" id="_transcode">Can I convert my MP3 collection to
+ the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#test" id="_test">You're claiming that Vorbis has great audio quality.
+ Have you done any listening tests to back this up?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#bugs" id="_bugs">I've heard some test samples that had audible
+ artifacts. Why did this happen?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#quality" id="_quality">What does the "Quality" setting mean?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#speech" id="_speech">How does Vorbis fare for speech compression?</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Features</h2>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="#comments" id="_comments">Does Ogg Vorbis have the capability to show song
+ titles and artist information when the file is played or streamed?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#video" id="_video">Where's video?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#stream" id="_stream">What about streaming in Ogg Vorbis format?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#support" id="_support">What software and hardware support Ogg Vorbis?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#container" id="_container">Can I bundle Vorbis and another media type
+ (like text lyrics or pictures) in the same file?</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Development</h2>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="#startdev" id="_startdev">How do I get started with Ogg Vorbis development?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#fpsupport" id="_fpsupport">Is it feasible to port the Vorbis decoder/encoder to
+ a platform without floating point support?</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Meta-FAQ</h2>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="#FAQmorequestions" id="_FAQmorequestions">I have a question that isn't answered by
+ this FAQ. Where can I turn for help?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#FAQcontribute" id="_FAQcontribute">Where can discussions about and contributions
+ to this FAQ be made?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#FAQcurrent" id="_FAQcurrent">How current is this FAQ?</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<hr/>
+<h3>What Is It?</h3>
+<dl>
+ <dt><a href="#_what" id="what">What is Ogg Vorbis?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Ogg Vorbis is a new audio compression format. It is roughly
+ comparable to other formats used to store and play digital music,
+ such as MP3, VQF, AAC, and other digital audio formats. It is different
+ from these other formats because it is completely free, open, and unpatented.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_names" id="names">What do all the names mean?</a></dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p/><dl>
+ <dt><dfn>Ogg</dfn></dt>
+ <dd>Ogg is the name of Xiph.org's container format for audio,
+ video, and metadata.</dd>
+
+ <dt><dfn>Vorbis</dfn></dt>
+ <dd>Vorbis is the name of a specific audio compression scheme
+ that's designed to be contained in Ogg. Note that other
+ formats are capable of being embedded in Ogg such as
+ <a href='http://flac.sourceforge.net/'>FLAC</a> and
+ <a href='http://www.speex.org/'>Speex</a>.</dd>
+ </dl><p/>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_mean" id="mean">Where do the names come from?
+ What does the logo mean?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p><a href="http://www.xiph.org">Xiph.org</a> has <a href="http://www.xiph.org/xiphname.html">a page</a>
+ explaining the sources and meanings of the names and logos.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_mimetype" id="mimetype">What is the MIME content type for
+ an Ogg Vorbis stream?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p><code>application/ogg</code>.</p>
+ <p>The official mimetype was approved in February 2003. The experimental
+ <code>application/x-ogg</code> may still be out there, though.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_replace" id="replace">Does Vorbis completely replace MP3,
+ or is it just a complementary codec?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Ogg Vorbis has been designed to completely replace all proprietary,
+ patented audio formats. That means that you can encode all your music or
+ audio content in Vorbis and never look back.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_artist" id="artist">I'm an artist. Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>There are a couple of reasons:</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Vorbis files can compress to a smaller file size and still sound fine;
+ <strong>Vorbis' better compression will cut down on bandwidth costs</strong>
+ and keep you from being a victim of your own popularity.</li>
+
+ <li>Vorbis' standardized, easily-edited comment header provides a space
+ for you to scribble all sorts of notes about yourself to distribute
+ with the music; this helps fans find you, your site, and where to buy
+ your stuff.</li>
+
+ <li>If you decide to sell your music in MP3 format, you are
+ responsible for paying Fraunhofer a percentage of each
+ sale because you are using their patents.
+ Vorbis is patent and license-free, so you will never
+ need to pay anyone in order to sell, give away, or stream
+ your own music.</li>
+ </ul><p/>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_fan" id="fan">I'm a music fan.
+ Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Because Vorbis provides a high-quality format for you to listen
+ to your music.</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>For a given file size, Vorbis sounds better than MP3. This means:
+ <ul>
+ <li>You can keep your music collection at about the same
+ quality level, but it'll take up less space</li>
+ <li><strong>or</strong> you can have your music collection take
+ up about the same amount of space, but have it sound better.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>Vorbis already enjoys widespread player support and
+ work is underway to play Vorbis files on portable hardware.</li>
+ </ul><p/>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_dev" id="dev">I'm a developer. Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Epic Games (the makers of Unreal Tournament, et. al.) have used Vorbis
+ in their games ever since releasing Unreal Tournament 2003 to compress game
+ music without having per-game license fees sap profits from every game sold.
+ <strong>Vorbis saves developers money by avoiding patent-license fees.</strong></p>
+ <p>Epic isn't alone; other Vorbis users include:</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Crystal Dynamics (Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2)</li>
+ <li>Croteam (Serious Sam: The Second Encounter)</li>
+ <li>Pyrogon (Candy Cruncher)</li>
+ <li>PopCap Games (Alchemy)</li>
+
+ <li>EA Games (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)</li>
+ </ul>
+ <p>Interested? see our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/'>developer site</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_company" id="company">I run a music label. Why should I be interested?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p/>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Vorbis' free encoders and high quality-to-filesize ratio can
+ <em>minimize bandwidth costs</em> and <strong>eliminate</strong>
+ compression licensing costs.</li>
+
+ <li>Think of a grocery store that provides free samples; your customers are
+ more likely to buy your product if it's well-presented. You can then show your
+ potential customers what your bands <em>really</em> sound like with Ogg Vorbis.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+<hr/>
+<h3>Licensing</h3>
+<dl>
+ <dt><a href="#_flic" id="flic">What licensing applies to the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>The Ogg Vorbis specification is in the public domain. It is completely free
+ for commercial or noncommercial use. That means that commercial developers may
+ independently write Ogg Vorbis software which is compatible with the specification
+ for no charge and without restrictions of any kind. However, the software packages we
+ have developed are available under various free/open-source software licenses with varying
+ allowances and restrictions.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_slic" id="slic">What licensing applies to the included Ogg Vorbis software?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Most (but not all) of our utility software is released under the terms of
+ the <a href='http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html'>GNU GPL</a>. The libraries and SDKs
+ are released under our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/licenses/bsd/'>BSD-like license</a>.</p>
+ <p>Note that developers are still free to use the specification to write implementations
+ of Ogg Vorbis licensed under other terms.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_com" id="com">We make commercial, closed source software. Can I
+ use Ogg Vorbis at all? What licensing do I need to pay?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Again, <strong>there are no licensing fees for
+ <em style='text-transform: uppercase; font-style: normal;'>any</em>
+ use of the Ogg Vorbis specification.</strong> As a commercial developer, you are
+ free to create and sell (or give away) open or closed source implementations of Vorbis
+ encoders, decoders, or other tools. However, if you use our software rather than writing
+ an independent implementation, you must respect the terms of the license. Our libraries
+ are available under <a href='http://www.xiph.org/licenses/bsd/'>our BSD-like license</a>
+ and can be used whole or in part by closed source applications.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_sell" id="sell">Are there licensing fees for distributing, selling,
+ or streaming media in the Ogg Vorbis format?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p style="font-weight: bold;">No.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_money" id="money">If there aren't any licensing fees, how are you going to
+ make money off the format? Will you charge fees later, after Vorbis becomes popular?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>The benefits of a patent-free, license-free format outweigh the concerns of
+ making money directly from the format. The Vorbis format will always be free and in the
+ public domain. Xiph.org is investigating a variety of models for funding development,
+ some of which may include licensing non-free Vorbis-related programs and libraries to
+ commercial projects. Nevertheless, the reference encoder and decoder will always be open
+ source and third parties will always be free to modify or reimplement them.</p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+<hr/>
+<h3>Audio Quality</h3>
+<dl>
+ <dt><a href="#_lossy" id="lossy">I've heard that Vorbis is a “lossy”
+ codec. What does this mean?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>There are two broad classes of compression algorithms:</p>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><dfn>lossy</dfn></dt>
+ <dd>Lossy compression algorithms <em>discard</em> data in order to compress it
+ better than would normally be possible. Examples include <abbr>JPEG</abbr>,
+ Vorbis, and <abbr>MP3</abbr> compression.</dd>
+
+ <dt><dfn>lossless</dfn></dt>
+ <dd>Lossless compression algorithms produce compressed data that can be decoded to
+ output that is identical to the original. Zip is a common general-purpose lossless
+ compression format; <a href="http://flac.sourceforge.net/">FLAC</a> is a lossless
+ compression format that is specifically designed for audio.</dd>
+ </dl><p/>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_sound" id="sound">Does Ogg Vorbis sound better than MP3?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Yes, definitely. Naturally, we invite you to judge this for yourself;
+ please see our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/vorbis/listen.html'>Dare to Compare</a>
+ page for at least some of our listening samples.</p></dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_other" id="other">Why is Ogg Vorbis better than the other "New MP3"
+ codecs that are available?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Vorbis sounds better. Vorbis is open, so you're free to use it on your favorite
+ platform. Vorbis doesn't have intellectual property restrictions to get in the way.
+ And Vorbis doesn't just try to sound better, it tries to do things fundamentally better
+ in all the ways that it can.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_transcode" id="transcode">Can I convert my MP3 collection to the Ogg
+ Vorbis format?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>You can convert any audio format to Ogg Vorbis. However, converting from one
+ lossy format, like MP3, to another lossy format, like Vorbis, is generally a bad idea.
+ Both MP3 and Vorbis encoders achieve high compression ratios by throwing away parts
+ of the audio waveform that you probably won't hear. However, the MP3 and Vorbis
+ codecs are very different, so they each will throw away different parts of the audio,
+ although there certainly is some overlap. Converting a MP3 to Vorbis involves decoding
+ the MP3 file back to an uncompressed format, like WAV, and recompressing it using the Ogg
+ Vorbis encoder. The decoded MP3 will be missing the parts of the original audio that
+ the MP3 encoder chose to discard. The Ogg Vorbis encoder will then discard other audio
+ components when it compresses the data. At best, the result will be an Ogg file that
+ sounds the same as your original MP3, but it is most likely that the resulting file will
+ sound worse than your original MP3. In no case will you get a file that sounds better
+ than the original MP3.</p>
+ <p>Since many music players can play both MP3 <em>and</em> Ogg files, there is no reason
+ that you should have to switch all of your files to one format or the other. If you like
+ Ogg Vorbis, then we would encourage you to use it when you encode from original, lossless
+ audio sources (like CDs). When encoding from originals, you will find that you can make
+ Ogg files that are smaller or of better quality (or both) than your MP3s.</p>
+ <p>(If you must absolutely must convert from MP3 to Ogg, there are several conversion
+ scripts available on <a href="http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=convert%20ogg%20mp3">Freshmeat</a>
+ .)</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_test" id="test">You're claiming that Vorbis has great audio quality.
+ Have you done any listening tests to back this up?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Yes. Have a look at our <a href='http://www.xiph.org/vorbis/listen.html'>Dare
+ to Compare</a> page.</p>
+ <p>Further, the German magazine c't published the results of a
+ <a hreflang='de' href='http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/anw-08.09.02-000/'>listening test</a>
+ which found that Vorbis sounded better than MP3 at lower bitrates/quality settings
+ (around 64kbit/sec).</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_bugs" id="bugs">I've heard some test samples that had audible
+ artifacts. Why did this happen?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>While the Vorbis file format is standardized, the Vorbis encoder has
+ undergone several beta and prerelease testing cycles. If the files you heard were
+ encoded using an earlier version encoder, they might contain serious audio quality bugs
+ that have already been fixed. Try re-encoding from the source audio using the latest
+ encoder. If you still think you've got a bug that produces unreasonable artifacts, please
+ e-mail the vorbis-dev list with the details.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_quality" id="quality">What does the “Quality” setting mean?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Vorbis' audio quality is not <em>best</em> measured in kilobits per second, but
+ on a scale from -1 to 10 called "quality". This change in terminology was brought about
+ by a tuning of the variable-bitrate algorithm that produces better sound quality for a
+ given average bitrate, but which does not adhere as strictly to that average as a target.</p>
+ <p>This new scale of measurement is not tied to a quantifiable characteristic of the
+ stream, like bitrate, so it's a fairly subjective metric, but provides a more stable
+ basis of comparison to other codecs and is relatively future-proof. As Segher Boessenkool
+ explained, “if you upgrade to a new vorbis encoder, and you keep the same quality
+ setting, you will get smaller files which sound the same. If you keep the same nominal
+ bitrate, you get about the same size files, which sound somewhat better.” The
+ former behavior is the aim of the quality metric, so encoding to a target bitrate is
+ now officially deprecated for all uses except streaming over bandwidth-critical
+ connections.</p>
+ <p>For now, quality 0 is roughly equivalent to 64kbps average, 5 is roughly 160kbps,
+ and 10 gives about 400kbps. Most people seeking very-near-CD-quality audio encode at
+ a quality of 5 or, for lossless stereo coupling, 6. The default setting is quality
+ 3, which at approximately 110kbps gives a smaller filesize and significantly better
+ fidelity than .mp3 compression at 128kbps.</p>
+ <p>As always, if you need CD-quality sound, neither Vorbis nor MP3 (nor any other
+ lossy audio codec) can provide <em>exact</em> reproduction; instead, consider using
+ a lossless audio compression scheme like <a href='http://flac.sourceforge.net'>FLAC</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_speech" id="speech">How does Vorbis fare for speech compression?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>It works well, but is generally not the optimal solution. Vorbis is designed
+ for the compression of music and general purpose audio. Special purpose codecs can
+ achieve much greater compression of speech than Vorbis. Vorbis also tends to have a
+ latency that is too high for telephony, a common use of speech codecs. Read the
+ <a href="http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/comp.speech/FAQ3.html">Speech Coding and Compression
+ FAQ</a> for more details. Those looking for an pen-source, patent-free speech codec
+ should take a look at <a href="http://www.speex.org/">Speex</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+<hr/>
+<h3>Features</h3>
+<dl>
+ <dt><a href="#_comments" id="comments">Does Ogg Vorbis have the capability to show song
+ titles and artist information when the file is played or streamed?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Yes, Vorbis includes a
+ <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/doc/v-comment.html">flexible, complete comment
+ field</a> for song and artist info, as well as other track data. The official encoder,
+ oggenc, allows you to enter comment info at encode time. Other tools tools also let
+ you enter and edit track data.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_video" id="video">Where's video?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>If you're interested in our progress on a video codec, check out Theora at
+ <a href='http://www.theora.org/'>theora.org</a>.</p></dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_stream" id="stream">What about streaming in Ogg Vorbis?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Ogg Vorbis is easily streamable. <a href='http://www.icecast.org/'>Icecast</a>,
+ our streaming audio server, is capable of streaming Ogg Vorbis to players like
+ <a href='http://xmms.org/'>XMMS</a>,
+ <a href='http://classic.winamp.com/'>Winamp 2</a>, and
+ <a href='http://www.foobar2000.org/'>foobar2000</a>.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_support" id="support">What software and hardware support Ogg Vorbis?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Many programs support Ogg Vorbis encoding and playback; it's included in popular
+ players such as
+ <a href='http://www.winamp.com/'>Winamp</a> an
+ <a href='http://www.foobar2000.org/'>foobar2000</a> for Windows, and
+ <a href='http://whamb.com'>Whamb</a> for OS X. It's also supported in popular audio
+ applications such as <a href='http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/'>CDex</a> and
+ <a href='http://www.goldwave.com/'>GoldWave</a>. For a more complete list, refer to
+ <a href="http://www.vorbis.com/download.psp">our software page</a>.</p>
+ <p><a href='http://wiki.xiph.org/'>Our wiki</a> has
+ <a href="http://wiki.xiph.org/VorbisHardware">notes on hardware support</a> for Vorbis.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_container" id="container">Can I bundle Vorbis and another media
+ type (like text lyrics or pictures) in the same file?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>Yes. The Ogg container format was designed to allow different media types to
+ be multiplexed together; <a href='http://www.theora.org/'>Theora</a> will be mixed
+ with Vorbis audio in an Ogg container to encode movies.</p>
+ <p>In addition, <a href='http://flac.sourceforge.net/'>FLAC</a> can be embedded in
+ Ogg and some preliminary work has been done to put MNG and MIDI content into Ogg files
+ as well.Experimental code is available in the <tt>ogg-tools</tt> module in the
+ <a href="http://www.xiph.org/cvs.html">Xiph.org CVS repository</a>. Programmers working
+ on such extensions can discuss issues and questions on the
+ <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vmail.html">vorbis-dev mailing list</a>.</p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+<hr/>
+<h3>Development</h3>
+<dl>
+ <dt><a href="#_startdev" id="startdev">How do I get started with Ogg Vorbis
+ development?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>It is important to first become familiar with current development efforts.
+ The best ways to do this are:</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Download and compile the latest development code from
+ <a href="http://www.xiph.org/cvs.html">the Xiph.org CVS repository</a>. The important
+ modules for Ogg Vorbis development are <tt>ogg</tt>, <tt>vorbis</tt>, <tt>ao</tt>, and
+ <tt>vorbis-tools</tt>. If you are interested in working on putting other media types
+ into Ogg files, the <tt>ogg-tools</tt> module also has example code.</li>
+
+ <li>Subscribe to the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vmail.html">vorbis user and
+ developer mailing lists</a>.</li>
+
+ <li>Talk to developers in IRC. They usually are hanging around in #vorbis on
+ irc.freenode.net. They can tell you more about what projects would be interesting at
+ the current moment.</li>
+ </ul>
+ <p>Once you have seen what others are doing, you will have a better chance to find
+ a project to work on.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+<!--
+<dt>
+<a href="#bugfix" id="bugfix">How do I contribute a bug-fix or enhancement of the Xiph.org Ogg Vorbis
+libraries and tools?</a>
+</dt>
+<dd>
+<p>If you want to contribute bug fixes or enhancements to vorbis-tools, the
+preferred method is to generate a patch against the latest <a href="http://www.xiph.org/cvs.html">CVS code</a>. You can do this by running
+the command "cvs diff -u > mybugfix.patch" from the source code directory you
+checked out from CVS.</p>
+<p>Once you have a patch, you need to file a bug/enhancement report on the <a href="http://bugs.xiph.org">Xiph.org Bugzilla server</a>. You can attach your
+patch to the bug entry. If you consider the enhancement to be of general
+interest or want comments from the developer community, you are encouraged to
+post a message to the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vmail.html">Vorbis
+development mailing list</a> describing the patch and linking to the bug entry
+with your patch.</p>
+<p>Please note that patches contributed under license terms not compatible with
+the existing package license (BSD for libogg and libvorbis, GPL for libao and
+vorbis-tools) will generally not be accepted.</p>
+</dd>
+-->
+
+ <dt><a href="#_fpsupport" id="fpsupport">Is it feasible to port the Vorbis decoder/encoder
+ to a platform without floating point support?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>It's been done for the decoder.</p>
+ <p><a href='http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/'>Tremor</a> is a fixed-point implementation
+ of the Vorbis decoder suitable for chips found on portable devices. However, a fixed-point
+ <em>en</em>coder has not been written.</p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+<hr/>
+<h3>Meta-FAQ</h3>
+<dl>
+ <dt><a href="#_FAQmorequestions" id="FAQmorequestions">I have a question that isn't
+ answered by this FAQ. Where can I turn for help?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>There are archived mailing lists for advocacy, user discussion, and development
+ at <a href="http://www.xiph.org/archives/">Xiph.org's mailing list page</a>, as well
+ as #vorbis on irc.freenode.net, an IRC channel.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_FAQcontribute" id="FAQcontribute">Where can discussions about and
+ contributions to this FAQ be made?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p><a href="http://xiph.org/archives/">Xiph.org's mailing list page</a> also
+ has subscription info and archives of the vorbis mailing list. Contributions and
+ discussion are welcome there.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="#_FAQcurrent" id="FAQcurrent">How current is this FAQ?</a></dt>
+ <dd><p>It was updated on October 3, 2003.</p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<hr/>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/ssi/pagebottom.include" -->
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