[Vorbis-dev] Re: [ogg-dev] Peer review draft for the new

[Jean-Marc Valin]

> 1.  Ogg Skeleton should be as mandatory as
>     possible without breaking significant numbers
>     of existing files in the wild.
> 
>     There are obviously loads of Ogg Vorbis out
>     there.  If there are only a few Ogg speex files
>     in the wild then they are better handled by a
>     tool to automatically convert.

It's hard to tell how many Ogg/Speex (.spx) files there are out there, 
but I see no reason to break them because of Skeleton. Also, Speex files 
are probably the ones for which Skeleton is the least relevant, simply 
because they tend to be single-codec files. If you can afford to put the 
bandwidth required for Theora (or any video codec), you can afford the 
quality/bitrate of Vorbis. Whether Skeleton should now be included by 
default for Speex is still an open question, though. I would tend to say 
yes once most of the decoders implement it properly.

>     At the moment, Ogg Skeleton can break
>     existing players.  This has got to change if
>     Xiph is to move forward.  Existing player
>     developers will need support to do this, and
>     you will lose a few who can't/wont do it, but it
>     has to be done.  Discussion should be about
>     "when" and "how", not "if".

Well, this is definitely not a decision to take lightly -- at least when 
it comes to Vorbis-only files.

	Jean-Marc