[Vorbis] .ogg extension and Theora

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From: "Paul Ellis" <public at ellisfoundation.com>

> I think the extensions need to specify the TYPE of media that it is, not
> the specific content.  Do most users care if the files is Theora or Divx
> or Xvid?  Not really.

No, not really.  As I said, I was hesitant to even suggest that.

It's just that due to the OGM extension being Divx & Ogg, people may start
associating video with Theora as DivX.  Thinking that maybe Theora is just a
new version of Divx, like XVid, or such.

To most people, there are only a few types of video.  Microsoft.  Quicktime
MOV.  Real .RM  Mpeg-1.  And DivX.

I was just thinking out loud that it might be helpful if people realized
that this is a new video format and not an old one with a funny extension.
Something they would automatically associate Theora.  More of publicity and
recognition.


> video, even thought they can have different codecs inside them.  Same
> with .ogm too, it doesn't have to be Divx and Vorbis, it can be any AVI
> compatible video codec I think.

Right.  OGM is just the ogg container with a different extension.  But it's
been done as only DivX now for quite a while.  I think it's a little late to
try and put Theora in there in people's mind.


> the most sense to do .oga .ogv (or something like that), but
> unfortunately .ogg has already caught on quite strong for audio.  So
> perhaps it should stay audio, and .ogv should be adopted for video.  It

Yeah.  That is a bit of a problem.  And I do agree that it's probably too
late to change .ogg to mean anything but audio.  And that there isn't really
any need to do so.

Still, it can be done.  Encoder apps can automatically suggest using the
.oga extension for Vorbis audio.

People are getting used to the idea of .MP4 being the same way, with the
result .m4a being audio.  The same could be done with .ogg

But there isn't any real need to do so.


> is the simplest solution, nobody would have to maintain special
> programs, it would be compatible with any OS (not just XP, Gnome, & KDE)
> which is what open standards are about, the files could easily be sorted

Yup.  It would be the best solution.

Apps just get programmed for that extra extension.  And since there aren't
any Theora video player or editing apps yet, it's really no big deal.  When
they do end up being written, the authors just add .OGV or such as the
preferred extension.

Smart people will know that they are the same exact format.  And that in
reality the .ogg extension is the official prefered generic extension.  And
that it's really a container format that can hold any codec.

But users wont.  Ogg will be Vorbis (and only vorbis) audio and .ogv etc.
will be ogg video.