---
created_at: '2016-06-03T02:31:52.000Z'
title: RMS on the Ogg Vorbis license (2001)
url: http://lwn.net/2001/0301/a/rms-ov-license.php3
author: d99kris
points: 100
story_text: 
comment_text: 
num_comments: 82
story_id: 
story_title: 
story_url: 
parent_id: 
created_at_i: 1464921112
_tags:
- story
- author_d99kris
- story_11827899
objectID: '11827899'

---
[Source](http://lwn.net/2001/0301/a/rms-ov-license.php3 "Permalink to LWN.net: RMS on the Ogg Vorbis license")

# LWN.net: RMS on the Ogg Vorbis license


| ----- |
|  ![\[LWN Logo\]][1] |   |  
| ![\[LWN.net\]][2] |  |
    
    
    Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 22:23:38 -0700 (MST)
    From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
    To: ben@algroup.co.uk
    Subject: Re: [open-source] [Fwd: [icecast-dev] Xiph.org announces Vorbis Beta 4 and the Xiph.org 
    
    The GPL is not an end in itself; it is a measure to protect our
    freedom.  In general I would rather see software copylefted, which is
    one way of defending users' freedom against one particular danger.  In
    the case of Ogg/Vorbis, there is a bigger danger from another
    direction: the danger that people will settle on MP3 format even
    though it is patented, and we won't be *allowed* to write free
    encoders for the most popular format.
    
    To overcome the inertia that supports MP3 format will require
    strenuous effort.  Even if we do our utmost to encourage everyone to
    replace MP3 format with Ogg/Vorbis format, it is not certain they will
    do so.  Consider how long we have been trying to replace GIF with PNG.
    
    Ordinarily, if someone decides not to use a copylefted program because
    the license doesn't please him, that's his loss not ours.  But if he
    rejects the Ogg/Vorbis code because of the license, and uses MP3
    instead, then the problem rebounds on us--because his continued use of
    MP3 may help MP3 to become and stay entrenched.
    
    Thus, my agreement with the idea of a lax license in this special case
    is just as pragmatic as my preference for the GPL in most cases.  In
    both cases it is a matter of how we can attain freedom.
    

[1]: http://lwn.net/images/lcorner.png
[2]: http://lwn.net/images/Included.png

