Ubuntu needs to fail gracefully when asked to play an MP3

[Joel Eidsath]

Ubuntu does not include out of the box MP3 support for legal reasons. It would
be nice to let the user know this instead of giving cryptic information about
plugins. I understand what a plugin is. My grandmother does not.

The current totem error message was decided on after this bug report:
https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2461

This is the sort of text that a user should see when he tries to play an mp3 in
Ubuntu:

"Ubuntu does not play MP3s out of the box. It costs 75 cents per player to
legally distribute a product that can play MP3s. Ubuntu has already shipped over
1 million CDs, and would rather spend its money on making Ubuntu a better
product. Software such as Real Player 10 for Linux can be downloaded to allow
MP3 playing."

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks for your bug. I'm not convinced about the cost description but maybe we
could change the message to something better.

[Corey Burger (corey.burger)]

That is far too wordy.

How about:

"Unable to play the $FORMAT file because of legal restrictions. You can enabled
playing $FORMAT by visiting: $WIKI_PAGE"

[Joel Eidsath (jeidsath)]

Shorter is better. I would rather have a different sentence though. That
warning may make users think that you are accusing them of music piracy. The
first thing I'd think, coming across that, would be "DRM!"

[Corey Burger (corey.burger)]

Ok

"Unable to play $FORMAT. Ubuntu cannot play $FORMAT by default because of patent
restrictions. To enable playing, please see $WIKI_PAGE"

[Joel Eidsath (jeidsath)]

That message looks great to me.

[Carsten Lechte (chlechte)]

(In reply to comment #3)

The sentence should explicitly mention that patents on the mp3 en/decoding
algorithms that are the issue here. Since many people consider a computer that
does not play mp3s to be broken, the error message should give a pointer to a
fix (e.g. apt-get install gstreamer0.8-plugins). This fix should make mp3
capability available to all applications, I do not know if the Realplayer
solution will do this.

A quick google search will of course also find a fix, but that is less user
friendly, especially for people who are new to linux. This is of course assuming
that people do not care about mp3 patents.

chl

[Corey Burger (corey.burger)]

Chl, does my new sentence work for you (I suspect you were writing while I was
as well)

[Carsten Lechte (chlechte)]

(In reply to comment #7)
> Chl, does my new sentence work for you (I suspect you were writing while I was
> as well)

That depends on the content of $WIKI_PAGE ;-)

The sentence is OK, but since I am a worry-wart, I worry what people with one
installation CD and no internet will do. Information on the internet can be
updated, while local help information is guaranteed to be accessible. But any
fix will probably involve packages that are not on the official install CD
anyway, so this might be a moot point.

chl

[Corey Burger (corey.burger)]

Hmm. Ok, we can link to local help then.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Ubuntu cannot play $FORMAT files, because some
countries allow patents on software, and Free
Software cannot pay for patent licenses.

( How to Help ) (( OK ))

Ubuntu cannot play DVDs, because some
countries require DVD players to be licensed,
and Free Software cannot pay licensing fees.

( How to Help ) (( OK ))

The double meaning of "free" actually helps here, so other localizations may be wordier.
In both cases, any button of the form "Install $FORMAT Software..." button would go to
the left of the "OK" button (since they're a shortcut to functions that you could get to
by other means), but including such a button would need legal advice that I'm not
giving. (And if the "How to Help" button is inappropriate, then so is the "Translate
This Application..." part of LaunchpadIntegration: in both cases, it's inviting people
who use Ubuntu to help make Ubuntu better.)

[Corey Burger (corey.burger)]

As usual, mpt kicks my butt. I like this idea

[Wouter Stomp (wouterstomp-deactivatedaccount)]

Don't point to instructions, just add a button that will install the appropriate
codec (in this case gstreamer-mad or the complete gstreamer-plugins). Don't make
things more complicated than they should be.

[Wouter Stomp (wouterstomp-deactivatedaccount)]

This bug about using mime-types for installing apps is closely related:
http://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=7070

[Danny Sauer (ubuntu-bugzilla-dannysauer)]

Why not include "mp3 support" (or "extra/patent-encumbered multimedia plugins")
in the "add applications" program, possibly under the multimedia section? Or
something like that? Isn't that sort of the point of that app - to make
"discovering" non-default programs a little easier?

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

That's not relevant to this bug. Please report it separately.

[Danny Sauer (ubuntu-bugzilla-dannysauer)]

(In reply to comment #15)
> That's not relevant to this bug. Please report it separately.

It's an extension of the suggestions in comment 12 and comment 8, as another
potential target for instructions supplied to the user - as well as a potential
generic solution for any program which requests support for patent-encumbered
codecs. It probably should be duplicated elsewhere as a feature request as
well, though. Bug 24565

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Fixed to feisty with EasyCodecInstallation, now totem ask the user if he wants to install the required codec packages to play the file