WD-xhtml2-20030506: Mention Ogg and PNG in Object Module Examples

Hello,

Section 14, the XHTML Object Module, uses patented formats such as GIF
images and MP3 (MPEG-2 audio layer 3) sound files in it's examples.  I
feel it would be more in line with the W3C Patent Policy if some or all
of the examples were changed to refer to patent-and-royalty-free
standards instead.  (XHTML is of course a patent-free standard itself!)

Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora are non-proprietary audio and video standards
respectively; see the Ogg project homepage <http://www.xiph.org/ogg/>
for more details.  Ogg itself is a bitstream format defined by RFC 3533.
It has the media type "application/ogg", and typically use the '.ogg'
file extension.

PNG is, of course, a W3C Recommendation; a superior replacement for GIF,
Greg Roelofs describes it best with the strapline: "A Turbo-Studly Image
Format with Lossless Compression".

One suggested replacement example:

     <object data="http://www.example.com/foo.ogg"
           type="application/ogg">
        A really cool audio file. If you want to download and install
        a plug-in to listen to this file, please go to
        <a href="http://www.example.com">www.example.com</a>
     </object>

Another suggested replacement:

     <!-- First, try the applet -->
     <object
         data="http://www.example.com/TheEarth.class"
         type="application/x-java-applet">

           <!-- Else, try the Ogg video -->
           <object
               data="TheEarth.ogg"
               type="application/ogg"
               xml:base="http://www.example.com/">

                 <!-- Else, try the PNG image -->
                 <object
                     data="TheEarth.png"
                     type="image/png"
                     xml:base="http://www.example.com/">

                     <!-- Else process the alternate text -->
                     The <strong>Earth</strong> as seen from space.
                 </object>
           </object>
     </object>

Thanks

Dave

Received on Saturday, 24 May 2003 11:22:03 UTC