Google Reveals the WebM Project
Project to create high-quality open standard for video on the Web based on Vorbis and VP8.
It had been rumored for sometime that Google might open up the VP8 video codec after the acquisition of On2 Technologies, the codec's creator. Today at the I/O conference, Google confirmed the rumor with the announcement of the WebM Project.
The WebM Project, a venture supported by Mozilla, Opera, Google and at least 40 additional publishers, uses the VP8 video codec and the Vorbis audio codec to create high quality video and audio without the copyrights and patents associated with the h2.64 format championed by Apple and Microsoft.
From the ground up WebM files are designed to work on a variety of devices including netbooks and smartphones. In addition to the open encoders, WebM uses the Matroska container, which supports streaming, subtitles, chapter notations, menus and multiple audio channels.
The WebM Project operates under a BSD-style license where the VP8 bitstream is free and can be modified, sold and imported, but can be revoked, should patent litigation be pursued. For more information on the WebM Project, visit webmproject.org.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.