(2015-12-03, 04:58)NASbeginner Wrote: What I am missing about Vidon? If they offer full blu-ray menu support, is the new Tronsmart Vega S95 not a good option go with? However, I do see they are using Kodi 14.2?
VidOn are a known GPL violator. They used to be a Kodi Sponsor too. The relationship with the Kodi community became so bad it was bordering on hostile at one stage. The only option left in the end was to not renew their sponsorship. They may have even been banned from the forum.
GPL = General Public Licence:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Why GPL compliance so important to Kodi ?
Simply - Kodi is Open Source Software, its a collaborative project with many thousand of volunteer Coders, Artists, Audio guys, Bug testers and more contributing towards a common goal - to make Kodi the best damn Media Player on the Planet !
Kodi is licensed for distribution under the GNU General Public License, version 2.
Rules have to be followed with this licence, the most important one regarding re-distribution - a summary:
Quote:The GPL does not require you to release your modified version. You are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them. This applies to organizations (including companies), too; an organization can make a modified version and use it internally without ever releasing it outside the organization.
But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL.
The second paragraph here is important, because if modified source code (such as Kodi's) is not shared. It only benefits the one individual or one single company and not the wider Open Source Community. Individuals or companies not sharing are classified as GPL Violators and can actually end up being prosecuted. If everyone did not share modified code to re-distribute and contribute back to the Kodi project, progress would go nowhere.
So now we come back to VidOn, the known GPL Violator with their modified XBMC version that supposedly adds 3D MVC playback and HD Audio passthrough to an AMLogic box. If XBMC / Kodi source code is modified in any way to enable these features, they have to make the code available when end users request it. I doubt they will as Tronsmart will want a competitive advantage over it competitors.
If this occurs, it basically amounts to a Big Fat Middle Finger raised to the entire Kodi and Open Source Community. Most of the code in that version of XBMC / Kodi on that box they are selling comes from Kodi volunteers.
Greed and profit is more important to companies such as these.
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Note: I believe, if 3D MVC Video and HD Audio Passthrough can be played using some sort of customised Android Media App, called from within Kodi itself (via playercorefactory or similar), then that Media App's source code does not have to be shared.
