Xiph.Org Foundation
Founded1994; 30 years ago (1994)
FounderChristopher Montgomery
Type501(c)(3)
Location
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsFree multimedia formats, libraries, and streaming software
Key people
Christopher Montgomery, Jack Moffitt, Ralph Giles (Theora), Jean-Marc Valin (Speex, CELT, Opus),[1] Josh Coalson (FLAC), Michael Smith, Timothy B. Terriberry[2][3][4][5]
Websitexiph.org

Xiph.Org Foundation is a nonprofit organization that produces free multimedia formats and software tools. It focuses on the Ogg family of formats, the most successful of which has been Vorbis, an open and freely licensed audio format and codec designed to compete with the patented WMA, MP3 and AAC. As of 2013, development work was focused on Daala, an open and patent-free video format and codec designed to compete with VP9 and the patented High Efficiency Video Coding.

In addition to its in-house development work, the foundation has also brought several already-existing but complementary free software projects under its aegis, most of which have a separate, active group of developers. These include Speex, an audio codec designed for speech, and FLAC, a lossless audio codec.

The Xiph.Org Foundation has criticized Microsoft and the RIAA for their lack of openness.[6] They state that if companies like Microsoft had owned patents on the Internet, then other companies would have tried to compete, and "The Net, as designed by warring corporate entities, would be a battleground of incompatible and expensive 'standards' had it actually survived at all." They also criticize the RIAA for their support of projects such as the Secure Digital Music Initiative.

In 2008, the Free Software Foundation listed the Xiph.Org projects as High Priority Free Software Projects.[7]

History

Chris Montgomery, creator of the Ogg container format, founded the Xiphophorus company and later the Xiph.Org Foundation.[8] The first work that became the Ogg media projects started in 1994.[9] The name "Xiph" abbreviates the original organizational name, "Xiphophorus", named after the common swordtail fish, Xiphophorus hellerii.[10] It was officially incorporated on 15 May 1996 as Xiphophorus, Inc.[11] The name "Xiphophorus company" was used until 2002,[12][13][14] when it was renamed to Xiph.Org Foundation.[15]

In 1999, the Xiphophorus company defined itself on its website as "a distributed group of Free and Open Source programmers working to protect the foundations of Internet multimedia from domination by self-serving corporate interests."[16]

In 2002, the Xiph.Org Foundation defined itself on its website as "a non-profit corporation dedicated to protecting the foundations of Internet multimedia from control by private interests."[15]

In March 2003, the Xiph.Org Foundation was recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization,[17] which means that U.S. citizens can deduct donations made to Xiph.Org from their taxes.

Xiph.Org Foundation projects

OpenCodecs

OpenCodecs is a software package for Windows adding DirectShow filters for the Theora and WebM codecs. It adds Theora and WebM support to Windows Media Player and enables HTML5 video in Internet Explorer. It consists of:

QuickTime Components

Xiph QuickTime Components are implementations of the Ogg container along with the Speex, Theora, FLAC and Vorbis codecs for QuickTime. It allows users to use Ogg files in any application that uses QuickTime for audio and video file support, such as iTunes and QuickTime Player.

Since QuickTime Components do not function in macOS Sierra and above, the project was discontinued in 2016.[22]

References

  1. ^ Xiph.Org people.xiph.org - personal webspace of the xiphs - Jean-Marc Valin, Retrieved 2009-09-11
  2. ^ Timothy B. Terriberry (2009). "people.xiph.org - Timothy B. Terriberry, Ph.D." Xiph.Org. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  3. ^ "Summer of Code Mentoring". Xiph.Org. 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  4. ^ "Minutes of the Xiph.org Monthly Meeting for May 2003". May 10, 2003. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  5. ^ "Minutes of the Xiph.org Monthly Meeting for September 2003". Xiph.Org. September 16, 2003. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  6. ^ "About". xiph.org. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  7. ^ "High Priority Free Software Projects". Free Software Foundation. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
  8. ^ "Xiph.org: Contact information". Xiph.org. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
  9. ^ "A Challenger to MP3?". Tristan Louis. January 16, 2001. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
  10. ^ "naming". Xiph.org. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
  11. ^ "XIPHOPHORUS, INC. :: Massachusetts (US)". OpenCorporates. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  12. ^ Brian Zisk (April 19, 2000). "vorbis - Dvorak Interviews Monty". Retrieved September 4, 2008.
  13. ^ Advogado (April 4, 2000). "Interview: Christopher Montgomery of Xiphophorus". Advogado. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  14. ^ Xiphophorus company (December 12, 2001). "Xiphophorus home". Archived from the original on December 12, 2001. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  15. ^ a b Xiph.org Foundation (November 27, 2002). "Xiph.org home". Archived from the original on November 27, 2002. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  16. ^ Xiphophorus company (November 28, 1999). "Xiphophorus home". Archived from the original on November 28, 1999. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  17. ^ Xiph.Org (2003-03-24) Speex reaches 1.0; Xiph.Org now a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization, Retrieved 2009-09-01
  18. ^ "Ogg Skeleton 4 - XiphWiki". wiki.xiph.org. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  19. ^ Michael Smith (2005-08-29) Tarkin, vorbis-dev mailinglist, Retrieved 2009-09-06
  20. ^ "Xiph.org :: daala video". xiph.org. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  21. ^ "libao: a cross platform audio library". Xiph.Org. Retrieved June 29, 2009. Libao is a cross-platform audio library that allows programs to output audio using a simple API on a wide variety of platforms.
  22. ^ "XiphQT discontinued". Xiph.org. June 13, 2016.

External links

Multimedia compression and container formats
Free and open-source software
Media player software
Xiph.Org Foundation
Categories