this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2023
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The non-free components I've seen on installers are usually for Nvidia's proprietary drivers. Not codecs.
Sounds like legal panic if you ask me. There's been no precedent for litigation on use of licensed codecs which most have been using either way prior in their builds and packages.
MPEG LA is (now Via Licensing Alliance) has been active in collecting fees and defending patents. There is no reason to assume they won't go after distros, particularly those who can pay given that they are willing to take on anyone else. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_LA
They have never gone after said distros all those ^many^ ^many^ years they have bundled licensed codecs in their ISOs. What changed?
Because those distros have (as we are talking about) distanced themselves from the patent encumbered codecs? When Google tried to get behind VP8, MPEG LA was right there to try and stop them by trying to get them into the pool.
Edit: I should have said many didn't Fedora opted out of compiling mesa with hardware accell, and it seems others did too recently. But that means it was there the whole time. I guess most distros, that have any money, are going to want shelter from lawsuits.