VLC turns 1.0
If you haven't already made the leap to installing VLC, here's just some of the reasons why VLC is helping build an exciting future for free digital video formats and free software players.
VLC is free software -- It's licensed under the GNU General Public License, so anyone is free to share it with their friends, and even make improvements. It does not attempt to enforce Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) systems on its users.
VLC promotes free formats -- In response to the mess created by software patents, a group of companies, nonprofits, and volunteers have come together to build patent-unencumbered codecs. Until the launch of Firefox 3.5, VLC was by far the most popular player to support the free Theora video format. As part of this commitment to free formats, VLC shows its support for our PlayOgg campaign, right there on the VLC homepage.
VLC just works -- When a friend or relative says "I downloaded this video and I can't watch it!" you can tell them to get VLC, and it always works. The VLC developers have involved hundreds of volunteers in their development process, and thousands more in quality control. And the result is an application that conveys reliability at every turn.
VLC is made for a multilingual world -- Free software projects have been pioneers in creating multilingual products. Support for subtitles, multiple audio tracks, and subtitle-friendly container formats like Matroska make VLC perfect for watching films made in languages you don't speak yet.
VLC is everywhere -- At the time of writing, the VLC 1.0 release had almost 9 million downloads. Everybody I know uses VLC. This is free software that makes millions of people's lives better, and that gives them more choice, control, and power over the videos they play. As Jean-Baptiste Kempf of the VLC project put it:
VLC reaching 1.0 shows once again that the free software ideals are not only ideals, but software facts that can serve many users around the world.