[HCP discuss] Re: [feedback] Are you trying to keep testers away??

Hi Charles -

The reason you can't just download the Helix player is that it include 
support for Real Audio/Video, technologies which have not been opened 
sourced. The Binary EULA is an agreement which allows you to use these 
proprietary technologies and requires that you agree to not to try and 
reverse engineer them. If a version of the player was available without 
RA/RV, supporting an open video codec like Ogg Theora for example, the 
BEULA requirement would go away.

I looked at your Helix community account ( charleskerr) and I see that you 
haven't agreed to the BEULA yet which would explain the difficulty you're 
having grabbing the binary. You might also want to agree to our public 
source license (the RPSL), which will give you access to the Helix DNA 
source. Agreeing to these licenses is the key to upgrading your account's 
access, which you can do by clicking on the various licenses on the 
left-hand navbar. You can review the licenses associated with your account 
by clicking on the "My pages" tab, and then "Edit profile" (in the My Tools 
area of the lefthand navbar).

Lastly, I'd agree in general terms that the licensing is overly complex. 
We're looking at ways that we can simplify the process, but we're balancing 
that against other requirements. Thanks for your feedback and your patience 
while we fine tune our site.

Regards,

-duncan

At 10:24 AM 10/22/2003, Kevin Foreman wrote:
>Charles, first, thank you very much for taking the time to articulate your 
>frustration.  You could have simply vanished and not 'educated' us as to 
>how frustrating we have made the site.
>
>Second, our intent (if that counts) is to make the site as friction-free 
>as possible.  Yes, we want testers and No we are not trying to keep them 
>away.  We are considering some changes in the site very much in line with 
>your feedback.  Stay tuned on that front.  In the meantime, We'll ensure 
>that we get you the player and that any system hitches are looked after.
>
>Thanks again for your candor and sorry about the frustration.
>
>Kevin
>----------
>
>
>At 09:26 AM 10/22/2003 -0700, Charles Kerr wrote:
>>I went to https://player.helixcommunity.org/ after seeing the
>>announcement at lwn, searched for download, and made it to
>>https://www.helixcommunity.org/servlets/TLogin .  Hm, I have to
>>have to fill out a form to get an account first.  I do so, and
>>a few minutes later I get a URL in my inbox that I follow to set my
>>password.  After doing this, I go back to the download page
>>and log in... then I have a four page EULA... then when I accept
>>the EULA, I'm thrown back to the login page because I don't have
>>the "Project Document - View" permission needed to get to the beta.
>>
>>**VIEW PERMISSIONS**!!  As if you want to keep people from accidentally
>>finding the player and, I don't know, downloading it and testing it for
>>you or who knows what.
>>
>>So, the steps I followed to get the Helix player;
>>
>>   (1) Go to player.helixcommunity.org.
>>   (2) Find the download link.
>>   (3) Fill out a form, including giving out my email address.
>>   (4) Follow the privacy policy link to see if I'm going to get spam.
>>   (5) Submit the form.
>>   (6) Wait for mail in my inbox.
>>   (7) follow the mail's URL to set my password.
>>   (8) Read (or, page down past) a four-page EULA.
>>   (7) All for naught, because I'm  don't have **VIEW PERMISSION**!!
>>
>>Let's compare to the steps to get xmms:
>>
>>   (1) Go to www.xmms.org.
>>   (2) Find the download link.
>>   (3) Download the source or RPM.
>>
>>Or the steps to get the ogg CLI player:
>>
>>   (1) Go to www.vorbis.com.
>>   (2) Find the download link.
>>   (3) Download the source or RPM.
>>
>>I'll guess that the view permission is probably just a (show-stopping)
>>glitch that will be fixed, but what's the need for accounts, passwords,
>>and four-page EULAs at all?   I'd like to give the helix player a spin,
>>but criminy, the Linux world already has xmms; it's not like we _need_
>>to jump through all your hoops.
>>
>>Grumble.
>>
>>Thanks for listening; I feel better now. :)
>>
>>--
>>cheers,
>>Charles
>
>---------------------------------
>Kevin Foreman
>General Manager, Helix
>RealNetworks, Inc.
>E-mail: [email protected]
>http://www.helixcommunity.org
>

Duncan Howard
Helix Community Program Manager
http://helixcommunity.org


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