Archive:Free Formats

The internet was created as a way to share information. Naturally, as a part of an international organization like FreeCulture.org, communicating information to others is going to be vital to our work. However, there are many different ways to share information, some of which may impose proprietary restrictions. As strong supporters of Free and Open Source Software, and Free and Open standards, we should always try to use free formats and protocols. However, it is not always clear whether a standard is free or proprietary, which is why this page has been constructed. Below is a list of free methods of communication, and some nonfree alternatives that we should avoid.

Free Formats
The following formats are known to be free and should be used if at all possible.
 * Document Formats
 * OpenDocument Formats (.odt, .ods, .odp, etc.)
 * Plain ASCII (.txt)
 * LaTeX (.tex)
 * Rich Text Format (.rtf)
 * PostScript (.ps)
 * Unrestricted PDF (.pdf)
 * Unrestricted HTML (.htm or .html)
 * Image Formats
 * PNG (.png) (for still images)
 * MNG (.mng) (for motion images)
 * SVG (.svg) (for vector images)
 * JPEG (Free libraries exist for this, but there are claims that its compression algorithms are patented; PNG preferred.) (.jpg, .jpeg)
 * GIF (The patents on this format SEEM to have expired, however, this may not be the case; MNG is preferred.) (.gif)
 * Audio Formats
 * Ogg Vorbis (.ogg)
 * FLAC (.flac, .ogg)
 * Speex (.spx)
 * Musepack (Free libraries exist for this, but it's unclear whether parts of it are patented) (.mpc)
 * Video Formats
 * Ogg Theora (.ogg)
 * Dirac (Not completed yet)
 * Xvid (GPLed, but restricted by software patents, use only when unable to use other free video formats) (.avi, .mkv)

Free Protocols

 * HTTP
 * FTP
 * Jabber
 * H.323 (Voice/Video Conferencing)
 * BitTorrent
 * Gnutella

Free Software that Support Free Formats/Protocols

 * Mozilla Firefox (Most Web Standards) (Win/Lin/Mac)
 * OpenOffice.org (Most Free Document Formats) (Win/Lin)
 * NeoOffice/J (Most Free Document Formats) (Mac)
 * The GIMP (Most Free Image Formats) (Win/Lin/Mac)
 * Inkscape (SVG) (Win/Lin/Mac)
 * Gaim (Jabber) (Win/Lin/Mac)
 * GnomeMeeting (H.323) (Lin)
 * ohphoneX (H.323) (Mac)

Proprietary Formats
The following formats are all either undocumented and have no free library in which to use them, or are encumbered by software patents. Please avoid these formats if at all possible and use Free formats instead.
 * Document Formats
 * Microsoft Office Formats (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.) (Deliberate Vendor Obfuscation, Encumbered by software patents)
 * Microsoft's "Open" OOXMLformat (Incompatible Standard, see "Criticism" section)
 * Audio Formats
 * MPEG Layer 3 (.mp3) (Encumbered by software patents)
 * Advanced Audio Codec (.aac) (Encumbered by software patents)
 * Windows Media Audio (.wma) (Deliberate Vendor Obfuscation, Encumbered by software patents)
 * Real Audio (.ra) (Deliberate Vendor Obfuscation, Encumbered by software patents)
 * Video Formats
 * Quicktime Video (.mov) (Encumbered by software patents)
 * Windows Media Video (.wmv) (Deliberate Vendor Obfuscation, Encumbered by software patents)
 * Real Video (.rm) (Deliberate Vendor Obfuscation, Encumbered by software patents)
 * Web Formats
 * Flash (.swf) (Deliberate Vendor Obfuscation)
 * Java applets