Apple removes VLC app from App Store, GPL to blame

Emil

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Apple has removed the VLC application from its App Store. The app was first released four months ago, even though many believed it would not be able to make it through Apple's vetting process. "On January 7th, Apple removed VLC media player from its application store for iDevices," Rémi Denis-Courmont, a Linux and VLC developer, said in a statement. "Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved - the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents."

Denis-Courmont went on to list multiple points regarding Apple and VLC. Here's a summary: he doesn't actually know for certain why Apple removed VLC, Apple will probably never state the truth, Apple removed VLC from the old Mac Store for computers about four years ago for unknown reasons, Apple received his copyright notification more than two months before they pulled the application, and Apple had ample time to adjust and clarify the terms of the App Store in regards to the GPL, but decided not to.

"All in all, we will probably never know the truth," he said. "But I am inclined to believe what Eben Mogel, from the Software Freedom Law Center, foretold me 2 months ago: Apple would remove VLC simply because it cannot stand software distributed under the GPL on its stores. But, it is Apple's choice and business decision, therefore Apple would have no reasons to expedite the process. It could also be that they do specifically not fancy VLC on their platforms. That would account for the removal from the Mac Store a long time ago."

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another reason why not to get the icrap. no flash, no vlc, no non-approved apple aps......
 
It would also be good to point out that Rémi Denis-Courmont works for Nokia.
What does that even have to do with this issue? And that question is coming from someone who usually doesn't know or care, what the thread topic even is.

Steve Jobs is reaching out from the grave to smite his competition? VLP is malware maybe? Gimme a break.
 
another reason why not to get the icrap. no flash, no vlc, no non-approved apple aps......
What?

You can't get it from the App Store anymore. Thats it. You can still download it and install it on your own (just like Windows users have to do).
 
What?

You can't get it from the App Store anymore. Thats it. You can still download it and install it on your own (just like Windows users have to do).
Well then, in that light, it makes perfect sense for Apple to remove it. After all, why would Apple allow you access to a free app that works great, when they could sell you one that may, or may not?
 
That is a valid point. Apple provides the App Store for convience, and they approve, they get to decide, what goes there. If you don't like it, then ok, get the app elsewhere.

This is essentially bitching about nothing. Nobody has an 'app store' for Windows (yet). But, lets say someone did, say TheHun did. Now TheHun has all kinds of apps, almost every program you can get for windows they have. But they don't have them all. Would there be outrage? No, because people get their apps from the source. Apple is bypassing the source to make it more convenient, and they have rules - don't like the rules ok.

You can still get it the way you would have before the concept of an 'app store' even existed. This is manufactured outrage for site hits.
 
That is a valid point. Apple provides the App Store for convience, and they approve, they get to decide, what goes there. If you don't like it, then ok, get the app elsewhere.
Unfortunately, this just corroborates the opinion many tech savvy Windows users have about a large portion of Apple's consumer base. They're well dressed enough, but babes in the woods when being asked to deal with technology beyond the original point of purchase, "you hand the clerk your credit card, he, (or she), hands you the box", paradigm.
This is essentially bitching about nothing.
We'll get into that in just a minute.
This is manufactured outrage for site hits.
See, I told you we'd get into that in just a minute.

But I must say, you're painting with a fairly wide brush with that statement.
 
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