First: Yes, I do know the official statement concerning Linux support. But I'd like to express my thoughts about an other approach.
There won't be a 1:1 conversion of AnyDVD HD to Linux because the current approach needs it to run in Kernelmode, witch is a no-go under Linux because SlySoft respects GPL (whitch is a big thumbs-up from me).
But would this even be necessary? Why does AnyDVD need to run in Kernelmode in the first place?
As I see it, it is necessary in a Windows environment, because AnyDVD needs to be completly transparent, in other words you need to fool the player software and (at least to some extent) even Windows.
The interesting question is now, would it work, if there was a decryption library for linux that could run as an optional component completly in userspace? This would most likely mean, that media player software would need to be changed to actually use this library when accessing protected discs. But I don't think that would be a problem, because these players (at least the important ones) are all open source and I have no doubt that someone would create and publish the needed patches. Of course this person would need documentation about the librarys API, probably the biggest drawback of the whole approach. As far as I know this is how it currently works for protected DVDs (with the exception, that the library itself is open-source too).
And just for completenes some thought about the financial part of the story. Developement costs of such a library shouldn't be too high since all the nasty low level system stuff would drop out. No need to play hide and seek with other software. All that remains (apart from a more or less general framework) is the decryption itself, and we alle know, the knowledge in this field is available . This leave more ore less only customer support and I honestly have no idea how to weight that cost-wise.
At last a few words about me. I'm currently no SlySoft customer because all I wan't (today) is BD playback, and for that I have PowerDVD (bundled with the drive) and BD playback is the only thing that stops me from installing linux (witch I would prefer) on my HTPC. So my interesst in AnyDVD is more or less limited to the hope of a linux version, as this seems to me more likely in the near future than a living-room proof (read transparent to the user) open-source alternative :/
Now I hope I didn't lose your attention on the L-word
Best regards
LB
There won't be a 1:1 conversion of AnyDVD HD to Linux because the current approach needs it to run in Kernelmode, witch is a no-go under Linux because SlySoft respects GPL (whitch is a big thumbs-up from me).
But would this even be necessary? Why does AnyDVD need to run in Kernelmode in the first place?
As I see it, it is necessary in a Windows environment, because AnyDVD needs to be completly transparent, in other words you need to fool the player software and (at least to some extent) even Windows.
The interesting question is now, would it work, if there was a decryption library for linux that could run as an optional component completly in userspace? This would most likely mean, that media player software would need to be changed to actually use this library when accessing protected discs. But I don't think that would be a problem, because these players (at least the important ones) are all open source and I have no doubt that someone would create and publish the needed patches. Of course this person would need documentation about the librarys API, probably the biggest drawback of the whole approach. As far as I know this is how it currently works for protected DVDs (with the exception, that the library itself is open-source too).
And just for completenes some thought about the financial part of the story. Developement costs of such a library shouldn't be too high since all the nasty low level system stuff would drop out. No need to play hide and seek with other software. All that remains (apart from a more or less general framework) is the decryption itself, and we alle know, the knowledge in this field is available . This leave more ore less only customer support and I honestly have no idea how to weight that cost-wise.
At last a few words about me. I'm currently no SlySoft customer because all I wan't (today) is BD playback, and for that I have PowerDVD (bundled with the drive) and BD playback is the only thing that stops me from installing linux (witch I would prefer) on my HTPC. So my interesst in AnyDVD is more or less limited to the hope of a linux version, as this seems to me more likely in the near future than a living-room proof (read transparent to the user) open-source alternative :/
Now I hope I didn't lose your attention on the L-word
Best regards
LB