An oggcast is a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

recorded and distributed exclusively in the Ogg vorbis audio codec and/or other similarly free codecs. For example, a podcast distributed both in the non-free mp3 format and the free Ogg Vorbis format would not technically meet the definition of an oggcast. In contrast, a podcast distributed in both the Ogg Vorbis and Speex codecs would meet the strict definition of an oggcast. The term oggcast is a combination of the word "ogg" from the term Ogg Vorbis, and the syllable "cast", from "broadcast".

History

The exact timeline of the term oggcast is uncertain, however, The Linux Link Tech Show, one of the longer running Linux podcasts still in production, has a program in the Ogg Vorbis format in its archives from January 7, 2004. Given that a stable release of Ogg Vorbis did not appear until July 19, 2002, it is very likely that the term oggcast was coined sometime between 2002 and 2004.

Rationale

Oggcasters tend to be broadcasters who prefer not to use audio and video codecs that have patent and/or licensing restrictions, such as the mp3 codec.

Advantages and disadvantages

Recording and distributing podcasts in the Ogg Vorbis audio format has both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages: *

Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, wi ...

Firefox and

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...

web browsers both support playing Ogg Vorbis files directly in the browser without requiring plugins. * Ogg Vorbis may produce better audio quality with a smaller file size than alternative codecs such as

aac AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

or mp3. However, this has not been proven conclusively. * Ogg Vorbis is not bound by patents and is considered "free software" in the sense that no corporate entity owns the rights to the format. Some people feel that this is a safer container for their multimedia content for this reason. Disadvantages: * Oggcasters can generally not reach as wide of an audience as more traditional podcasters. This is mainly due to the lack of native Ogg Vorbis support in

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Microsoft Wind ...

and Apple's Safari web browser, and the lack of Ogg Vorbis support in many mobile audio devices.

Oggcasts

Oggcast planet An oggcast is a podcast recorded and distributed exclusively in the Ogg vorbis audio codec and/or other similarly free codecs. For example, a podcast distributed both in the non-free mp3 format and the free Ogg Vorbis format would not technically ...

maintains a central list of oggcasts. Some notable (but not all inclusive) oggcasts are as follows: * Cerebral knights * Crivins * GNU World Order (hosted by

Klaatu (podcaster) Klaatu may refer to: * Klaatu (''The Day the Earth Stood Still''), the protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film and its 2008 remake * Klaatu (band) Klaatu () was a Canadian rock group formed in 1973 by the duo of John Woloschuk and Dee Long ...

) * Information underground
Juiced Penguin
* Kernel Panic Oggcast * LibreCAST * Libre.fm *

Lotta linux links Lotta may refer to: * Lotta (name), a diminutive name of Charlotte and Charlotta * Lotta (river), a river in northern Finland and Murmansk Oblast, Russia Other * Lotta Svärd, Finnish paramilitary organization of World War II * Lotta Svärd (poe ...

MythTV cast MythTV is a free and open-source home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface" design for the living room TV. It turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network streaming digital video recorder, a digital ...

Palaver (oggcast) Palaver may refer to: * Palaver (custom), a form of local conflict resolution in different African countries *"Palaver", meaning a long discussion or procedure, from the Portuguese word "palavra". See List of English words of Portuguese origin. * P ...

* TuxJam

References

{{Reflist Podcasting Media formats Digital audio Technology in society