[vlc] Codecs

[J.B. Nicholson-Owens]

David Gerard wrote:
 > (This is why many Linux distributions do not ship with VLC, only
 > allowing you to add it later; and why the LAME mp3 encoder only
 > distributes as source, with binaries being available only from third
 > parties who have compiled it themselves.)

I don't see how adding software post-OS-install or compiling source code 
evades patent law.  There probably are some GNU/Linux distributors who 
believe this to be true, but this sounds like a patent law myth to me. 
If it were true, why would anyone bother getting software patents 
(business method patents that cover algorithms used in software, as I 
understand it) when they are so easily avoided?