Maybe you thought it was a settled matter, that since Google was supporting the H.264 format to deliver video on Youtube using the html5 video tag, the same format that Apple, as the owner of that format, is supporting on the iPhone, iPad and all things Mac, that it made it the de facto winner in the format wars.

The future of the competing format, Ogg Theora, a free (as in free speech) format favoured by Mozilla and Opera, just didn’t seem too bright. Already the biggest deliverer of video on the web had put it’s weight behind the proprietary technology and the most popular mobile platforms are controlled by the competition.

However, last week, Google announced that they have given a grant to fund the development of TheorARM, a free (as in free-dom) codec for mobile processors, and they have made it their stated goal to make sure that video works everywhere on the web, for everyone (emphasis mine).

That for everyone is the real interesting bit. As a proprietary codec, H.264 requires you to get a license from Apple to use it. It means that developers of web browsers (or other applications) would need to fork out some money (that they may not have) and abide by Apple’s rules (that they may not like) in order to provide html5 compliant video.

Ogg Theora is the only alternative that lets anyone, anywhere, create video however and for whatever they want.

This is a very positive sign from Google that I hope will be followed by more concrete steps, like having Youtube using Ogg Theora.

But meanwhile, I’m happy with this development.

Unless, of course, Google has an altogether different idea.