There is no *legal* way to listen to MP3s in Linux? There is no free player?
> > What exactly is the licensing issue we're talking about here?
There are Free Software players, just few under license terms that allow them to be distributed with Fedora Linux.
One Free Software player is the Helix player for Linux from RealNetworks, Inc. I probably have to disclose that I am a RealNetworks employee (and stockholder). I haven't installed the Helix player yet, so I can't tell you much about its quality. However, it is appropriately licensed for inclusion in Fedora Core (or Extras).
Other than the Helix player, pretty much every single MP3 player or library available for Linux is licensed under the GPL. The GPL states that if, for any reason (including patents), you can not distribute the software such that all recipients have full rights to the software, for any and every purpose allowed by the GPL, then you can not distribute the software at all. Patents encumber the MP3 algorithm, so in any jurisdiction where software may be patented, the GPL forbids distribution of those players and libraries. Because of this restriction, Red Hat has removed all mpg and related libraries and code from their distribution.
Interestingly I noticed that wasn't getting any sound out of an audio CD I had in my drive the other day. It was autodetected and CDDB sent info on who it was and the player *said* it was playing and time was counting, but no sounds were coming out of my speakers.
My speakers do produce sounds from system events and such and the 'test audio' bit plays when I install FC1 and it detects my sound card.
You probably need an analog audio cable from your CDROM drive to your sound card. Windows may play the audio data by reading the CDDA and playing it through the sound driver, but I'm not aware of any Linux player that will do the same.
