Chrome will deprecate and remove support for the Theora video codec

>The Theora video codec was first released in 2004 and had its last official release in 2011.

>it was one of the first open codecs on the web[0]

IOW if anyone having open-source expertise is not too badly limited in resources, it should be no problem to correct any security deficiencies that might have become apparent since 2011, and push those necessary changes.

>usage has now fallen below detectable levels

Umm, no. Google's millions of Chrome users have enjoyed having this option for years even though most of them do not use it yet. But with millions of Chrome installations over the years it seems like Google itself has been such a big user I don't know if anyone could have taken more advantage of the existence of any open-source codec more than that. This is a case where it would be good to set an example of a financially prosperous huge company giving back to an open-source project they have been using at no cost for years. Anything less is just being a cheapskate type of bum.

With enough creativity in areas like engineering and finance, it might even be possible to merely support established maintaners financially well enough so they could tend to outstanding security needs and get that done earlier than Google has scheduled for completion of the deprecation phase-out.

A really prosperous company having in-house engineering ability would make progress in both ways by co-ordinating internal and external efforts, that would require some serious committment to open-source, which unfortunately looks like that is trying to be avoided.

[0] So obviously it's fairly new compared to encumbered codecs, and needs to be given as much chance as possible to survive and remain available as just one more tool in the toolbox for those committed to open-source media. In the hope that it will eventually replace proprietary options on the desktop, which just isn't coming as fast as serious open-source enthusiasts would like.