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The recent Helix milestones are great

Clean looking player, no bloat, great quality, plugin gets even the most troublesome pages (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod, for example) working just sweet

There's a 0.2.1 Milestone (crack out the party hats - we got a 0.2.1 milestone!, but I digress..) out. There are Solaris, Symbian (!), GNU/ Linux RPMs and tars with installer, as well as the src, obviously

you can get it here

There are still shed loads of forms to click and agree to, you gotta signup, etc, etc. but they *say* this is part of their new, GPL-friendly and OSI-certified ways.

Helix downloads And unfortunately you have to create an account.

Lilypond: A great open source music notation program.

Cinepaint: Painting and retouching.

CDex: CD Ripper and converter.

Panda 3d: 3D rendering engine.

Mambo: Content management

Gordian Knot:DivX/XviD encoding

Helix: Media player

7 Zip: Zip

Try Panda 3D (Sourceforge Page)- it's an open source game engine originally written at Disney's VR studio for DisneyQuest and Toontown Online. We're now co-developing it with the Disney team at the Entertainment Technology Center at CMU, and use it for a lot of internal projects.

The core is written in C++, but game programming is done in Python, which initializes the engine. Exporters exist for Max & Maya. Since your stuff runs in Python, it's simple to add extra functionality. Last semester we used it for the Building Virtual Worlds Class, and were able to add things like networking, computer vision, MIDI IO, and simple show control pretty trivially. One group now is using it to do realtime interactive stuff on a dome with 5 cameras stitched together in realtime.

This semester, the project is adding in-engine video playback using Helix and integrating with the Eclipse IDE. It serves our needs pretty well.

Regardless of your feelings about Real, everyone interested in digital media is encouraged to check out the Helix Community. Linux users can check out the latest codecs, RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10 (+ Ogg and other great codecs) in the Helix Player for Linux. Note, we're migrating the site to an open-source platform running GForge, so it's read-only for the next few days. Thanks in advance for checking it out. --Elaine (on behalf of the Helix Community)

Regardless of your feelings about Real, everyone interested in digital media is encouraged to check out the Helix Community. Linux users can check out the latest codecs, RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10 (+ Ogg and other great codecs) in the Helix Player for Linux. Note, we're migrating the site to an open-source platform running GForge, so it's read-only for the next few days. Thanks in advance for checking it out. --Elaine (on behalf of the Helix Community)

What are your thoughts?

Hey question for you guys, I've seen a lot of negative comments about Real, most of which are understandable as I myself until recently refused to install their bloated software.

Anyone familiar with the Helix project (www.helixcommunity.org)?

From the website:


The Helix community is a collaborative effort among Real, independent developers, and leading companies to extend the Helix DNA(TM) platform, the first open multi-format platform for digital media creation, delivery and playback. The Helix DNA platform is comprised of the following:

* Helix DNA Client
* Helix DNA Producer
* Helix DNA Server
* RealAudio and RealVideo codecs


I'm not too familiar with it but is it a step in the right direction for a company that once used to be on the cutting edge of digital media and now is trying to get back in the game? Or is it just another one of their corporate blood sucking tacticts? What are your thoughts?

We're in the process of migrating to some new site software now. After that, things should be a little better in that regard.

Supporting MPlayer is not going to be a viable long-term option. They take the "Catholic only on Sunday" approach with the GPL. They like the fact that the GPL imposes all sorts of terms on anyone who would take their source code. However, they don't respect the license terms of the components they link against. Moreover, it's just a matter of time before Microsoft makes this impossible.

If Linux is to get any mainstream acceptance, the tools on the platform need to be totally above board, legal, and useful out of the box. We're working with the major Linux distributors to provide something that meets that criteria, and we hope that you join us in that.

Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

I'm not sure how investing millions of dollars in our Linux and open source efforts constitutes "dipping our toe in", but whatever. This is much more than that.

I never said it invalidates any criticism of our organization. I'm asking for you (and others) to cut us a little slack. As I've pointed out elsewhere in this thread, we're admittedly an imperfect company, but one that can really help out the community if you give us a chance.

I guess I've got to assume you aren't a Linux user or a fan of open source software. Because, if you are, you should be very, very careful what you wish for.

Even if you think RealNetworks is evil, you are doing the free software and open source movements a terrible disservice. There are many companies and individuals who are watching what happens with RealNetworks (including the board of RealNetworks itself). When you sneer at Real's move in a more open direction, you are causing others to question the value of working with a seemingly fickle and ungrateful community.

Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Actually, what occurs to me is that we should probably be including it as part of the Helix Player.

splay is admittedly pretty rudimentary player. There are better options if you don't mind doing a little work. A long time ago, trplayer, which is a more advanced commandline player for use by blind users and others with no need for graphical user interface. It's a little rusty, though, as it needs to be updated to use the latest interfaces. The author, Matthew Campbell, is no longer interested in developing it, and would happily turn it over to a new maintainer if someone emerged.

Hope this helps,
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Actually, what occurs to me is that we should probably be including it as part of the Helix Player.

splay is admittedly pretty rudimentary player. There are better options if you don't mind doing a little work. A long time ago, trplayer, which is a more advanced commandline player for use by blind users and others with no need for graphical user interface. It's a little rusty, though, as it needs to be updated to use the latest interfaces. The author, Matthew Campbell, is no longer interested in developing it, and would happily turn it over to a new maintainer if someone emerged.

Hope this helps,
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Actually, what occurs to me is that we should probably be including it as part of the Helix Player.

splay is admittedly pretty rudimentary player. There are better options if you don't mind doing a little work. A long time ago, trplayer, which is a more advanced commandline player for use by blind users and others with no need for graphical user interface. It's a little rusty, though, as it needs to be updated to use the latest interfaces. The author, Matthew Campbell, is no longer interested in developing it, and would happily turn it over to a new maintainer if someone emerged.

Hope this helps,
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Actually, what occurs to me is that we should probably be including it as part of the Helix Player.

splay is admittedly pretty rudimentary player. There are better options if you don't mind doing a little work. A long time ago, trplayer, which is a more advanced commandline player for use by blind users and others with no need for graphical user interface. It's a little rusty, though, as it needs to be updated to use the latest interfaces. The author, Matthew Campbell, is no longer interested in developing it, and would happily turn it over to a new maintainer if someone emerged.

Hope this helps,
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

One defense I will offer for our hardline business folks is that they've figured out how to keep the lights on. The fact of the matter is, we just announced that consumer revenue was 76% of our 2003q4 revenue, up from 70% the previous quarter. "Consumer revenue" is made up of subscriptions to our premium business, as opposed to systems revenue selling media servers. People assume that our business is still about media servers. So, they do get a little zealous about keeping the subscription business growing.

The thing that can't be repeated enough is that RealAudio is a supported format on Linux. Now, Linux users are forced to use jury-rigged solutions to listen to Car Talk. Very sad.

Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

As others have mentioned in this thread, the core technologies behind RealNetwork's client, server, and producer projects have been released as an open source known as Helix. Details are available at helixcommunity.org

There is a faq on the project here

The Real codecs cannot be open sourced as explained here, but a variety of open source codecs and network transports are available in open source form, including ogg vorbis and smil.

The client core itself is fairly light weight, and currently runs on memory-constrained embedded devices like Nokia's series 60 cellphones

The client apps project contains a very basic player built on the core. The linux-based HelixPlayer project offers a more advanced player, though this player is still in development stages

As others have mentioned in this thread, the core technologies behind RealNetwork's client, server, and producer projects have been released as an open source known as Helix. Details are available at helixcommunity.org

There is a faq on the project here

The Real codecs cannot be open sourced as explained here, but a variety of open source codecs and network transports are available in open source form, including ogg vorbis and smil.

The client core itself is fairly light weight, and currently runs on memory-constrained embedded devices like Nokia's series 60 cellphones

The client apps project contains a very basic player built on the core. The linux-based HelixPlayer project offers a more advanced player, though this player is still in development stages

As others have mentioned in this thread, the core technologies behind RealNetwork's client, server, and producer projects have been released as an open source known as Helix. Details are available at helixcommunity.org

There is a faq on the project here

The Real codecs cannot be open sourced as explained here, but a variety of open source codecs and network transports are available in open source form, including ogg vorbis and smil.

The client core itself is fairly light weight, and currently runs on memory-constrained embedded devices like Nokia's series 60 cellphones

The client apps project contains a very basic player built on the core. The linux-based HelixPlayer project offers a more advanced player, though this player is still in development stages

As others have mentioned in this thread, the core technologies behind RealNetwork's client, server, and producer projects have been released as an open source known as Helix. Details are available at helixcommunity.org

There is a faq on the project here

The Real codecs cannot be open sourced as explained here, but a variety of open source codecs and network transports are available in open source form, including ogg vorbis and smil.

The client core itself is fairly light weight, and currently runs on memory-constrained embedded devices like Nokia's series 60 cellphones

The client apps project contains a very basic player built on the core. The linux-based HelixPlayer project offers a more advanced player, though this player is still in development stages

I'm not going to be an apologist for RealNetworks past actions. RealNetworks is a big enough company, that Jamie Zawinski's quote "[G]reat things are accomplished by small groups of people who are driven, who have unity of purpose. The more people involved, the slower and stupider their union is." I'll admit we've done slow and stupid things. However, there are certain things that can only be done by big companies, no matter how slow and stupid, which is why I haven't written a similar rant.

However, I'd like to point out that, in the "slow and stupid" vein, we're slowly getting better. The RealPlayer 10 beta isn't perfect, but it's better, and I imagine that things will be better in the final release.

Moreover, we've got a lot of really great things going on in the Helix Community. We've got the Helix Player for Linux, which just the won Best Open Source Project award at LinuxWorld. That means that if there's something that annoys you about it, you can fix it. It's based on Gtk, and the engine code is all cross-platform, so someone could theoretically port it to Windows even.

So, we're trying. I'm hoping that folks could cut us a little slack. I'm hoping that the Linux folks out there could help us change Car Talk's mind, since Windows Media is a pretty Linux-hostile format.

Thanks
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

I'm not going to be an apologist for RealNetworks past actions. RealNetworks is a big enough company, that Jamie Zawinski's quote "[G]reat things are accomplished by small groups of people who are driven, who have unity of purpose. The more people involved, the slower and stupider their union is." I'll admit we've done slow and stupid things. However, there are certain things that can only be done by big companies, no matter how slow and stupid, which is why I haven't written a similar rant.

However, I'd like to point out that, in the "slow and stupid" vein, we're slowly getting better. The RealPlayer 10 beta isn't perfect, but it's better, and I imagine that things will be better in the final release.

Moreover, we've got a lot of really great things going on in the Helix Community. We've got the Helix Player for Linux, which just the won Best Open Source Project award at LinuxWorld. That means that if there's something that annoys you about it, you can fix it. It's based on Gtk, and the engine code is all cross-platform, so someone could theoretically port it to Windows even.

So, we're trying. I'm hoping that folks could cut us a little slack. I'm hoping that the Linux folks out there could help us change Car Talk's mind, since Windows Media is a pretty Linux-hostile format.

Thanks
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

I'm not going to be an apologist for RealNetworks past actions. RealNetworks is a big enough company, that Jamie Zawinski's quote "[G]reat things are accomplished by small groups of people who are driven, who have unity of purpose. The more people involved, the slower and stupider their union is." I'll admit we've done slow and stupid things. However, there are certain things that can only be done by big companies, no matter how slow and stupid, which is why I haven't written a similar rant.

However, I'd like to point out that, in the "slow and stupid" vein, we're slowly getting better. The RealPlayer 10 beta isn't perfect, but it's better, and I imagine that things will be better in the final release.

Moreover, we've got a lot of really great things going on in the Helix Community. We've got the Helix Player for Linux, which just the won Best Open Source Project award at LinuxWorld. That means that if there's something that annoys you about it, you can fix it. It's based on Gtk, and the engine code is all cross-platform, so someone could theoretically port it to Windows even.

So, we're trying. I'm hoping that folks could cut us a little slack. I'm hoping that the Linux folks out there could help us change Car Talk's mind, since Windows Media is a pretty Linux-hostile format.

Thanks
Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Rather than celebrate another format win by Microsoft, complain! Put up a stink.

In the meantime, if you don't like the way the RealPlayer currently works, help us with the Helix Player, which is an open source player that commercial Linux desktop providers don't have to worry about getting sued for distributing.

If you don't like the fact that RealAudio and RealVideo are still proprietary formats, then help us support Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora, as well as any other free codecs that are applicable. But whatever you do, don't just let Microsoft win these battles.

Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Rather than celebrate another format win by Microsoft, complain! Put up a stink.

In the meantime, if you don't like the way the RealPlayer currently works, help us with the Helix Player, which is an open source player that commercial Linux desktop providers don't have to worry about getting sued for distributing.

If you don't like the fact that RealAudio and RealVideo are still proprietary formats, then help us support Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora, as well as any other free codecs that are applicable. But whatever you do, don't just let Microsoft win these battles.

Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Rather than celebrate another format win by Microsoft, complain! Put up a stink.

In the meantime, if you don't like the way the RealPlayer currently works, help us with the Helix Player, which is an open source player that commercial Linux desktop providers don't have to worry about getting sued for distributing.

If you don't like the fact that RealAudio and RealVideo are still proprietary formats, then help us support Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora, as well as any other free codecs that are applicable. But whatever you do, don't just let Microsoft win these battles.

Rob Lanphier
Helix Troublemaker
RealNetworks

Helix Producer might be worth a look.

On linux, there's the open-source HelixPlayer project, which has recently had a Milestone 2 preview release.

And for that matter, to be fair to Real, the the Helix server/player/tools are also Open/Free (both Speech and Beer).

That doesn't really address the 'free Real player is harder to find than Osama Bin Laden at night' comment... Real's own employees have bitched about that for years, God knows the rest of us have. Hopefully that gives the Open movement within Real (the Helix Community) a little more leverage in selling their case to the more hardline business folk still trying to figure out why their user base is evaporating.

OTOH, I'm a bit pissed off... I have a free Real player (with all the source) that works great. Thanks Click and Clack, I can't listen to your program anymore. That 'free' windows player comes with a $200 Windows tax attached.

Nothing like a damned fool 'statement' that flies in the face of common sense.

Monty

I manage the Helix Community Grant Program, and am really looking forward to working with the grant recipient choices. However, I am part of a larger team that's trying to effect change w/in Real... part of this effort is sharing the Slashdot community's thoughts with the exec team. Constructive comments are easier to convey than cranky responses about past perceptions. Help us out! We want to build products & release code that is for the greater good. With your support we can make this happen. Start here: what do you think about our Grant Recipient choices? Have you checked out the Helix Player project, or other projects in the Helix community?, Please advise...

I manage the Helix Community Grant Program, and am really looking forward to working with the grant recipient choices. However, I am part of a larger team that's trying to effect change w/in Real... part of this effort is sharing the Slashdot community's thoughts with the exec team. Constructive comments are easier to convey than cranky responses about past perceptions. Help us out! We want to build products & release code that is for the greater good. With your support we can make this happen. Start here: what do you think about our Grant Recipient choices? Have you checked out the Helix Player project, or other projects in the Helix community?, Please advise...

I manage the Helix Community Grant Program, and am really looking forward to working with the grant recipient choices. However, I am part of a larger team that's trying to effect change w/in Real... part of this effort is sharing the Slashdot community's thoughts with the exec team. Constructive comments are easier to convey than cranky responses about past perceptions. Help us out! We want to build products & release code that is for the greater good. With your support we can make this happen. Start here: what do you think about our Grant Recipient choices? Have you checked out the Helix Player project, or other projects in the Helix community?, Please advise...

I manage the Helix Community Grant Program, and am really looking forward to working with the grant recipient choices. However, I am part of a larger team that's trying to effect change w/in Real... part of this effort is sharing the Slashdot community's thoughts with the exec team. Constructive comments are easier to convey than cranky responses about past perceptions. Help us out! We want to build products & release code that is for the greater good. With your support we can make this happen. Start here: what do you think about our Grant Recipient choices? Have you checked out the Helix Player project, or other projects in the Helix community?, Please advise...

If there's any third party IP in there then relicencing becomes a complete nightmare. The codecs suffer from this fate.

You might recall a similar problem being faced with Mozilla. Stuff like the spell checker couldn't be opened and had to be left out of Mozilla and made available as a proprietary plugin by Netscape. With any luck over time the Open parts of the product will grow so as to render the closed parts into legacy. But that will take time. There is no magic wand that can change the past.

I'd also add that the news page talks a lot about how helix is being used by our partners. Worth a read! https://www.helixcommunity.org/

To name the top few, in order of appearance:

• RealPlayer on the Nokia 6620
• Time Warner Cable using helix to support the Road Runner high-speed data service
• Integration with IBM WebSphere

The easiest way to get the source is here.

You want the "01/21/04" table, "source" row, "HelixPlayer" column.

You should be able to build this tarball by untarring it and typing make.

It'd also be a good idea to subscribe to the dev@player.helixcommunity.org mailing list here

You can also ask questions on irc.helixcommunity.org channel #player if you have feedback, or need a hand with the build system.

Hope to see you on the mailing lists!

The easiest way to get the source is here.

You want the "01/21/04" table, "source" row, "HelixPlayer" column.

You should be able to build this tarball by untarring it and typing make.

It'd also be a good idea to subscribe to the dev@player.helixcommunity.org mailing list here

You can also ask questions on irc.helixcommunity.org channel #player if you have feedback, or need a hand with the build system.

Hope to see you on the mailing lists!

Glad to hear Helix is a viable option! ;)

Re: your codec comments, the helix client page has some technical information on the codecs. The latest helix client & player also supports the AAC audio format, as seen in iTunes among other places.

As for DRM and devices, https://devicedrm.helixcommunity.org/ talks a bit about that.

Glad to hear Helix is a viable option! ;)

Re: your codec comments, the helix client page has some technical information on the codecs. The latest helix client & player also supports the AAC audio format, as seen in iTunes among other places.

As for DRM and devices, https://devicedrm.helixcommunity.org/ talks a bit about that.

I got the binary installer, but what's confusing me is that the Release Notes say the source is availible but on the download page all I see are "hxplay-linux-2.2-libc6-gcc32-i586.bin" and "Test Plans." I'd love to get at the source because some minor things are driving me nuts.

• All modern RV and RA codecs (RV10, RA10, RV9, RV8, RA8, RVG2, RV7)
• MPEG4 enabled (codec not bundled)
• MP3, H.263, G2 Audio, Ogg Vorbis, SDP
• Full SMIL 2.0 Support
• AIFF, wav, au, RealText, Flash, RealPix
• Ogg Theora Support

The download is here (requires helixcommunity.org registration, which you've done).

It is an installer that you can "chmod a+x" and run. rpm's and tarballs are coming soon.

The release notes for MS2 are here.

The download is here (requires helixcommunity.org registration, which you've done).

It is an installer that you can "chmod a+x" and run. rpm's and tarballs are coming soon.

The release notes for MS2 are here.

DR5 (Developer Release 5) is a September 22, 2003 release of the client sample players, splay (no gui -- video window only), and helixplay (cross platform basic gui, uses motif on linux).

It does not include the hxplay, the gtk-based linux player.

You should register on helixcommunity.org, as that gives you access to the web support forums, mailing lists, and issue tracker.

But, if you insist on using a build from the nightly builds download page, your best bet would be Table "Tarball for 01/15/04", row "linux-2.2-libc6-gcc32-i586" column "HelixPlayer"

The platforms supported by the helix player are listed here.

Help is wanted for the powerpc port -- developers interested in porting should subscribe to the helix player developers list, dev@player.helixcommunity.org.

The UI is written in glade, and the helix engine is wrapped in a GtkWidget-based GObject.

This makes it easy to create your own UI or even custom player

UI feedback is welcome on the users mailing list, users@player.helixcommunity.org, which you can subscribe to on https://player.helixcommunity.org.

The referenced "direct download" link is for the nightly builds of the helix player. The release MS2 build can be downloaded from here

(You must register on helixcommunity.org and click through the binary eula to get access to it)

The main page for the player project is at: https://player.helixcommunity.org/

From there, you can access the web forums, mailing lists, and issue tracker.

The referenced "direct download" link is for the nightly builds of the helix player. The release MS2 build can be downloaded from here

(You must register on helixcommunity.org and click through the binary eula to get access to it)

The main page for the player project is at: https://player.helixcommunity.org/

From there, you can access the web forums, mailing lists, and issue tracker.

Then what is this???

You are either lying, or mistaken.

How funny is that? You lying about lying!

Here is the direct link for the download!

http://forms.helixcommunity.org/helixdnaclient/

Here is a quick tutorial on making an rpm of it.
http://fedoranews.org/tchung/helixplayer/

And since there is no Windows version of the HelixPlayer, here is the link to the RealOne Player:

http://www.realone.com/R/RC.012004realhome_1_1_2_1 _1_2.ecomm...R/forms.real.com/real/realone/realone .html?beta_bypass=true&bbits=true&type=dlrhap_bb&& pp=home&src=012004realhome_1_1_2_1_1_2

If this one is anything to go by it looks like they may have created something better than the old players from hell.

Simply a menu bar, a playback area and some control buttons. Lovely.