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Quicktime In Linux

brianmed writes "Yes, it works. Codeweavers has just announced their crossover plug-in. It enables users to access popular Windows files and plug-ins in Linux. Right now it is geared towards Quicktime, Shockwave, and Word viewers. Quicktime trailers play just fine. I also have pine setup to launch the the MS Word viewer on command. It is a happy day." Alright, time to start testing. I've also been talking with Jeremy White of Codeweavers: he's got a request for help, as well as an interesting piece on business models -- the Crossover is not entirely GPL. See the above for more information.

14 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Is this a good idea by skrowl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If I can write my software in Windows (90+% of the market) and know it will eventually be able to work through emulation on other platforms (EVER write a native app for a platform other than windows?

    No flames / "Trolls!" / etc. This is a SERIOUS question from a professional (I get paid to do it!) Windows developer.

    --

    Prevent linux based DDOS's!
    http://linux.denialofservice.org/
  2. Re:For every action, there is an equal and opposit by jchristopher · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Apple needs Quicktime to run on Mac, because they want to sell their hardware to content developers.

    Apple also needs for Quicktime to run on Windows, because that's what the content consumers use.

    Apple does not care about Linux, because by comparison, very few of the content viewers use Linux.

    Now, as much as you and I would love for there to be a Quicktime app/plugin for Linux, I don't see that support coming from Apple.

    The only thing that will convince Apple to make Quicktime for Linux is a dramatic increase in the amount of desktop end-users running Linux. The best way you can make that happen is by increasing the usability and friendliness of Linux as a whole, by writing programs with clean GUIs and good documentation.

    To put it in other terms, Apple does not care about a platform where you have to know to type "rpm -iv quicktime_plugin.i386.rpm" to install it. That needs to change first! 99% of the computing population can not, and will not understand the command line!

  3. Re:But its not free (as in beer) by Shadowlore · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, you cpmpletely misunderstand the plugin. How about reading the details first?

    The plugin provides the means of runningn other plugins. With the crossover plugin, you can then run most non-ActiveX browser plugins.

    This is not just a QT plugin. YOu can do many things, such as Shockwave, QT, and many other Windows-only browser plugins with this. In addition to these, you can also use the plugin for viewing various MS attachements, such as MSWord documents, and Excel spreadsheets.

    What makes this useful, is that MS is trying to get rid of all non-activeX plugins in their newer browser. There are many die-hard Windows fans that are quite upset with this. This provides another opportunity for the disgruntled to see there are options. As for the price, come on. This is not twenty bucks to use QuickTime. This is twenty bucks to use a wide variety of plugins.

    Given the lack of accurate information in the parent post, it is not an 'interesting' post anymore than other misinformation is interesting. It needs moderated back down.

    --
    My Suburban burns less gasoline than your Prius.
  4. That's what this *IS* by ClayJar · · Score: 5, Informative

    You really should read the article before you post obviously stupid comments, but I'll forgive you of that, since I've done that myself (haven't we all). Anyway, to sum up the whole thing in one little line, CrossOver is a Wine-using thingy that lets you install the Windows version of the said plugins and use them as if they were Linux native Netscape plugins. (In other words, since you're using the Windows install of the Windows plugin, of course it works with Sorenson, and next time, click the link... it wasn't even slashdotted.)

  5. What CrossOver is, and what it isn't by rkent · · Score: 5, Informative
    CrossOver is NOT:
    • quicktime for linux
    • flash for linux
    • Word for linux
    CrossOver IS a "netscape for linux" plugin that interfaces with a custom build of WINE, the Windows Emulator. Through this windows emulator, you may install and run the Quicktime (for Windows!), Flash (for windows!), and Word Reader (for Windows!) plugins. And CrossOver will handle the interaction for you, to make the windows VM appear in the appropriate window/panel for your browser of choice.

    Since it's a Netscape plugin, it will work with varying degrees of success with other browsers, like moz and konq. Remember, the Netscape plugin format is the one IE is abandoning, so there might not even be any plugins to use with CrossOver after a couple of years.

    That said, it's pretty damn neat. And I can see why they're charging for it - it's kind of a way to get *any* windows plugin to work as native plugins would under Linux. Of course the functionality isn't perfect, but I can definitely see business customers being interested if they have a need for things like that. Could be the essential migration tool for some shop...

  6. jobs killed quicktime for linux by m@ltese · · Score: 4, Flamebait

    A buddy of mine was recently hired onto the streaming quicktime team at apple. When I asked him about QT for linux, he told me the team had it working months ago, but Jobs killed it.

    Seems that quicktime is the feature that keeps Macs on the forefront of digital video production. To port it to linux would eat into Apple's niche market position.

    --
    to mail me, first remove the evil spam.
    1. Re:jobs killed quicktime for linux by mr100percent · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Just what Mostly useless code are you talking about? Apple is more standards-compliant than MS, Quicktime files are pretty open format, it's the sorenson codec that's closed. MPEG-4 is based on QT's file format.

      Apple is not bad at open source. Darwin runs pretty well, and they're financially motivated to do so, unlike some other companies.

      The quicktime streaming server is not just "open source then do nothing", it's ported to NT, linux, Solaris, etc.

      Apple is now tied closer to BSD. They hired Jordan Hubbard, and used to have Wilfredo Sanchez. Both are really good at tieing *Nix stuff to OS X. Try using Perl or PHP on it. It kicks.

    2. Re:jobs killed quicktime for linux by mattkime · · Score: 3, Informative

      Seems that quicktime is the feature that keeps Macs on the forefront of digital video production. To port it to linux would eat into Apple's niche market position.

      Uhhh....does _anyone_ do professional digital video production on a linux box? (Hint: no.) Hell, QuickTime is out for Windows, yet Windows is not a very good platform for doing video. The vast majority of digital video is done on Avid machines or Macs running Final Cut. Doing professoinal digital video requires software and machines that meet very srtict specifications.

      True, Apple does keep some of its digital video software for the mac only. Howeer, Macromedia worked on Final Cut Pro for more than a year before selling it to Apple. Macromedia just couldn't get it to work on both platforms, so apple bought it and eliminated the windows side.

      Linux is very good at some things. However, it has a loooong way to go before it can chip away at Apple's client base.

      --
      Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
    3. Re:jobs killed quicktime for linux by blakestah · · Score: 3, Interesting

      looking for Apple to just HAND you stuff?

      They provide Quicktime viewers for Windows and MacOS. They make the Sorensen codec the default for creating video content.

      Adobe provides PDF viewers for ALL operating systems, and has made their document format, PDF, into an OPEN standard. Even if they didn't provide a viewer, I could write my own.

      Apple, OTOH, uses patents to block me from viewing copyright content I own under linux.

      God, I'm sick of whiny people expecting stuff to be open sourced. Apple says sorenson won't allow a linux version, not them.

      Stop lying. Apple has exclusive licensing rights. They can do whatever the heck they want with Sorensen.

      http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/xa_unsupported.html

  7. SWEET by Ulwarth · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is EXACTLY the sort of thing that Linux needs right now. Funny to think that with all the awesome software we have (Apache, KDE, the Gimp, Linux itself...) the thing we need the most right now is a lame little viewer for some proprietary media formats. But it's true.

    I have no problem at all paying for software like this. Especially since they have priced it quite reasonably.

    Now, let's hope it actually _works_ and isn't just marketing hype surrounding a shoddy product. :)

  8. Re:For every action, there is an equal and opposit by aussersterne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Uh-oh, here we go again.

    What are the "clear limitations" of X? We now have anti-aliased text, direct-rendered 3D hardware support, true-type font support, support for running on embedded devices (i.e. iPaq)... What else do you want?

    Meanwhile, X has some *clear* advantages: much more seamless multi-display support, remote display capability, network font servers, easy extensibility...

    Installation and icons are the responsibility of the distribution and the API. It's not about X, it's about Red Hat and GNOME, which could solve both problems. And color pointers have been done by several software packages, among them many of Loki's games. There are also X extensions around (or at least there used to be -- search freshmeat) for color and animated color root window pointers. Your speed claims are ridiculous. I personally watch full-screen DVD video all the time using vlc in X. It looks great to me, no frames are dropped, and my hardware is virtually identical to yours. Just search for 'vlc' at freshmeat. I also own and play Quake III all the time under X using my GF2 card, and it's within just a few frames of the Windows speeds I get, with some definite advantages -- like being able to run it in a window. If your 3D card isn't as fast, just maybe you should ask your video card manufacturer for some drivers! And don't make fun of my Nvidia card and their 'closed' drivers -- all of your Windows 3D drivers are closed.

    Just because you don't know how to do it doesn't mean it isn't possible. And the things you're talking about would be just as difficult to get together if you had to do it by hand under Windows -- so blame the people who put it all on your CD-ROM (whoever made your distro) and not X, which is a great piece of software that is very stable, mature, and well-designed.

    --
    STOP . AMERICA . NOW
  9. I love the license text by jfunk · · Score: 4, Funny
    I just bought and downloaded it and noticed the license text:

    YOU REALLY WANT TO READ THIS, ESPECIALLY THE PART ABOUT YOUR FIRST BORN
    CHILD...


    ...License text... seems fair...

    OKAY, WE WERE JUST KIDDING. THERE'S NOTHING IN HERE ABOUT YOUR FIRST BORN
    CHILD. BUT YOU REALLY SHOULD READ THESE THINGS, YOU KNOW.


    Just thought I'd share that...
  10. Plugger by Darth+Maul · · Score: 3, Informative


    Try this:

    http://fredrik.hubbe.net/plugger.html

    Multimedia plugin for Linux which can handle Quicktime, MPEG, MP2, AVI, SGI-movie, Tiff, DL, IFF-anim, MIDI, Soundtracker, AU, WAV and Commodore 64 audio files.

    I'm using it in Mozilla 0.9.3 and it works quite well. That, and the flash plugin that is available here:

    http://www.macromedia.com/

    I'm all set with Mozilla under Linux: Java plugin, Flash plugin, Quicktime, etc...

    --
    --- witty signature
  11. Re:And this is a good thing? by flashms010 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I recall when when QT first came to windows.

    Just after MS ripped off key Quicktime code from a 3rd party consultant (litigated, settled), it emerged that Quicktime for Windows was facing unusual, suspicious performance and compatibility problems sourced in the Windows OS itself. I believe that MS's shenanigans with QT were brought up again during the MS monopoly trial.

    Apple conscientiously produces good software, so its problems on Windows weren't due necessarily from bad coding. The whole situation brings to mind how MS used incompatibilities to crush DR-DOS (and IBM to crush a chip maker before that). Of course, shortly after all this, the windows Mediaplayer made its debut.

    So, going by this particular conspiracy theory, you bought into MS's crap hook, line, and sinker. Remember, Apple owns a massive chunk of hollywood because of the quality of its tools. On the one hand, MS has a good reason for helping you overlook this core fact.

    On the other hand, Apple has to work overtime to produce cool new products because so many people hate the very idea of Apple's existence: they won't release substandard software if they can help it.