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Mozilla Partners with Real Networks
engineer_uhg writes to tell us that Mozilla has just entered into a multi-year agreement with Real Networks to have Firefox distributed with downloads of RealPlayer, Rhapsody, and RealArcade. The Mozilla team cited Real's estimated 2 million downloads per day as a great tool for distribution. However, many Firefox supporters question the move, complaining of questionable practices by Real.
Yeah, well as long as we don't get infected with real's products when we download firefox, what's the problem?
MABASPLOOM!
Its a really bad idea to tarnish the name of Firefox with an association with the malware known as realplayer. Big thumbs down.
Seriously.
By why the hell don't they distribute something like VLC or MPlayer? Real loves to brag and brag about their download stats, but I imagine most of those numbers are from their install base. I practically NEVER need to view RM. Almost everything I run into is Quicktime, MPEG, Windows Media, DivX, or Flash Video.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Why do you say realplayer doesnt affect you because you run linux?
I vastly prefer Realplayer over Quicktime because they distribute a decent linux client.
Without Realplayer more content would probably be in that shitty QT sorenson (or whatever) format which I cant play.
It amazes me that even MS content (Non-DRM) can be played back under linux but all the latest Quicktime encoded stuff is Apple / MS only.
Disclaimer -
If someone knows of a way to playback sorenson content under linux without resorting to wine running Quicktime please let me know.
I dont read
I have a windows version of RealPlayer installed which comes with no spyware, no annoying crap in the system tray and it only pops up when I try and play a RealPlayer clip.
If you people cant set it up to do the same please stop posting on a discussion board for geeks as you are obviously an idiot.
I would tell you what I did to get to this state, but the steps involved were so trivial I did not commit them to memory.
On another note, isnt RealPlayer (Helixplayer) now partly open source developed with only the latest Real codecs being proprietary.
Have a look round this site to learn more -
http://helixcommunity.org/
I dont read
Yup. Bundling software on physical media is harmless and occasionally useful, assuming you give users plenty of opportunity to install only what they choose.
But bundling unrelated software in a download is infuriating.
Not only has Mozilla sullied its own reputation by associating itself with shitty software, it's actually made the shitty software even worse in the process.
What's worse than realplayer? Easy: reaplayer + an 8 MB download of software the user either already has or doesn't want.
The only question is, what's in it for Real? Hard to see what they get out of the deal.
no, it has not been years.
They still prevent open source players for their codec, their player has more ads than ever and now even has a frickin store in it, the free version is beyond a hassle to get and still demands a root pass in mac (which is beyond insane for a media player.. mplayer and vlc dont require it and have more features!).
Then there's the fact that real is a purveyor of drm and prevents oss players from interacting with its format so they can force you to download their crappy player.
Granted theyre not gator or anything, but their business practices still suck bad enough for them to be reviled. As far as over-proprietary formats go, theyre right there in the camp with microsoft's windows media, and make flash look like ogg-vorbis.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
Yeah, it's known, recognised, and hated. To most people who download RealPlayer, Firefox will be just like all the other spyware/adware/crap that RealPlayer installs. Is Firefox so desperate for users that it needs to be distributed like adware?
Maybe next, Mozilla can get someone to write a virus that installs Firefox. Think of the downloads! Think of the publicity!
Maybe not
Not to mention that the hatred for Real is mainly confined to the English speaking world. RMVB is much more popular than any other format in China (source: any China/HK BT tracker) so if this introduces Firefox to the literal masses, then so what?
I mostly agree with you, but in this case we ought to be giving Real a second chance, because they seem to be genuinely changing for the better (see: Helix player). In fact, this is actually more evidence of it!
Now, if Mozilla was partnering with someone who was still fucking up (e.g. Microsoft), it'd be different.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Exactly what kind of popularity are we talking about? It's a format that rose to prominence just on the back of some deals with porn sites, and which in the last years has steadily been dumped by everyone _including_ those porn sites. Other than a couple of minor older sites, have you even _seen_ a .rm file on the net lately? Almost everything these days is WMV, DivX and QT.
.rm files. Not when it's a fringe heading steadily towards extinction.
So, really, what popularity? I'll call a format or player popular when it's the format you run into on every other site. When youtube, google, and even a neighbour's vacation videos are
Or, oh, you mean the "2 million downloads a day" boast? Note that they don't say 2 million _RealPlayer_ downloads a day. They most likely include everything else downloaded from their servers, including music from their subscription service, short video clips that noone wants and everyone makes their player download automatically at startup, patches, updates, programs like Firefox, etc. I'd be thoroughly surprised if even 1/10 of those were actually RealPlayer downloads.
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