RealNetworks launched the open source, collaborative Helix Player project at LinuxWorld today, and announced that membership in the Helix community has now exceeded 20,000, including both open source and commercial developers. The goal of the Helix Player project is to develop a comprehensive open source media player for Linux, Unix, and Solaris, with broad industry support among companies and… organizations distributing and developing Linux software, the company said.

According to RealNetworks, the open-source Helix Player, with the addition of the RealAudio and RealVideo binaries, will enable Linux, Unix, and Solaris users for the first time to enjoy a similar level of media playback and SMIL 2.0 support that millions of consumers do today using the free RealOne Player on Windows and Mac.

“With nearly a decade of experience and as the world leader in building award winning cross-platform media players for desktop, handheld and mobile devices alike, RealNetworks is uniquely positioned to back the community building of an open source media player,” said Nagesh Pabbisetty, vice president, Helix Products and Solutions, RealNetworks, Inc. “For years, RealNetworks has offered Servers, Gateways, and other enterprise commercial software on Linux. We are thrilled to now build, in collaboration with members of the Helix open source community, the best media player for Linux, as yet more evidence of our longstanding commitment to Linux.”

RealNetworks said it encourages and welcomes those who are passionate about open source to join members of the Helix community who are already working on the Helix Player project. The open community approach will ensure that those who will use the Helix Player have an opportunity to help shape it, the company said.

The Helix Player is being built on top of the cross-platform open source media engine Helix DNA Client. Initial versions of the player will be built for Linux and Solaris following freedesktop.org standards and using the GTK+ toolkit. Further, the modular architecture of the Helix Player will ensure the code is easily portable to any operating system or embedded device, the company said.

 
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