Windows Media on Linux and Unix?
By Jason Meserve, NetworkWorld.com, 04/14/04
Was that a pig flying over the reservoir across the street from Network World HQ? Maybe so. Starbak says it will demo a new media player client that will allow Linux and Solaris users to watch Windows Media-encoded video on their desktops.
"We can bring Windows Media access to desktop and embedded applications that didn't have access to Windows Media before," says Starbak's CTO Tom Pinckney.
But don't get too excited yet. Starbak will be selling the player client under volume licenses to big corporate customers that are ostensibly already customers of the company's content creating and distribution tools. The player won't be available until sometime this summer.
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I don't mean to dampen anyones parade, yet there are tools and applications [open source as well as shareware] which allow windows media files to be viewed on most *nix [as well as *BSD] systems. For example, there is XMMS! XMMS provides wma & wmv support via the "avi-xmms" plugin. So here my question is, "What desktop and embedded applications might Tom P. be referring to?" I'm asking as with the open source code availible their concept has been long brought to fruition by code-hackers|tinkerers and their like.... what is the significance of this program? How will it revolutionize as most of what it claims it will do is already being done? Why should I as one who utilizes and prefers *nix operatings systems [rather than view the world through someone elses windows, I go with the grassroots community movement] care about the developement of this product?
Posted by: Nat Afame Rican on April 21, 2004 03:17 PM
Yup, MPlayer does it. Check out this link for a complete list of supported codecs: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design6/info.html A lot of Linux apps even offer wrappers for the Windows formatted codecs.
They really have not done anything special. Since they are going to sell the product they have to license the technology from MS, and if they do that, then MS should be providing them will all the necessary info to make the process a breeze.
What I really want to know, if what kind of output support is this product going to have? SDL, X11, OpenGL, BlikenLights, aalib? MPlayer has all these and lots more.
Any coporation that is successfully using Linux, is intelligent enough to research there options first. They will surely not opt to pay for what is free, after all 'free' is one of the main reasons why companies are chosing Linux.
Posted by: Nick Fotopoulos on April 21, 2004 05:40 PM
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