RealNetworks server code now open source

RealNetworks has fulfilled its July 2002 promise to make the majority of its product line available through open source with today’s release of the code that powers its Helix Universal Server. Available via the Helix Community, the code support MP3 and RealAudio/Video streaming “out of the box,” with support for Real’s proprietary formats available in binary object code only.

The commercial version of the server, in addition to the above mentioned formats, also supports Apple QuickTime, MPEG-4 and Microsoft Windows Media as well as support for server-to-server quality of service. MPEG-4 support was not added at this time because of licensing issues with the “standard” format. Developers are free to build in support for the other formats on their own.

Like previous code releases, the server source is available in two licenses: The RealNetworks’ Public Source License allows free use of the code as long as the resulting product is also open source. The Community Source License is available for $500 to those that do not want the end product to be released into the open source community.

The server code is available for most major operating systems including IBM AIX, HP-UX, Tru64, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Windows NT and 2000.