Red Hat and Novell have announced plans to include RealPlayer 10 in their operating systems. The fun isn't stopping there; they're also planning on integrating Real's DRM technology Helix. While this comes as good news for RealNetwork's, I can't say the same for Linux users.
Linux software makers Red Hat and Novell said Monday that they will begin offering RealNetworks' open-source media player with their operating system products.
The two companies will start bundling RealNetworks' existing Helix Player on Monday and plan to offer upgrades to the upcoming RealPlayer 10 for Linux application when that product is introduced later this year. They also said they would work with RealNetworks to help integrate Helix with their own software. Media player applications allow people to open and run music and video files on their computers.
The adoption of the open-source media software by Red Hat and Novell comes against the backdrop of the European Union's ruling against Microsoft, under which the software giant was ordered to separate its competing application, Windows Media Player, from its flagship Windows operating system. RealNetworks, which is suing Microsoft, played a pivotal role in the EU case, testifying that Microsoft's policy of packaging its media player with Windows constituted an unfair market advantage.
News source: C|Net News.com
