"Swiss Army knife for QuickTime" Perian turning off the lights

By +Frank B.
in Apple (macOS)

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Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

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"Swiss Army knife for QuickTime" Perian turning off the lights

The source code will be made available on Github or Google Code.

Perian, the "Swiss Army knife for QuickTime," has decided to cease development after six years on the market. The Perian team posted a notice to its users this week, saying that the software is "as complete as it will ever be under our stewardship." Though we can't disagree with the team's reason for wanting to move on, Perian's retirement is a bittersweet reminder of the earlier days of Apple, when watching videos of different codecs was a challenge on the Mac.

Perian made its debut in 2006 as freeware that allowed users to view a plethora of codecs that QuickTime didn't support natively, including DivX, XviD, 3viX, FLV, with plans for both Matroska and Ogg. When Ars interviewed Perian lead developer Augie Fackler in 2006, he told us that Perian wasn't so much meant to replace VLC?another popular video-watching option?but rather to make it possible to watch videos natively in places like Finder previews and Front Row.

The software saw active support for several years after its launch, but the team felt there was only so far Perian could go. In its notice to users, the team said there would be one final update that will contain fixes since the last release, but that the last update may or may not work under OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion). "Starting 90 days after the final Perian release, we will no longer provide support. We'll wrap up our loose ends, pack up our bags, and move on to new and exciting projects," the Perian team wrote.

Watching videos of various codecs can still be a challenge on the Mac today, but the problem isn't nearly as prominent as it once was. As pointed out by Dan Moren at Macworld, the explosion of iOS device popularity has helped to make H.264 and MPEG4 common distribution formats, rendering software like Perian less necessary for the everyday Mac user. We wouldn't be surprised if many Mac users these days aren't familiar with Perian.

If you're a longtime Perian lover, there's still some hope. Although the original team is moving on, the software may live on. The source code for Perian will be posted to either Google Code or Github after its final release, and developers interested in carrying the torch will be able to catch up by joining #perian on irc.freenode.net. The team says if Perian does eventually stop working, they recommend trying VLC (an old Ars staff favorite) or MPlayer OS X.

Source: Ars Technica

Link: Note on the Perian website

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Grand Master

Miuku.

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It's a damn shame - it's a wonderful application. Hopefully others will carry the torch when it goes open sauce.

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Grand Master

+John. Subscriber¹

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One of my go-to apps on a new install. Shame. Hopefully it'll be picked up from the OSS community.

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Grand Master

cooky560 Veteran

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I imagine someone will take it over, it's such a large project within the OSX community

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Grand Master

CPressland

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While it's a shame to see it go - I've not used Perian in a while as VLC provides better all round support and performance at current. That said, I'd take VLC 1x over VLC 2x anyday!

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Grand Master

.Neo

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I hope it will at least be compatible with Mountain Lion?. Ugh, it?s one of the apps that I install as soon as I open a new box.

Same here. :(

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Unrealistic

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I didn't know that Steve Jobs wrote code

You also must have never gone to the perian forums.

Just one quote from the coder/admin:

Clearly no one cares to actually provide useful information. Yet another reason why it is long past time to shut these forums down.
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Miuku.

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Just one quote from the coder/admin:

And what's so awful about that?

Have you ever developed software for thousands upon thousands of people who;

- Have no concept on how to provide proper feedback with a proper description of the issue -> you have to ask them over and over again for the information -> wasting your time

- Bitch, moan and whine when something they get for free doesn't work

- In general give you zero respect

It doesn't take long to jade a person after having to deal with that daily. Most likely the Perian developer were just fed up with people in general.

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Unrealistic

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And what's so awful about that?

Have you ever developed software for thousands upon thousands of people who;

- Have no concept on how to provide proper feedback with a proper description of the issue -> you have to ask them over and over again for the information -> wasting your time

- Bitch, moan and whine when something they get for free doesn't work

- In general give you zero respect

It doesn't take long to jade a person after having to deal with that daily. Most likely the Perian developer were just fed up with people in general.

The quote was something I tried to find quickly. I wasn't going to spend some time looking at all of the threads to find the real ones which ****ed me off originally. I haven't coded a full blown application, but I administrator a few thousand users and deal with this daily as well. You're right that it can jade you, but at the point you re-evaluate what you're doing in the first place.

Which goes back to my original comment; I loved Perian but I found the developer to be an ******* and am torn at the decision. This decision will impact myself and my users if Perian does not work in Mountain Lion.

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Lunfai

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I love Perian, it works on Mountain Lion DP 3.2 right now, so let's hope it'll keep working.

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