Llama Group has released the source code of the Winamp multimedia player. The code, written in C++, relies on dependencies such as Qt, Libvpx, Libmpg123, Openssl, and DirectX 9 SDK. The program is built exclusively for the Windows platform and requires Visual Studio 2019 compiler and Intel IPP version 6.1.1.1.035. While the desktop version code is open-source, versions for MacOS, Android, and iOS remain closed.
However, despite intentions to transition the project to open development, the published code is subject to the Proprietary License WCL (Winamp Collaborative License). This license mandates that developers must submit changes, improvements, and corrections to the project’s official repository. Making changes for personal use without contributing to the main repository is allowed, but creating forks and distributing modified versions of Winamp are prohibited, limiting developers’ ability to alter the program code.
The primary Winamp repository is hosted on GitHub, but the restrictions imposed by the WCL license pose challenges, as the typical development process on the platform, involving forks and pull requests, technically violates the license restrictions.
Winamp, created in 1997 by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev, remains popular with approximately 83 million users. Known for its flexibility and skin customization options, Winamp has inspired the development of several Linux clones like XMMS, XMMS2, Beep Media Player, Audacious, and QMP.
Despite financial struggles leading to the dismissal of the main team of developers working on the classical version of Winamp for Windows last year, Llama Group shifted focus to streaming services and mobile applications.
During the source code publication, some errors were noted, including the inclusion of the ShoutCast server code, which no longer belongs to Llama Group and was sold to another company. Additionally, the repository contained proprietary code belonging to others and an expired certificate for digital signature issuance.