Even as RealNetworks is developing a partnership with Microsoft (spurred on as a result of an antitrust settlement between the two companies) it is moving forward on some decidedly non-Microsoft fronts.

The company expanded a distribution relationship with Google recently and said it would begin offering downloads of Mozilla Firefox, the browser that has steadily been draining market share from Internet Explorer. It will continue to offer the Google Toolbar with its RealPlayer software.

Today, the company announced at LinuxWorld that Novell has agreed to distribute the RealPlayer on its Linux desktop operating system. That means Linux desktop users can use a single player for Windows Media, MP3, Ogg and Real file formats.