Experiments on GNU/Linux

"The WebM project is dedicated to developing a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone."

VLC 1.1.0 now has support for WebM/VP8, read more about the new advancements in VLC ChangeLog

VLC-RC

Getting VLC or x264 source code via Git
$ git clone git://git.videolan.org/vlc.git

Get VLC API DOCS:refman.ps

Repositories from WebM you could pull:
libvpx: The VP8 Codec SDK
pull git://review.webmproject.org/libvpx.git
push ssh://review.webmproject.org:29418/libvpx.git

webmdshow: DirectShow Filters Source
pull git://review.webmproject.org/webmdshow.git
push ssh://review.webmproject.org:29418/webmdshow.git