[linux-dvb] [ANNOUNCE] DVB API improvements End-user point of view

[Markus Rechberger]

On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 10:40 PM, Michael Krufky <mkrufky at linuxtv.org> wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 4:18 PM, Jörg Knitter <joerg.knitter at gmx.de> wrote:
>> VDR User wrote:
>>> Another option would be to look at both proposals, take the best ideas
>>> for each, and marry them into a new hybrid proposal so-to-speak.  By
>>> that I don't mean something which must be built completely from the
>>> ground up..  Most of the work has already been done.  I think that is
>>> a workable solution that can be found somewhere in the middle.
>>>
>> Thinking about all the posts within the last days, I did not propose
>> something as this as I don´t believe that certain persons are still
>> willing to cooperate or change their point of view. To be more precise:
>> I think it would be a wonder if Steven Toth and Manu Abraham worked
>> together. ;)
>>
>> With kind regards
>
> For the record, Manu did a great job with Multiproto.  Steve worked
> with the multiproto API and added driver support for his devices.
> Steve depended on Multiproto in order for his devices to work.  Steve
> asked Manu when he would merge into the master branch, and waited
> patiently for months.  Manu wouldn't even merge Steve's drivers into
> Manu's own multiproto tree.  After repeatedly asking him to merge with
> no sign of progress, Steve was left in a tough spot and had to come up
> with his own solution.
>
> There is a saying that goes often for Linux development... "release
> early, release often" ..  I first heard this saying from Johannes.  If
> you dont go by this way of thinking, ie:  hold on to code for two and
> a half years without allowing a merge, there is no guarantee that
> somebody else may come up with a better solution.
>
> There was no sign that Multiproto would _ever_ get merged.  All of us
> have waited for two and a half years for this.  The FIRST pull request
> from Manu only appeared after Steve posted his own API proposal.  Had
> Manu requested merge but one day before that, it would have been
> merged and that would have been the end of it.
>
> As it turns out, Steve's API is more flexible, and allows us to
> support more features than Multiproto allows.  If Manu would have
> allowed Multiproto to have been merged into the master branch, Steve
> would never have designed this newer API.  Due to the superior design,
> that was the chosen extension.  This is where we are left today.
>
> I hope that clears things up.
>

Julian put together a history (just because Michael keeps writing the same):
http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/9/19/67

Markus