[vdr] A basic statement about VDR (was: AW: Re: MPlayer <-> VDR, first try)

[Klaus Schmidinger <Klaus.Schmidinger@cadsoft.de>]

Marc Stauff wrote:
> 
> Is there a Linux-Tool you can use to do one-click divx-encoding ? It would
> be great if you could choose a vdr-recoring (or a DVD !!!) with the
> remote-control, and then a low-priority thread should be started that
> automaticaly converts it to DivX. And all DivX-Movies should be playable
> from a seperate menu, too. That would be really great !!
> 
> I do not think that such stuff is a great problem.
> Vdr should habe a common Api, with wich you can link enhancements (like
> Mplayer, and all the others) to it, and that does not change with every
> version. Then you would not have to start from the beginning with every new
> version, and soon Vdr would be able to do really everything from mp3 to dvd
> for everybody, not only the people who have the time to hack it in it again
> and again !

Well, I guess it's about time I issue a basic statement about this.
When I started developing VDR, I did this because I wanted to have a
digital sat receiver and video recorder, which at the time was not available
in stores the way I wanted it to be. When the Siemens DVB card came out and
convergence published their Linux DVB driver, I happily started coding VDR.
Soon I realized that this might be useful for others, too. So I went public
and apparently many people shared the idea of having such a device.

Meanwhile there have been several contributions which I have "officially"
adopted (because they directly fit into the original idea of having a
digital sat receiver and video recorder - and yes, also because I myself
found them (mostly) useful). I am well aware that there are other patches
out there which are still awaiting to make their way into the "official"
source, but those are things that I myself don't use or need, and therefore
I am currently not spending time adopting them (it's not just "applying the
patch" - there's a lot more to it! Sometimes patches just "wildly" hack
things into the original source in order to implement a specific function,
which could be done a lot more "elegant", or which just don't fit into the
"big picture"). Ok, call me "selfish" if you like, but you should keep in
mind that for me VDR is a "hobby project", in which I can only invest the
little free time I have. And since the intended functionality of sat receiving
and recording is already working pretty good, I tend to do other things on weekends
now ;-)

Currently I'm really considering very carefully whether to release a new
version of VDR, because the next thing that happens is usually a flood of
messages asking "Why hasn't this patch been adopted?" or "When will that
patch finally make its way in?" or (the worst of all) "Why haven't _YOU_
implemented this important function yet, which _I_ need so much?".

And then there are the never ending requests that "VDR should integrate
this other program" or "VDR should be integrated into that other program".
VDR _is_ VDR!! If you want another program, take another one! Or modify
VDR in any way you like - it's open source and FREE!

I hope I haven't offended anybody with this message - if so, please forgive me,
that was not what I intended. I just wanted to point out what VDR is to me,
and why it takes longer for some patches to be "officially" adopted.
A patch that implements a nice feature that makes great sense for the basic
use as a digital sat receiver and video recorder (or DVD player, for that
matter) and touches only very few places in the source code just has a lot
better chance of being adopted than a patch that is widely spread over the entire
source and implements some special feature that goes beyond the original idea
(like playing MP3 - sometimes I get the feeling that people think *EVERY*
piece of software must be able to play MP3s, heck, even every appliance, like
toasters or fridges, should be able to do that). And, last but not least, I always
try to "keep it simple". Fancy stuff like "skins" or the like have priorities
next to zero.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I will never adopt patches like the MP3
patch! It's just that their priority to _me_ is rather low, and therefore I take
the liberty to decide to spend _my_ time on other things. Of course I will, as
I further develop VDR, always keep in mind to make it more and more flexible
and easier to implement new features. But that's a gradual process that takes time.
Until then I can't help it, but those who want to have a special feature that is
currently only available as a patch will have to apply that patch on every new
release of VDR (since they won't come out as often as during the past few months
now, this shouldn't be too much work ;-).

I truly hope that this message doesn't start an endless thread...

Klaus
-- 
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Klaus Schmidinger                       Phone: +49-8635-6989-10
CadSoft Computer GmbH                   Fax:   +49-8635-6989-40
Hofmark 2                               Email:   kls@cadsoft.de
D-84568 Pleiskirchen, Germany           URL:     www.cadsoft.de
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