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

["Marc Stauff" <news@stauff.org>]

Your statement makes perfect sense to me, thats exaktly what i think. Of
course you, as a private person, cant implement every feature somebody wants
in a non-provit project.

Thats why i thought of making a common api in your software. So you could
leave that fancy  and (to you more or less useless) features to someone
else.

Right now, everyone who wants to add something to your software just hacks
it somewhere in your source. So, new version -> nothing works anymore, and
different patches dont (always) work together.

But if you once make a "official" hook in your software, so one can add
something in a predifined way, everyone could write different "plug-ins" to
your software, and you would not have to care about poeple whining why their
feuture does not get implementet. They would just have to install the
plugin-module, and perhaps add a line in a config-file, which library to
load. And for each library, a special entry in the on-screen menu could
appear or something like this.

Then, there would be a mplayer plugin, a mp3 plugin, a divx-encode plugin, a
switch-on-your-toaster plugin or whatever. Ok, a "different-skins" plugin
would perhaps not work, because it would have to touch core components, but
you cant have everything ;-)

In the end this would save your time !
If yoy think this is nonsense, bad luck :-|

> -----Ursprungliche Nachricht-----
> Von: kls@cadsoft.de [mailto:kls@cadsoft.de]Im Auftrag von Klaus
> Schmidinger
> Gesendet: Sonntag, 14. Oktober 2001 12:14
> An: vdr@linuxtv.org
> Betreff: [vdr] A basic statement about VDR (was: AW: Re: MPlayer <->
> VDR, first try)
>
>
> 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
> --
> _______________________________________________________________
>
> 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
> _______________________________________________________________
>
>