[Ffmpeg-devel] Using ffmpeg libs in an OSS project is a nightmare

Dave Airlie airlied
Sun Aug 7 01:37:48 CEST 2005


> > I am not ignoring anything. Installing RPM packages is the way 90% or maybe
> > rather 99% of users install and run software. Especially libraries.
> > And WHY should your little project as the only one be so different from the
> > others? Why are you right and the whole open source software world in
> > general so wrong?
> 
> You are ignoring advice, repeatedly even.  Why can't you just link
> statically to FFmpeg and be done with it?  The rest of the world does
> it, are they all wrong and you are right insisting on dynamic linking?

The rest of the world doesn't statically link anything ever, dynamic
linking works for every single library based project in existence
today, and I'm asking the question what make ffmpeg different? please
answer I've seen nothing from the ffmpeg developers apart from sheer
this is my project and we don't care about anyone but us ffmpeg
developers which to be honest means the project needs to grow up a
bit...

> 
> You have to differentiate between end-users and "users" that are
> developers themselves, people like you that reuse code or include
> libraries.
> 
> You forget that with free sw projects the developers are users
> themselves.  If you drop all the users, you still have the devs using
> their own stuff.  If you drop all the devs, you have no software to use.

You do, you still have the last release of the software, developers
believing they are more important than users is one of those little
mistakes open source developers are always making...

> But maybe you are not tackling a real issue in a constructive manner.
> If you wish to have this problem solved, provide manpower or funding.

how much funding would be required to do what Kenneth asks? 50
dollars, it involves renaming snapshots once every 3 months with a
fixed version number to provide a baseline for other projects... I
really can't believe the arrogance and condescending answers he is
getting back from the developers...
 
> > I am an open source developer who maintains TWO open source projects
> > (Motion and Open2300) and helps with documentation on the PWC driver. I
> > spend 2-3 hours a day on open source development. And often 8 hours a day
> > in the weekends and vacations. And it is not my daytime job. I have a full
> > time job on top of that. I am not paid either for my work. And I do not
> > even accept donations. I think I am doing my share for the open source
> > community and do not need to be called a troll.
> 
> These numbers are not going to impress anyone around here.  There are
> members of this mailing list that spend (or have spent) considerably
> more time on free sw than you.

Again condescending answers, you missed the point completely.. he
spends his time contributing where he feels he can help on open source
projects, he is trying to start a reasonable debate and the only
answer I've seen so far is "we don't want to" a small bit of technical
reasoning mightn't go astray...

> I'm not trying to be dismissive of your arguments, you are making some
> valid points, but it's nothing that we were not aware of.  Your attitude
> is not really helping I'm afraid, though.  Please try to make this a
> constructive dialog, ranting will not help.

Okay state what needs to be done to enable ffmpeg to do a release
every 3-4 months and why currently no ffmpeg developer has the
time/resources to do so and perhaps someone will step up and do it. A
timed release isn't going to happen unless there is some buy-in from
the core developers (i.e. you don't have to do the work, you just have
to not checkin half-finished changes two days before a release date is
coming), so far I'm seeing nothing from the ffmpeg developers that
shows they are even willing to do this....

again for the final time I'll ask what makes ffmpeg so different? why
does this project think it can't do what every other open source
library has been doing for ever... if you can give me a technical
reason I'll accept it, but I seriously doubt you can.....

Dave.





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