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

[Diego Biurrun]

On Sat, Aug 06, 2005 at 01:15:37PM +0200, Kenneth Lavrsen wrote:
> 
> >well you are ignoring the suggestions of both the ffmpeg & mplayer 
> >developers
> >and then complain that libav*+mplayer breaks what do you expect?
> 
> 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?

> ffmpeg is just one little package that Motion and other projects rely on. 

And Motion is just one little insignificant program that no one around
here has heard about before.  I don't mean to be rude, but put yourself
in the other side's shoes.

> developers are more important than the users??

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.

> >the real problem are the API changes and the fact noone cares about the 
> >shared lib support (we just have an army of trolls complaining)
> 
> You have an army of trolls complaining. Maybe you should start listening 
> and ope your ind to the fact that maybe they are all right. I am not a 
> troll.

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.

> 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.

> [snip some constructive arguments]

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.

Diego