[FFmpeg-devel] IRC disrupts (was: avcodec/rl2: set dimensions)

Nicolas George george at nsup.org
Thu Jul 25 13:27:19 EEST 2019


Lynne (12019-07-23):
> IRC.

Each time I ask where something horrible that causes a flamewar between
developers had been said, I get the same answer: IRC.

I am starting to believe that the problem is IRC.

Has IRC ever been useful for the development of FFmpeg?

I do not know if it has, but I am pretty sure that when the discussion
starts to become unhelpful, IRC makes it ten time worse. The need for
short and fast answers, the lack of threading, the mixed discussions,
the synchronicity: all that make it hard to express things with
subtlety, and makes the bad bits stand out.

For what it is worth, I have observed the same thing on Twitter, for the
same reasons.

Therefore, I would like to give that advice to everybody who hang on
IRC: Whenever you see something hurtful, do not take it personally, say
"STOP" and move the discussion to the mailing list.

And when on the mailing-list, remember: it is not IRC. You are not
required to reply in less than a minute and less than two lines. Take
your time, express your ideas and disagreements with accuracy and
details. It will eventually save time, for you and for everybody.


As for the current issue, I think it would be better if objections, when
they are not about a precise technical issue ("this patch breaks
decoding of file X"), were constructive.

In other words, tell us not only why you dislike these patches, but what
you would do about the issues they fix instead.

Otherwise, it seems like you are despising other people's efforts.

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George
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