[MPlayer-dev-eng] Native codec removal

[Roberto Togni]

On 2003.12.20 00:10, Roberto Togni wrote:
> Hi all!
> 
> Since mid November MPlayer is using 8BPS, MS rle, MS Video1, Qt RPZA  
> and QT SMC decoders from libavcodec.
> 
> Noone complained or reported any bug, even now that pre3 is out.
> 
> So, i'll remove our native decoders in a few days.
> 
> If you have any reason to keep them for more time, please let me  
> know.

Wow. I didn't expect any answer to this message.
Anyway, i'd like to clarify some points (mostly already reported by  
others):

- The codecs in lavc and MPlayer are the same, ported from the same  
codebase by the same people who wrote them (mainly Melanson and me)

- lavc structure was extended so that these codecs (that are quite  
different from mpeg* stuff) can be used by MPlayer with no loss of  
performance

- The move was made because the same code is used also by other  
projects, and having them in a single place will make bugfixing more  
efficient; moreover we just need to update vd_ffmpeg if something  
changes on MPlayer side, instead of updating lot of codecs. This will  
make the transition to G2 easier.

- They won't be ported to G2 anyway, we will use them fromlavc.

So can't keep MPlayer own copy forever, unless we want to mantain two  
copies of the same code.
But we have no time, resources or desite ro do it (basically it's a  
waste of time).

The most we can do is keep them while they need no maintenance, and  
then remove them; but i'll do it only if someone really need them for a  
good reason (ie. he's doing some experiments/tests/enhancements with  
the current code). If you onnly need them to play movies, you can use  
the lavc version with no problem.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Ciao,
 Roberto