[MPlayer-users] mga_vid install doc

[Brian J. Murrell]

On Sat, Dec 22, 2001 at 10:36:53PM +0200, Arpi wrote:
> [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read DOCS/bugreports.html]
> Hi,

Hi A'rpi,

> > it would be nice to have a "make install" to do it automatically.
> 
> it should also make food, go shopping, and of course, read documentation for
> you...

I have been following the discussions regarding the demeanor here with
regard to the developers versus those who keep asking (according to
the developers,) stupid questions.  There are many who feel that the
developers of Mplayer are, uhm, well, less than helpful.  I will not
comment on that as it will only serve to rehash the whole issue which
I would like to see die.

Indeed, I had not even planned to throw in my two cents on the
issue(s), but I must take issue with your comment above.

There are lots of complaints about the organization of the
documentation and the difficulty of installation etc., and the
developers have been heard asking for help with that here.

So somebody steps up and gives detailed instructions on how to get
something to work on his system and how to make the installation
easier for the "newbies" (which should help in quelling some of the
"stupid questions" here) and what is the response he gets?

A sarcastic "it should also make food, go shopping, and of course,
read documentation for you..." 

Granted, a patch to do what he suggested would have been nicer, but
perhaps he is not a programmer.  Is the mode of operation here really
that unless there is a patch, the developers are not interested in
hearing how Mplayer could be made easier for newbies?

Directly to your remark, no, the Mplayer installation should not make
food, and neither should it go shopping, and nope, it shouldn't read
documentation for the user either.  But yes, (IMHO) "make install"
should try as hard as it can to install all of the bits in their right
places.

Don't you think that maybe if "make install" did more to get as many
of the bits in the right places and do as much configuration as
possible that maybe there would be less "read the docs" type questions
here?

b.

-- 
Brian J. Murrell