[MPlayer-users] Quicktime playback on MPlayer/Linux -- Somevideos play in ultra-slow-motion?

[The Wanderer]

Phil Rhodes wrote:

> Nope. The initial environment was plain-vanilla Debian Sarge (back
> when
>> that was stable)
> 
> See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. "I used this, when it
> was OK to use this, which you... sort of have to just know.

No, you don't. My point was that this is a plain, unmodified, untweaked
generic system, with no special steps taken. It just worked in that
environment, and it should just work in most environments exactly the
same way. In the vast majority of cases, no special knowledge should be
required.

>> source tree (initially taken from a release tarball, then later on 
>> downloaded via Subversion)
> 
> Which you have to get.

Yes, but then you have to "get" the software for any other install too,
don't you?

> And unpack.

True... again, how is this unusual?

> And copy to the right location, or more to the point, perform the
> right get-and-unpack-and-copy dance of destruction for this
> particular tarball or SVN checkout on this day on this particular 
> configuration of this particular linux distro with the particular 
> modifications you or the software engineer or the packager has made,
> for each of which any variation involves hacking shell scripts all
> day and night, sacrificing a chicken and standing on one leg in a
> rainstorm.

Nonsense. Unpacking the tarball in any location should be fine - or, at
worst, simply taking care to extract it in any empty directory (and even
that step isn't required for MPlayer). No special steps should be
necessary.

> This is so typical of linux people - you make out that it's simple
> simply by ignoring the complicated bits. Compare Windows or Mac
> experience: download installer. Run installer. Done.

You can do that (or even less) successfully on Linux, if you want a
packaged version. It's just that packaged versions aren't going to get
much support, and most of what support they will get is likely to come
from the people who put together the package. But then again, packaged
versions don't (in my experience, and apparently that of other people
whom you appear to have been ignoring) get much support from their
(developers, vendors, et cetera) on other OSes either.

>> This was the case a decade or so ago. It isn't the case now.
> 
> God help those who tried to do this a decade ago, if the current
> situation is considered -good-.

What I'm trying to say is that the current situation is not nearly as
bad as you make it out to be.

I notice that you have snipped out and ignored all of the previous 
places where I either said something to that effect or asked that you 
back up your claims with something other than simple assertions. This is 
starting to remind me slightly (and probably inaccurately) of the 
behaviour of rec.arts.anime.misc's recent "the sky is falling/the 
industry is doomed" troll...

-- 
       The Wanderer

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.