[mythtv-users] [old] Re: XvMC and libmpeg2 to be dropped in 0.25

[Devin Heitmueller]

On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 2:27 PM, Brian J. Murrell <brian at interlinx.bc.ca> wrote:
> On Wed, 2011-02-09 at 09:42 -0800, Robert McNamara wrote:
>> This presumes that the functionality and syntax of the information exchanged
>> with the backend, and between the frontend and the backend doesn't change on
>> a very regular basis.
>
> Not really.  Indeed, the more frequently it does change the more
> frequently compatibility has to be dealt with, but that's not at all
> insurmountable.

Uh, have you ever actually designed/implemented a wire protocol from
scratch?  I've done it four or five times, and I can tell you that
backward compatibility is one of the biggest challenges.  It is indeed
not insurmountable given enough effort, but it can be a *huge* PITA
for a complex protocol, and if nobody is being paid to do it then it's
a thankless task that very people would want to do voluntarily.

It's easy for an outsider unfamiliar with the architecture of the
software to say "Oh, that shouldn't be too hard."  Feel free to
volunteer.

Devin

-- 
Devin J. Heitmueller - Kernel Labs
http://www.kernellabs.com