[mythtv-users] Notice to Schedules Direct users

[Stuart Morgan]

On Thursday 16 Oct 2014 14:24:16 Ozzy Lash wrote:
> Robert K announced alpha testing of the JSON grabber on the developer's
> mailing list almost a year ago, and has posted occasional updates on status
> since then. When I read the notice on the mythtv front page that said that
> the JSON grabber had been developed without consulting the myth development
> team, (and the general tone of that statement) I thought it must be a joke.

Yes Robert did announce what that he was working on on a new JSON feed. When 
he very first mentioned the plan to create the JSON service back in June 2013 
an American developer stated our preference for an XMLTV solution. He stated 
that he wasn't interested in working on an XMLTV grabber himself. So from the 
very outset Robert knew what we would accept. As I understand it from others, 
he repeatedly stated that his grabber was a proof of concept. He never asked 
whether it was OK whether it worked the way that it did, although to his 
credit he did recognise that direct database access was a bad idea and asked 
whether we'd extend the Services API to allow insertion of Guide Data.

Now maybe we should have spent more timing talking over his plans with him, 
but when our opinions were dismissed in those early days we as individuals 
decided we had better things to do. Read on ...

> I think it is great that Robert E developed a replacement on the Schedules
> direct side of things that made a simple change possible.  I also think
> that the work that Robert K and schedules direct are doing to provide even
> better listing data is great, and I have been surprised over the last year
> that no myth developers have jumped on the bandwagon.  I realize that the
> developers have little free time, and have their own itches to scratch, so
> I can understand the lack of interest, but it still seems surprising.

It's not at all surprising when you appreciate that only one of the active 
MythTV developers lives in North America. We're a small team and are unlikely 
to give priority to something that most of us will never use. Especially when 
an XMLTV grabber would be a drop-in solution which requires no MythTV code 
changes and actually makes our lives easier by eliminating a large chunk of 
unmaintained single-purpose code.

More surprising is that of the thousands of North American MythTV users, not 
one decided to take the initiative and work on an acceptable long term 
solution. That is after all what open source is about, getting involved, 
contributing to the community and not treating a tiny number of well meaning, 
unpaid developers as door mats.

-- 
Stuart Morgan
MythTV