[mythtv] MythTV life-cycle support intentions

[Michael T. Dean]

On 08/23/2012 04:14 PM, Kevin Kuphal wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 10:56 AM, Anthony Zawacki wrote:
>> On 08/22/2012 09:01 PM, Michael T. Dean wrote:
>>> On 08/22/2012 07:36 PM, Brian J. Murrell wrote:
>>>> Ultimately, this goes back to my point that if downgrading were painless
>>>> (including inserting between-upgrade-and-downgrade recordings back into
>>>> the downgraded database), you'd get a lot more people willing to test
>>>> pre-GA.
>>>>
>>> It's not. It wouldn't be painless for us to make it painless (and
>>> forever be stuck trying to keep all our future changes such that we
>>> could support upgrades and downgrades)***. So the best we can offer,
>>> currently, is "stick those recordings in Video Library until you watch
>>> them."
>>>
>>>
>> Perhaps my background colors my thinking (I am a developer,) but rolling
>> back is not a normal course of action.  The idea that recordings that were
>> made by the "new" system are not listed as recorded by the "old" system
>> makes perfect sense.  You rolled back the transaction, now the system
>> doesn't know anything about the recordings.  I don't think it's unnatural,
>> and I don't think it would make sense to try to support it. it should be a
>> rare occasion, and you should be knowing what you are getting into before
>> you upgrade / rollback, and you should be prepared for the results.
>>
> As a developer you can also appreciate that it is quite trivial to code
> something that would import a given recording into the system.  Such
> scripts have existed for MythTV for a while but they either lacked good
> metadata options or became outdated as the schema progressed resulting in
> broken imports.  If someone were to maintain such a script, perhaps even
> using the internal metadata support for MythTV, it would solve this issue
> entirely allowing for "orphan" recordings to be reimported back into the
> system with some type of metadata.  An adventuresome soul could even get it
> to read the database prior to rollback, extract all the necessary
> information, and then properly re-import it into the older version using
> the correct schema.  It's just simply a matter that the current crop of
> developers haven't had the time/inclination/desire/energy to code up such a
> system and maintain it.  Maybe you'd be interested since this is an itch
> you need scratching...

Where the main problem is the maintaining.  The problem with the scripts 
we had before is they got out of date with changes to the schema and 
actually caused problems.  (And, since we have a place to put video that 
wasn't recorded by (this instance of) MythTV, ...)

That said, the schema will be changing significantly in the future (I 
hope the near future) such that the issue will be OBE.  IMHO, the best 
bet is to a) be sure you're ready to put in the time/effort to make the 
upgrade work and b) if you're unable to make it work after a reasonable 
effort, be willing to temporarily shove the stuff in Video Library (and 
then allow it to re-record if you really want it in Watch Recordings, or 
watch and delete it or ...).  Then, once things change, you'll be able 
to get things into Watch Recordings view even though you'll be sticking 
them in Video Library directories.

Mike