[mythtv-users] MythTV Frontend for Android released on Market

Craig Treleaven ctreleaven at cogeco.ca
Fri Feb 24 01:53:59 UTC 2012


At 9:17 AM +0800 2/24/12, James Linder wrote:
>On 24/02/2012, at 6:59 AM, mythtv-users-request at mythtv.org wrote:
>
>>>> Make this OpenSource, and I could imagine a lot of other people would
>>>> be happy to work on this project!
>>>
>>> Experience indicates otherwise. ?While the MythTV user base estimated in
>>> the tens of thousands, the number of users who participate on the
>>> mailing list, wiki, or submit tickets to trac are in the low single
>>> digit percent.
>>
>> I would have been happy to contribute over the past many years if not
>> for the complexity of the code (threaded QT / C++).  Yes, I realize
>> that QT and C++ leverage is how the core developers have managed to
>> develop the amazing application that we have today - so it is
>> something of a catch-22.   I don't have data to back it up, but it
>> would not surprise me at all if there were more people like me than
>> number of people that have contributed thus far.
>>
>>> Users who submit patches to trac are significantly lower
>>> still, although admittedly, the often slow turn around time on feature
>>> patches provides a disincentive towards doing so.
>>
>> Agreed.  From personal experience, it even affects motivation on
>> submitting bug reports - which in some ways is worse for the project
>> than the lack of developers.
>
>Saying this another way:
>
>I open a ticket saying something is wrong
>
>The ticket is closed saying you idiot, you are wasting my precious time with your stupid utterings (and to be fair not everybody behaves like this - thanks to those who don't)
>Now me: I've found something wrong, I braved the trac, feedback et al gauntlet because I think it may be of aid to everyone ...
>so I go away chastened never to return

Well, it didn't work, did it!  You're still here!!  (Just joking.)

In my experience, the developers can be a bit crusty; most often when someone ignores the feedback they've been given.  _I_ can get a bit crusty at times (and probably for less reason) so I'm certainly in no position to throw stones.

MythTV is an ASTONISHING piece of software.  Superior recording rules compared to everything else out there, commercial or otherwise.  Support for TV standards around the world.  Myriad entertainment features, etc, etc.

Pick something close to home for me--runs on Mac OS X.  The only other cross-platform product I know of is SageTV and I believe the Mac client has been abandoned.  Yet I'm running backend and frontend under OS X on a 5 year old Mini.  It is far _more_ stable than the Mac-only solution I used to use (EyeTV).  Are there glitches?  Yes.  I've found the developers ready to put _their_ time into solving _my_ problems if I put time into isolating the circumstances that lead to the problem and make it easier for them to find and fix it.

It seems to me that a lot of the big open source projects have a 'deep-pockets' sponsor funding the work.  Maybe it would be a good thing if Myth found such a sponsor.  Until then, if the community wants the project to be something more, then the community should get off its duff and start helping to make it happen.

Craig


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