Proliferation of too many different apps...

[jewser]

Just my 2 cents. So take it or leave it...

I am not getting paid to do this. I do this because it is fun and 
interesting to me. I have been off and on for years a codec expert 
for various companies etc... Although I had little to no experience 
with MPEG2 internals before starting all of this.

While I can see the point of a centralized location. And I am 
actually all for this. (I had no idea there were 3 or 4 places where 
one could look for information on what is going on with extractiong 
and spliting. I guess I just lucked into the DealDatabase forum...)

Trying to put it altogether into one project is not something I am 
personally interested in. Right now this is fun and I have time so I 
work on it. But add the trouble of someone else, potentially self 
appointed, trying to tell me what to do or what to work on next or 
whatever and it becomes work. And as soon as it becomes work I am out 
of here. This is a hobby for me, nothing more.

Now I know I great deal about TyStreams and what is going on inside 
the Tivo. I have through some serious reading, a lot of effort and 
tons of trial and error figured out a great a deal. I got some basic 
knowledge from the original vsplit code, and just figured it out from 
there. I can only assume others have done the same thing. But even at 
that my efforts are on processing not on extraction. I would be all 
to happy to leave the rest of it up to someone else.

The problem is that I can either finish or spend my time trying to 
bring other up to speed. I would rather finish and let those that are 
interested go through my code as needed.

The proliferation of apps is not a concern to me. I like talking 
about languages. The old everyone should use... argument. I have 
produced code that will compile just about anywhere. It is all 
straight C. Most others have done the same. Each has a purpose or 
point to it. Lots are simple enhancements of basic old programs. Each 
with strengths and weeknesses. TyC and tyConvert do the same things. 
Infact share an almost identical code base. ExtractStream in all it 
incarnations is a very similar beast.

One of the most original reworking I saw was GaryW's TivoApp. He took 
the source from many of those other programs and with some serious 
skill plugged it altogether. I find it a little too unstable for my 
tastes but it does far more than anything else I have seen from other 
authors. All in all a very nice piece of work.

My own efforts are tailor made to what I want. If it works for others 
fine and dandy you are welcome to it. If not, try someone elses 
program(s). Or wait for the source and go to town making your own app.

I have tried the route of passing things around. I have sent Gary a 
half a dozen PM's and emails in the last 2 months offering my VSplit 
work as something he could put in his own program. Never got a single 
response. I figure he is just busy. But that leads me right back to 
my first point. He is busy now, I most likely will be when he has 
time. I would rather work at my own pace.

Anyway, I have rambled enough. Bottom line I will contribute when and 
as I can and the rest I am just not interested in...

--jdiner



--- In ExtractStream@y..., "skorous" <skorous@y...> wrote:
> --- In ExtractStream@y..., Michael Loftis <mloftis@w...> wrote:
> > I think we, as a community, really need to focus our efforts
> > into a single project. Right now I know of no less than 5 or 6
> > different apps out there. What we really need to do is make a
> > focal point for this whole effort.
> > 
> > I'd like to opena discussion to that effect right now. I really
> > htink that doing this would benefit the entire community and allow
> > us all to have some really high quality apps.
> 
> Well, a couple of things. Remember that this is all my opinion and 
> admitted, I automatically resist when people tell me "what we 
really 
> need".
> 
> Perhaps it would be better but perhaps not. All the code is being 
> distributed (except jdiner but he's already said he will after he 
> gets it closer to perfect and I respect that) so should Gary want 
to 
> steal some code from Merch's ZSS or Jdiner from Playitsam it's 
> perfectly acceptable. And many times it's better to completely re-
> invent the wheel rather than trying to patch things in over and 
over 
> again. Again using JDiner as an example, would he be as far forward 
> as he appears to be if he were forced to work within the framework 
of 
> Merch's ZSS or vice versa? And by adding a big layer of bureacracy 
at 
> the top you're going to have problems with philosophical 
differences. 
> Some people would rather have the exractor program dynamically link 
> in to Extractstream or sendstream or mfs_export. Some people don't 
> want to integrate the stream sending unit but some do, etc... It's 
> got to fragment to move as fast and in as many directions as it 
does.
> 
> Yeah, I completely agree that it's a waste of effort with so much 
> duplication going on but I would put forth that a single repository 
> for technical information rather than the current splintering 
between 
> Yahoo, ptvupgrade, dealdatabase, et all might have better effects. 
> And later, after it's settled down a bit perhaps we can open a 
> project to integrate several different pieces together into a 
single 
> end-all application.
> 
> Just my opinion.
> 
> Skorous