[linux-audio-dev] Read this after your first cup of coffee

[Paul Winkler]

On Tue, Aug 17, 2004 at 07:17:54AM -0400, John Check wrote:
(snip)
> I'm going to whomp up a database driven reporting system that extends the 
> concept to include protocol and library support and has some 
> Wiki like features. One will be able to search for specific types of programs 
> with specific criteria like:
> Sequencers with LADSPA, JACK, DSSI, MESS, OSC, PHAT (Yes PHAT is that cool)
> Hits will come back in table form with checkmarks in the appropriate columns, 
> ranked by how much of a match and a "freshness" date.
> The app name will link to the project site and there will be additional links 
> to the primary documentation and the Wiki, if one exists.
(snip)
> The only text input will be for URLs. This should minimize grammatical and 
> language issues as well as make internationalization easy.
(snip)
> I would appreciate any ideas on what should be included, but I'm not going to 
> get into extended debates about what should be in. 
> I'm the ultimate arbiter, at least until it debuts. The basic manual reporting 
> and search should be live in 7-10 days.

Interesting idea. It has significant intersection with my long-promised,
long-postponed replacement for DLP's soundapps site, which has been 
discussed many times before (most recently this past january / february) -
see here for summary and links:
http://www.slinkp.com/slinkp/linux/soundapp_site_roughs

On the one hand, I would like to point out that my proposal linked 
above has had considerable community input already, so you might want to
at least think about my requirements list.  

On the other hand, I don't want to hold you back, and though the topic 
has been much on my mind recently, obviously I don't really have a burning
need to be the one to get it done - if I did, I'd have done it by now.
I have to face the fact that my track record adds up to 3 years of 
mailing list discussions and pure vaporware.
So, I would much rather offer a bit of help on a project with some
momentum than keep waiting forever for a free weekend or two to hack
up my own without help.

AFAICT you're proposing a particular subset of the information
I wanted to gather, plus a really nice search result matrix idea.

I see significant value to the restricted scope of the information you
want to gather:
- simpler UI for users 
- less administrative intervention
- less site code to implement and maintain
- easier i18n (I hadn't really thought about that till you mentioned it.)

But then, all the additional information in my proposal could be really 
useful.  I didn't entirely make up that requirements list, a lot of it
was stuff that people on LAD and LAU suggested and argued over. 
Much of it would be optional of course. And if some of that information 
didn't go on your site, where would it go?  If there were two sites, 
wouldn't that just add to the existing "too much information" 
problem you described? 

I don't see it so much as a problem of too much information -
more a lack of coherence and organization to that information. 
A good domain-specific search engine and a consistent presentation of 
individual apps would be an enormous help IMO.

I would really hope to build some community consensus about this.
As a user, what I really want is one and only one kick-ass site for 
looking up linux audio apps.

(Out of my own curiosity as a potential collaborator: 
What's your preferred web app platform?  And how much time during 
that 7-10 days do you think will actually be spent working on this project?
And do you have a host in mind?)
 
> What About The Business Angle Then, Donald Chump?
(snip)

Good luck with it. I'd like to see some successful businesses
putting more money in the hands of the LAD heavy lifters.

btw, are you aware of http://linuxaudio.org ?

-- 

Paul Winkler
http://www.slinkp.com