[LAU] state of multimedia

[Patrick Shirkey]

James Cameron wrote:
> On Thu, May 07, 2009 at 06:36:01AM +0700, Patrick Shirkey wrote:
>   
>> The annoying thing is I already have ffmpeg package installed and I  
>> assumed that if I have that package then I should also get a version of  
>> blender compiled to use it.
>>     
>
> Yes, if you compile blender.
>
>   

Obviously. But if one installs ffmpeg from one of the reccomended yum 
repostitories and the version of blender that is installed is not the 
one that is compiled against ffmpeg then it just makes things confusing 
and annoying for an average user.


>> What's the point of making a non ffmpeg  
>> blender that has priority over a compatible version if the ffmpeg  
>> packages are already installed?
>>     
>
> Priority?  What priority?  You're in control.  If you want to install
> Blender from source, it would use your ffmpeg package.  If you choose to
> install Blender from a restricted distribution, you get those
> restrictions.
>
>   

But I chose to install blender from a system that is setup to use the 
non restricted packages and instead I get a restricted version. Why is a 
restricted version given priority over a non restricted version?

>> Jack is included in fedora core IIUC so I have no idea why anyone would  
>> compile mplayer without jack support.
>>     
>
> Why not ask them?  I imagine you'd find either some bug, or they wanted
> to promote some other audio interface, or they've made it an optional
> package.
>
>   

There are no major bugs with jack and mplayer has had working jack 
support for over 5 years now. If it's a political decision then that's a 
pretty big call to make. I didn't find any optional packages with yum 
search.

>> To me it just highlights the state of multimedia support in Fedora and  
>> possibly other OS's where there is still a level of disconnect that IMO  
>> has been overcome in the LAD community and is shown by the people who  
>> package the audio apps.
>>     
>
> On the other hand, it simplifies the packaging, and gets the packages
> out there in some form that basically works.  It might not work to the
> level of excellence that we demand.  A dumbed down distribution.
>
>   

Fedora is hardly a dumbed down distribution. IMO it's most likely a 
problem with the people who package for multimedia on Fedora but it 
could be symptomatic of a more institutionalised problem where Linux 
Multimedia is not at the same level that we can see with Linux Audio 
across the board.

I'm wondering if this could be partly due to the long term affect of the 
annual LAC on the LAD community?



Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd.