Mercurial > mplayer.hg
diff DOCS/users_against_developers.html @ 6974:916f62dd0910
Another big batch of cosmetics *only*.
2 character indentation everywhere, 2 blank lines before new sections.
The docs should now have a nice and uniform look.
| author | diego |
|---|---|
| date | Sun, 11 Aug 2002 18:27:38 +0000 |
| parents | 3274d0725fde |
| children | 3bc485948088 |
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--- a/DOCS/users_against_developers.html Sun Aug 11 18:07:42 2002 +0000 +++ b/DOCS/users_against_developers.html Sun Aug 11 18:27:38 2002 +0000 @@ -13,65 +13,66 @@ <P><B>In medias res</B></P> <P>There are two major topics which always cause huge dispute and flame on the -<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A> -mailing list. Number one is the topic of the</P> + <A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A> + mailing list. Number one is the topic of the</P> -<P><A NAME=gcc><B>GCC 2.96 series</B></A></P> + +<P><A NAME="gcc"><B>GCC 2.96 series</B></A></P> <P><B>The background:</B> The GCC <B>2.95</B> series is an official GNU release -and version 2.95.3 of GCC is the most bug-free in that series. -We have never noticed compilation problems that we could trace to gcc-2.95.3. -Starting with Red Hat Linux 7.0, <B>Red Hat</B> included a heavily -patched CVS version of GCC in their distribution and named it <B>2.96</B>. Red -Hat included this version in the distribution because GCC 3.0 was not finished at -the time, and they needed a compiler that worked well on all of their supported -platforms, including IA64 and s390. The Linux distributor <B>Mandrake</B> -also followed Red Hat's example and started shipping GCC 2.96 with their -Linux-Mandrake 8.0 series. </P> + and version 2.95.3 of GCC is the most bug-free in that series. + We have never noticed compilation problems that we could trace to gcc-2.95.3. + Starting with Red Hat Linux 7.0, <B>Red Hat</B> included a heavily + patched CVS version of GCC in their distribution and named it <B>2.96</B>. Red + Hat included this version in the distribution because GCC 3.0 was not finished + at the time, and they needed a compiler that worked well on all of their + supported platforms, including IA64 and s390. The Linux distributor + <B>Mandrake</B> also followed Red Hat's example and started shipping GCC 2.96 + with their Linux-Mandrake 8.0 series.</P> -<P><B>The statements:</B> The GCC team disclaimed any link with GCC 2.96 and issued an -<A HREF="http://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-2.96.html">official response</A> to GCC 2.96. -Many developers around the world began having problems with GCC 2.96, and -started recommending other compilers. Examples are -<A HREF="http://www.apachelabs.org/apr-mbox/200106.mbox/%3c20010623194228.C25512@ebuilt.com%3e">Apache</A>, -<A HREF="http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-3.23.html">MySQL</A>, -<A HREF="http://avifile.sourceforge.net/news-old1.htm">avifile</A> and -<A HREF="http://www.winehq.com/news/?view=92#RH 7.1 gcc fixes compiler bug">Wine</A>. -Other interesting links are -<A HREF="http://www.realtimelinux.org/archives/rtai/20017/0144.html">Real time Linux</A>, -<A HREF="http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rgooch/linux/docs/kernel-newsflash.html"> -Linux kernel news flash about kernel 2.4.17</A> and -<A HREF="http://www.voy.com/3516/572.html">Voy Forum</A>. -<B>MPlayer</B> also suffered from intermittent problems that were all solved by -switching to a different version of GCC. Several projects started implementing -workarounds for some of the 2.96 issues, but we refused to fix other people's -bugs, especially since some workarounds may imply a performance penalty.</P> +<P><B>The statements:</B> The GCC team disclaimed any link with GCC 2.96 and + issued an <A HREF="http://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-2.96.html">official response</A> to + GCC 2.96. Many developers around the world began having problems with GCC 2.96, + and started recommending other compilers. Examples are + <A HREF="http://www.apachelabs.org/apr-mbox/200106.mbox/%3c20010623194228.C25512@ebuilt.com%3e">Apache</A>, + <A HREF="http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-3.23.html">MySQL</A>, + <A HREF="http://avifile.sourceforge.net/news-old1.htm">avifile</A> and + <A HREF="http://www.winehq.com/news/?view=92#RH 7.1 gcc fixes compiler bug">Wine</A>. + Other interesting links are + <A HREF="http://www.realtimelinux.org/archives/rtai/20017/0144.html">Real time Linux</A>, + <A HREF="http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rgooch/linux/docs/kernel-newsflash.html"> + Linux kernel news flash about kernel 2.4.17</A> and + <A HREF="http://www.voy.com/3516/572.html">Voy Forum</A>. + <B>MPlayer</B> also suffered from intermittent problems that were all solved by + switching to a different version of GCC. Several projects started implementing + workarounds for some of the 2.96 issues, but we refused to fix other people's + bugs, especially since some workarounds may imply a performance penalty.</P> <P>You can read about the other side of the story -<A HREF="http://www.bero.org/gcc296.html">here</A>. -GCC 2.96 does not allow | (pipe) characters in assembler comments -because it supports Intel as well as AT&T Syntax and the | character is a -symbol in the Intel variant. The problem is that it <B>silently</B> ignores the -whole assembler block. This is supposedly fixed now, GCC prints a warning instead -of skipping the block.</P> + <A HREF="http://www.bero.org/gcc296.html">here</A>. + GCC 2.96 does not allow | (pipe) characters in assembler comments + because it supports Intel as well as AT&T Syntax and the | character is a + symbol in the Intel variant. The problem is that it <B>silently</B> ignores the + whole assembler block. This is supposedly fixed now, GCC prints a warning instead + of skipping the block.</P> <P><B>The present:</B> Red Hat says that GCC 2.96-85 and above is fixed. The -situation has indeed improved, yet we still see problem reports on our -mailing lists that disappear with a different compiler. In any case it does not -matter any longer. Hopefully a maturing GCC 3.x will solve the issue for good. -If you want to compile with 2.96 give the <CODE>--disable-gcc-checking</CODE> -flag to configure. Remember that you are on your own and <B>do not report any -bugs</B>. If you do, you will only get banned from our mailing list because -we have had more than enough flame wars over GCC 2.96. Please let the matter rest.</P> + situation has indeed improved, yet we still see problem reports on our + mailing lists that disappear with a different compiler. In any case it does not + matter any longer. Hopefully a maturing GCC 3.x will solve the issue for good. + If you want to compile with 2.96 give the <CODE>--disable-gcc-checking</CODE> + flag to configure. Remember that you are on your own and <B>do not report any + bugs</B>. If you do, you will only get banned from our mailing list because + we have had more than enough flame wars over GCC 2.96. Please let the matter rest.</P> <P>If you have problems with GCC 2.96, you can get 2.96-85 packages from the -Red Hat <A HREF="ftp://updates.redhat.com">ftp server</A>, or just go for the -3.0.4 packages offered for version 7.2 and later. You can also get gcc-3.1 -packages (unofficial, but working fine) -<A HREF="ftp://people.redhat.com/jakub/gcc3/3.1-1/">here</A> and you can -install them along the gcc-2.96 you already have. MPlayer will detect it and -use 3.1 instead of 2.96. If you do not want to or cannot use the binary -packages, here is how you can compile GCC 3.1 from source:</P> + Red Hat <A HREF="ftp://updates.redhat.com">ftp server</A>, or just go for the + 3.0.4 packages offered for version 7.2 and later. You can also get gcc-3.1 + packages (unofficial, but working fine) + <A HREF="ftp://people.redhat.com/jakub/gcc3/3.1-1/">here</A> and you can + install them along the gcc-2.96 you already have. MPlayer will detect it and + use 3.1 instead of 2.96. If you do not want to or cannot use the binary + packages, here is how you can compile GCC 3.1 from source:</P> <UL> <LI>Go to the <A HREF="http://gcc.gnu.org/mirrors.html">GCC mirrors page</A> @@ -95,92 +96,94 @@ <CODE>make install</CODE></LI> </UL> -<P><A NAME=binary><B>Binary distribution of MPlayer</B></A></P> + +<P><A NAME="binary"><B>Binary distribution of MPlayer</B></A></P> <P>This was the second big problem but has been solved as of version -0.90-pre1. <B>MPlayer</B> previously contained source from the OpenDivX project, -which disallows binary redistribution. This code has been removed and you are now -welcome to create binary packages as you see fit.</P> + 0.90-pre1. <B>MPlayer</B> previously contained source from the OpenDivX project, + which disallows binary redistribution. This code has been removed and you are now + welcome to create binary packages as you see fit.</P> <P>Another impediment to binary redistribution was compiletime optimizations -for CPU architecture. <B>MPlayer</B> now supports runtime CPU detection -(specify the <CODE>--enable-runtime-cpudetection</CODE> option when -compiling). It is disabled by default because it implies a small speed -sacrifice, it is now possible to create binaries that run on different -members of the Intel CPU family.</P> + for CPU architecture. <B>MPlayer</B> now supports runtime CPU detection + (specify the <CODE>--enable-runtime-cpudetection</CODE> option when + compiling). It is disabled by default because it implies a small speed + sacrifice, it is now possible to create binaries that run on different + members of the Intel CPU family.</P> -<P><A NAME=nvidia><B>nVidia</B></A></P> + +<P><A NAME="nvidia"><B>nVidia</B></A></P> <P>We dislike the fact that <A HREF="http://www.nvidia.com">nVidia</A> - only provides binary drivers (for use with XFree86), which are often buggy. -We have had many reports on -<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A> -about problems related to these closed-source drivers -and their poor quality, instability and poor user and expert support. -Here is an example from the -<A HREF="http://www.nvnews.net/forum/showthread.php?s=fda5725bc2151e29453b2da3bd5d2930&threadid=14306"> -nVidia Linux Forum</A>. -Many of these problems/issues keep appearing repeatedly. -We have been contacted by nVidia lately, and they said these bugs -do not exist, instability is caused by bad AGP chips, and they received -no reports of driver bugs (like the purple line). So if you have a -problem with your nVidia card, you are advised to update the nVidia driver -and/or buy a new motherboard or ask nVidia to supply open-source drivers. -In any case, if you are using the nVidia binary drivers and facing driver related problems, -please be aware that you will receive very little help from our side because we have -little power to help in this matter.</P> + only provides binary drivers (for use with XFree86), which are often buggy. + We have had many reports on + <A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A> + about problems related to these closed-source drivers + and their poor quality, instability and poor user and expert support. + Here is an example from the + <A HREF="http://www.nvnews.net/forum/showthread.php?s=fda5725bc2151e29453b2da3bd5d2930&threadid=14306"> + nVidia Linux Forum</A>. + Many of these problems/issues keep appearing repeatedly. + We have been contacted by nVidia lately, and they said these bugs + do not exist, instability is caused by bad AGP chips, and they received + no reports of driver bugs (like the purple line). So if you have a + problem with your nVidia card, you are advised to update the nVidia driver + and/or buy a new motherboard or ask nVidia to supply open-source drivers. + In any case, if you are using the nVidia binary drivers and facing driver related problems, + please be aware that you will receive very little help from our side because we have + little power to help in this matter.</P> + <P><A NAME="barr"><B>Joe Barr</B></A></P> <P>Joe Barr became infamous by writing a less than favorable -<A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2001/1214.mplayer.html"> -<B>MPlayer</B> review</A>. He found <B>MPlayer</B> hard to install, but then -again he is not very fond of -<A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-2000-06/lw-06-exam.html">reading documentation</A>. -He also concluded that the developers were unfriendly and the documentation -incomplete and insulting. You be the judge. -He went on to mention <B>MPlayer</B> negatively in his -<A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2001/1227.predictions.html">10 Linux predictions for 2002</A> -In a followup -<A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/0125.xine.html">review of xine</A> -he continued stirring up controversy. Ironically at the end of that article he -quotes his exchange with Günter Bartsch, the original author of xine, that -perfectly summarizes the whole situation:</P> + <A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2001/1214.mplayer.html"> + <B>MPlayer</B> review</A>. He found <B>MPlayer</B> hard to install, but then + again he is not very fond of + <A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-2000-06/lw-06-exam.html">reading documentation</A>. + He also concluded that the developers were unfriendly and the documentation + incomplete and insulting. You be the judge. + He went on to mention <B>MPlayer</B> negatively in his + <A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2001/1227.predictions.html">10 Linux predictions for 2002</A> + In a followup + <A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/0125.xine.html">review of xine</A> + he continued stirring up controversy. Ironically at the end of that article he + quotes his exchange with Günter Bartsch, the original author of xine, that + perfectly summarizes the whole situation:</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> -However, he also went on to say that he was "surprised" by my column about -Mplayer and thought it was unfair, reminding me that it is a free software -project. "If you don't like it," Bartsch said, "you're free not to use it." + However, he also went on to say that he was "surprised" by my column about + Mplayer and thought it was unfair, reminding me that it is a free software + project. "If you don't like it," Bartsch said, "you're free not to use it." </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>He does not reply to our mails. His editor does not reply to our mails. -Here are some quotes from different people about Joe Barr, so you can form your -own opinion:</P> + Here are some quotes from different people about Joe Barr, so you can form your + own opinion:</P> <P>Marc Rassbach has <A HREF="http://daily.daemonnews.org/view_story.php3?story_id=2102">something to say</A> -about the man -</P> + about the man.</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> -You may all remember the LinuxWorld 2000, when he claimed that Linus T said -that 'FreeBSD is just a handful of programmers'. Linus said NOTHING of the -sort. When Joe was called on this, his reaction was to call BSD supporters -assholes and jerks. + You may all remember the LinuxWorld 2000, when he claimed that Linus T said + that 'FreeBSD is just a handful of programmers'. Linus said NOTHING of the + sort. When Joe was called on this, his reaction was to call BSD supporters + assholes and jerks. </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>A <A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/2001-December/009118.html">quote</A> -from Robert Munro on the -<A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A> -mailing list:</P> + from Robert Munro on the + <A HREF="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</A> + mailing list:</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> -<P>He's interesting, but not good at avoiding, um... controversy. Joe Barr -used to be one of the regulars on Will Zachmann's Canopus forum on Compuserve, -years ago. He was an OS/2 advocate then (I was an OS/2 fan too).<P> + <P>He's interesting, but not good at avoiding, um... controversy. Joe Barr + used to be one of the regulars on Will Zachmann's Canopus forum on Compuserve, + years ago. He was an OS/2 advocate then (I was an OS/2 fan too).<P> -<P>He used to go over-the-top, flaming people, and I suspect he had some hard -times, then. He's mellowed some, judging by his columns recently. Moderately -subtle humor was not his mode in those earlier days, not at all.</P> + <P>He used to go over-the-top, flaming people, and I suspect he had some hard + times, then. He's mellowed some, judging by his columns recently. Moderately + subtle humor was not his mode in those earlier days, not at all.</P> </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>