Elias
19th September 2013, 09:30
I've been inactive for several years now on this forum, and recently, my hobby interest in codecs is resurfacing with all the new exciting development in the area (HEVC, VP9 etc.), and I've noticed not much has changed since I were in my most active codec period, back in 2005.
The major reason as I see it, is the Doom9 community (not necessarily associated with, or even members on Doom9) and its many software developers, haven't embraced Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Here's a link you guys should check out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software
Now, I'm well aware that many developers on Doom9 know what open source is. So I shouldn't have to link to the Wikipedia entry, but I'm doing so anyway because apparently, you guys haven't embraced it. Which begs the following question: why not?
One of the first things I noticed when I was going to try out some Ogg encoding in BeSweet/BeLight, is that BeSweet hasn't been updated in years. It's still at version 1.5 beta 31, which it has been since oh, I don't know, 2005 or something? I also downloaded GSpot (http://www.headbands.com/gspot/) v2.70a today, an absolutely great tool to check up codec information in an AVI file, but it too, hasn't been updated since 2007. No Ogg support either in GSpot, and that's a shame, a damn shame really.
Now contrast this with MPC: last Media Player Classic update by Gabest, was in March 2006. Already back in 2005, Gabest was becoming less active in MPC development because he had less and less time with it, and I helped out with writing the changelogs and so on (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=101835). Much as I expected, he ceased development on the project soon thereafter. Now, in contrast to BeSweet and GSpot, MPC was GNU GPL v2 licensed (arguably the best open source license), and so, not long afterwards, we had the even better, MPC-HC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Player_Classic#Media_Player_Classic_-_Home_Cinema
Had BeSweet and GSpot been open source, we would have something like BeSweet 5.0 and GSpot 10.0 or something (forks obviously, but still), with a lot more functionality and stability. One of the issues I noticed in BeSweet, is its inability to properly encode Ogg files (it hangs at the end, and sometimes, the encoded Ogg file has a few seconds shorter time length; not sure if this is because I'm on Windows 7 now as opposed to Windows XP a few years ago).
Anyway, there are great other codec tools that haven't been updated in years now, either. GordianKnot was absolutely awesome in most ways and arguably the best DVD-ripping tool there is in its heydays, and although MeGUI replaces it in most aspects, MeGUI is Windows-only, which is a disgrace. Part of the reason MeGUI is Win-only, has to do with the .NET crap it uses, so in spite of many of the tools used by MeGUI being open sourced components, it's still restricted to Windows.
Which brings me to another point: codec software developers should just ditch Windows altogether and focus on GNU/Linux (and Android, for that matter, once Android has matured into a desktop operating system, which should happen sooner or later anyway) and *BSD, entirely.
I realise Windows is mainstream and that is a major incentive as to why so many codec hobby developers focus on it, but seriously: the more exclusive open source applications and programs there are for Unix-like open source operating systems, the better for all of us and the sooner we can get rid of this Microsoft crap. MPC-HC developers should focus on porting MPC-HC to GNU/Linux, and the BeSweet author(s) should do the same.
Now I'm expecting that many members here will say something like, "BUT ELIAS YOU FUCKING MORON, THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO USE COPYRIGHT OR COPYLEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11one", but in all honesty, ask yourselves this: what's the point, in developing great software, gratis and free of charge, and releasing it to the public, and not going FOSS with it? That's half-assed. It's not like you're making any money on it anyway, and if you're worried about not receiving enough donations or whatever it is that motivates you if you don't have complete control over the source, I can tell you this much: I'm a hell of a lot more likely to donate some money to your project, if you do it open source, rather than proprietary freeware. As I see it, if I'm going to donate to a software project, it better be an open sourced project.
And what happens if the BeSweet/GSpot authors accidentally die in a car crash or something? Well, nothing. No more development on BeSweet/GSpot, because they didn't open source their code.
So I'm personally of the opinion that it's a moral obligation by software developers, to release their code under a free software license, for posterity and longevity of their project. And, if anything, for the superior and correct source code the open source methodology yields after long, active and heavy development by many contributors.
That said, I think it's great to see cross platform open source tools like Avidemux and HandBrake (which, although not quite as much functionality as VirtualDub, are superior in many ways to VirtualDub as they don't rely on DirectShow-based codec filters and crappy VfW/VCM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_for_Windows), and have native mp4/Ogg/Matroska output). This Microsoft developed AVI crap needs to be flushed down the toilet; I've been saying that for years, and it's good to see that codec enthusiasts have switched to Matroska and mp4 nowadays (I remember all the useless, reactionary pro-AVI advocates ten years ago, how futile and moot their arguments were).
Open source is the future and if your project isn't FOSS, it won't be used much, if at all, in ten years from now. So you might as well go open source.
The major reason as I see it, is the Doom9 community (not necessarily associated with, or even members on Doom9) and its many software developers, haven't embraced Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Here's a link you guys should check out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software
Now, I'm well aware that many developers on Doom9 know what open source is. So I shouldn't have to link to the Wikipedia entry, but I'm doing so anyway because apparently, you guys haven't embraced it. Which begs the following question: why not?
One of the first things I noticed when I was going to try out some Ogg encoding in BeSweet/BeLight, is that BeSweet hasn't been updated in years. It's still at version 1.5 beta 31, which it has been since oh, I don't know, 2005 or something? I also downloaded GSpot (http://www.headbands.com/gspot/) v2.70a today, an absolutely great tool to check up codec information in an AVI file, but it too, hasn't been updated since 2007. No Ogg support either in GSpot, and that's a shame, a damn shame really.
Now contrast this with MPC: last Media Player Classic update by Gabest, was in March 2006. Already back in 2005, Gabest was becoming less active in MPC development because he had less and less time with it, and I helped out with writing the changelogs and so on (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=101835). Much as I expected, he ceased development on the project soon thereafter. Now, in contrast to BeSweet and GSpot, MPC was GNU GPL v2 licensed (arguably the best open source license), and so, not long afterwards, we had the even better, MPC-HC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Player_Classic#Media_Player_Classic_-_Home_Cinema
Had BeSweet and GSpot been open source, we would have something like BeSweet 5.0 and GSpot 10.0 or something (forks obviously, but still), with a lot more functionality and stability. One of the issues I noticed in BeSweet, is its inability to properly encode Ogg files (it hangs at the end, and sometimes, the encoded Ogg file has a few seconds shorter time length; not sure if this is because I'm on Windows 7 now as opposed to Windows XP a few years ago).
Anyway, there are great other codec tools that haven't been updated in years now, either. GordianKnot was absolutely awesome in most ways and arguably the best DVD-ripping tool there is in its heydays, and although MeGUI replaces it in most aspects, MeGUI is Windows-only, which is a disgrace. Part of the reason MeGUI is Win-only, has to do with the .NET crap it uses, so in spite of many of the tools used by MeGUI being open sourced components, it's still restricted to Windows.
Which brings me to another point: codec software developers should just ditch Windows altogether and focus on GNU/Linux (and Android, for that matter, once Android has matured into a desktop operating system, which should happen sooner or later anyway) and *BSD, entirely.
I realise Windows is mainstream and that is a major incentive as to why so many codec hobby developers focus on it, but seriously: the more exclusive open source applications and programs there are for Unix-like open source operating systems, the better for all of us and the sooner we can get rid of this Microsoft crap. MPC-HC developers should focus on porting MPC-HC to GNU/Linux, and the BeSweet author(s) should do the same.
Now I'm expecting that many members here will say something like, "BUT ELIAS YOU FUCKING MORON, THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO USE COPYRIGHT OR COPYLEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11one", but in all honesty, ask yourselves this: what's the point, in developing great software, gratis and free of charge, and releasing it to the public, and not going FOSS with it? That's half-assed. It's not like you're making any money on it anyway, and if you're worried about not receiving enough donations or whatever it is that motivates you if you don't have complete control over the source, I can tell you this much: I'm a hell of a lot more likely to donate some money to your project, if you do it open source, rather than proprietary freeware. As I see it, if I'm going to donate to a software project, it better be an open sourced project.
And what happens if the BeSweet/GSpot authors accidentally die in a car crash or something? Well, nothing. No more development on BeSweet/GSpot, because they didn't open source their code.
So I'm personally of the opinion that it's a moral obligation by software developers, to release their code under a free software license, for posterity and longevity of their project. And, if anything, for the superior and correct source code the open source methodology yields after long, active and heavy development by many contributors.
That said, I think it's great to see cross platform open source tools like Avidemux and HandBrake (which, although not quite as much functionality as VirtualDub, are superior in many ways to VirtualDub as they don't rely on DirectShow-based codec filters and crappy VfW/VCM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_for_Windows), and have native mp4/Ogg/Matroska output). This Microsoft developed AVI crap needs to be flushed down the toilet; I've been saying that for years, and it's good to see that codec enthusiasts have switched to Matroska and mp4 nowadays (I remember all the useless, reactionary pro-AVI advocates ten years ago, how futile and moot their arguments were).
Open source is the future and if your project isn't FOSS, it won't be used much, if at all, in ten years from now. So you might as well go open source.