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diff --git a/DOCS/en/users_against_developers.html b/DOCS/en/users_against_developers.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..65bcfbf721 --- /dev/null +++ b/DOCS/en/users_against_developers.html @@ -0,0 +1,190 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> + +<HEAD> + <TITLE>Developer Cries - MPlayer - The Movie Player for Linux</TITLE> + <LINK REL="stylesheet" TYPE="text/css" HREF="default.css"> + <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<H1><A NAME="appendix_e">Appendix E - Developer Cries</A></H1> + +<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> + + +<H2><A NAME="gcc">E.1 GCC 2.96</A></H2> + +<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> + +<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.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%207.1%20gcc%20fixes%20compiler%20bug">Wine</A>. + Other interesting links are + <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>. + MPlayer 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://web.archive.org/web/20011024212120/http://www.bero.org/gcc296.html">at this site</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> + +<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 + <A HREF="ftp://people.redhat.com/jakub/gcc/3.2-10/">gcc-3.2-10 packages</A> + (unofficial, but working fine) and you can install them along the GCC 2.96 you + already have. MPlayer will detect it and use 3.2-10 instead of 2.96. If you do + not want to or cannot use the binary packages, here is how you can compile the + latest GCC from source:</P> + +<OL> + <LI>Go to the <A HREF="http://gcc.gnu.org/mirrors.html">GCC mirrors page</A> + page and download <CODE>gcc-core-XXX.tar.gz</CODE> where <CODE>XXX</CODE> is + the version number. This includes the complete C compiler and is sufficient + for MPlayer. If you also want C++, Java or some of the other advanced GCC + features <CODE>gcc-XXX.tar.gz</CODE> may better suit your needs.</LI> + <LI>Extract the archive with<BR> + <CODE>tar -xvzf gcc-core-XXX.tar.gz</CODE></LI> + <LI>GCC is not built inside the source directory itself like most programs, + but needs a build directory outside the source directory. Thus you need to + create this directory via<BR> + <CODE>mkdir gcc-build</CODE></LI> + <LI>Then you can proceed to configure GCC in the build directory, but you need + the configure from the source directory:<BR> + <CODE>cd gcc-build<BR> + ../gcc-XXX/configure</CODE></LI> + <LI>Compile GCC by issuing this command in the build directory:<BR> + <CODE>make bootstrap</CODE></LI> + <LI>Now you can install GCC (as root) by typing<BR> + <CODE>make install</CODE></LI> +</OL> + + +<H2><A NAME="binary">E.2 Binary distribution</A></H2> + +<P>MPlayer previously contained source from the OpenDivX project, which + disallows binary redistribution. This code has been removed in version + 0.90-pre1 and the remaining file <CODE>divx_vbr.c</CODE> that is derived + from OpenDivX sources has been put under the GPL by its authors as of version + 0.90pre9. You are now welcome to create binary packages as you see fit.</P> + +<P>Another impediment to binary redistribution were compiletime optimizations + for CPU architecture. MPlayer now supports runtime CPU detection (specify + the <CODE>--enable-runtime-cpudetection</CODE> option when configuring). It + is disabled by default because it implies a small speed sacrifice, but it is + now possible to create binaries that run on different members of the Intel + CPU family.</P> + + +<H2><A NAME="nvidia">E.3 nVidia</A></H2> + +<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. + Some examples can be found on the + <A HREF="http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=6d83dc289805c37caef49b77857a0b7e&daysprune=&forumid=27"> + 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> + + +<H2><A NAME="barr">E.4 Joe Barr</A></H2> + +<P>Joe Barr became infamous by writing a less than favorable + <A HREF="http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2001/1214.mplayer.html"> + MPlayer review</A>. He found MPlayer 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 MPlayer 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." +</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> + +<P>Marc Rassbach has <A HREF="http://daily.daemonnews.org/view_story.php3?story_id=2102">something to say</A> + 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. +</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> + +<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 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> + +</BODY> +</HTML> |