Practical Way for Porting MP to Linux - Page 2

samuel337 · 2006-11-01, 23:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo212

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smirnuff

In its present state this is possible but when the engine is changed to use WPF as its backend you'll be presented with another massive effort. Hopefully it will be possible for WPF/E to solve the problem.

WPF?

WPF = Windows Presentation Foundation. Essentially its similar to xgl (I think...) on linux and Core Animation on Macs.

So instead of communicating directly with DirectX as we do now, we communicate with WPF, which offers a much larger range of tools and classes than we can ever hope to have implemented on our own, giving us the ability to make nicer UIs. WPF then communicates with DirectX.

WPF/E = Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere. It is essentially a stripped-down version of WPF designed to work on PDAs, inside all web-browsers as a plugin etc. Think of it as similar to Adobe Flash.

Sam

leo212 · 2006-11-02, 17:23

I really don't understand why would MP Developers like to work with that WPF, the current GUI is looking good and its stable. isn't it better to spend that amount of work and time by imporving MP and add new features?
anyway, if the GUI engine will change, I guess I'll have to follow and convert it to the open-source equivalent for WPF (if there is any)

LordMessi · 2006-11-02, 17:36

At first - maybe focus on getting a Client for the MP TV-Server done - that might help linux users watch tv from their MP TV Server.

leo212 · 2006-11-02, 19:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordMessi

At first - maybe focus on getting a Client for the MP TV-Server done - that might help linux users watch tv from their MP TV Server.

As I understood MPClient will be ready in the next release of MP.
until then, there is plenty of work to do here.

LordMessi · 2006-11-02, 20:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo212

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordMessi

At first - maybe focus on getting a Client for the MP TV-Server done - that might help linux users watch tv from their MP TV Server.

As I understood MPClient will be ready in the next release of MP.
until then, there is plenty of work to do here.

Yes, the MPClient will be....but I meant for your programming!! Do a linux client for the MP TV Server instead of converting the whole thing - which I think is abit waste of time.

leo212 · 2006-11-02, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordMessi

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo212

As I understood MPClient will be ready in the next release of MP.
until then, there is plenty of work to do here.

Yes, the MPClient will be....but I meant for your programming!! Do a linux client for the MP TV Server instead of converting the whole thing - which I think is abit waste of time.

the idea is to convert only the client. it will much difficult and a waste of time to create a new client, the MP Client has great GUI and we'll want to see it running on linux...

kerpow · 2006-11-03, 02:46

Hi, I know you are less interested in a debate and more interested in help... but

.....

Am I missing something here, doesn't Linux lend itself best to the server and not the client? From my point of view finding a way to replace the server by either making an bridge to an existing Linux PVR app (like MythTV) or creating one from VLC + MySQL + pearl would be a better way forward.

Sooooooo much work has gone into the MP client, its quite complex, and I don't want to see plug-ins (games, skype, etc etc etc) that only work on Windows or Linux. On the other hand the server only handles TV, and seems on the face of it a more reasonable chunk to bite.

I guess most people in the Linux world would be a little surprised to see Linux used for a client to a Windows server

Sorry did I miss the point, I am quite tired today.

Thoughts?

arkay · 2006-11-03, 04:05

In terms of porting and WPF etc is it not counter intuitive to attempt to emulate a Windows API to gain functionality in Linux?

To my way of thinking, if you are writing a client, the only thing you need to get right is the interfaces to the server.

It makes sense to use what is portable between the two (a.k.a the skins themselves etc), but how you choose to render them in linux and indeed what the client is written in should be totally independant of the windows version?

Mono is a smart choice if it truly tanslates to .net but I think there is too much emphasis these days on the language used as apposed to the code written.

For instance mono may be good, it may be a perfect .net clone but I would assume that the API's and classes supplied by MS are NOT available as equivalents in linux.

My point is "lets not try to bring windows to linux", rather lets make linux work for us.

Cheers,

Arkay.

James · 2006-11-03, 06:08

I think you might find this interview interesting:

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/20..._and_mono.html

I think XAML is the future and Linux will need to support it, just as with Mono it supports .Net. After all WPF and XAML are in .Net v3.

leo212 · 2006-11-03, 06:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerpow

Am I missing something here, doesn't Linux lend itself best to the server and not the client? From my point of view finding a way to replace the server by either making an bridge to an existing Linux PVR app (like MythTV) or creating one from VLC + MySQL + pearl would be a better way forward.

Sooooooo much work has gone into the MP client, its quite complex, and I don't want to see plug-ins (games, skype, etc etc etc) that only work on Windows or Linux. On the other hand the server only handles TV, and seems on the face of it a more reasonable chunk to bite.

Thoughts?

People love the GUI of MediaPortal and the mythtv server works great for linux, so if the Mp-Client will be running on linux and will be able to connect to mythtv-server, that will be enough for most of the users. after all, a lot of work has been spended on mythtv-server (drivers, etc...) it is a waste to do that again.
but lets leave it for now, the WPF isue seems to be a big threat on this project.

2006-11-02, 17:23	#12 (permalink)
leo212 Portal Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 52 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	WPF I really don't understand why would MP Developers like to work with that WPF, the current GUI is looking good and its stable. isn't it better to spend that amount of work and time by imporving MP and add new features? anyway, if the GUI engine will change, I guess I'll have to follow and convert it to the open-source equivalent for WPF (if there is any)

2006-11-02, 17:36	#13 (permalink)
LordMessi Retired Team Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ørsø, Dronninglund, Denmark Age: 28 Posts: 440 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	At first - maybe focus on getting a Client for the MP TV-Server done - that might help linux users watch tv from their MP TV Server. __________________ Sincerly / Med venlig hilsen, Thomas Starup aka LordMessi MediaPortal Design Team Member Author/Developer of MPLE IRC : EFNet @ #mediaportal Nick: LordMessi Skype : LordMessi

2006-11-03, 06:08	#19 (permalink)
James Portal Developer Join Date: May 2005 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,286 Thanks: 4 Thanked 55 Times in 34 Posts	I think you might find this interview interesting: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/20..._and_mono.html I think XAML is the future and Linux will need to support it, just as with Mono it supports .Net. After all WPF and XAML are in .Net v3. Last edited by James; 2006-11-03 at 06:11.

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2006-11-03, 02:46	#17 (permalink)
kerpow Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 34 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	Hi, I know you are less interested in a debate and more interested in help... but ..... Am I missing something here, doesn't Linux lend itself best to the server and not the client? From my point of view finding a way to replace the server by either making an bridge to an existing Linux PVR app (like MythTV) or creating one from VLC + MySQL + pearl would be a better way forward. Sooooooo much work has gone into the MP client, its quite complex, and I don't want to see plug-ins (games, skype, etc etc etc) that only work on Windows or Linux. On the other hand the server only handles TV, and seems on the face of it a more reasonable chunk to bite. I guess most people in the Linux world would be a little surprised to see Linux used for a client to a Windows server Sorry did I miss the point, I am quite tired today. Thoughts?

2006-11-03, 04:05	#18 (permalink)
arkay Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 19 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	In terms of porting and WPF etc is it not counter intuitive to attempt to emulate a Windows API to gain functionality in Linux? To my way of thinking, if you are writing a client, the only thing you need to get right is the interfaces to the server. It makes sense to use what is portable between the two (a.k.a the skins themselves etc), but how you choose to render them in linux and indeed what the client is written in should be totally independant of the windows version? Mono is a smart choice if it truly tanslates to .net but I think there is too much emphasis these days on the language used as apposed to the code written. For instance mono may be good, it may be a perfect .net clone but I would assume that the API's and classes supplied by MS are NOT available as equivalents in linux. My point is "lets not try to bring windows to linux", rather lets make linux work for us. Cheers, Arkay.