Media Portal 2 - rumours (1 Viewer)

[infinite.loop]

I don't understand why an open source project like Media Portal keeps things like this (MP II) a secret. Is the MP core a closed project and only the plugins / skins open to the community to contribute to?

Don't take this the wrong way as I know that you do this in your spare time (and what an amaizing job you do) but I do not know why so much about this project is so secret. Wouldn't it be better to tell people where this project is heading so more people get interested in joining the development team?

It was great to see your effort in getting community response in the re-design of the myTV part (https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/re_design_mytv_get_involved-f211.html).

i think you all have a wrong picture of what is happening atm.
we are not "cloning" MediaPortal and then release a full featured replacement for it.

since we started from scratch, the developers have to workout the basic functionality first, and designers are scratching their head about the new GUI.
we also look at the input provided by the community in the MyTV redesign forum.
so atm. there is nothing which can be used or tested by the community.

as soon as we reached a level where it has basic features like playing music / videos ect. working as we want it to have, a test release will be available.
and MP2 will surely be also available in the public svn as soon as basic functionality has been established.

this takes very, very, very much time to design, code and document.
as soon as there is something ready to play around, it will be released.
after this release we will open new forum(s) where it can be discussed, and you all can propose your ideas.

but first we have to get the basics done.

 

[THDBASED]

I don't understand why an open source project like Media Portal keeps things like this (MP II) a secret. Is the MP core a closed project and only the plugins / skins open to the community to contribute to?

Don't take this the wrong way as I know that you do this in your spare time (and what an amaizing job you do) but I do not know why so much about this project is so secret. Wouldn't it be better to tell people where this project is heading so more people get interested in joining the development team?

It was great to see your effort in getting community response in the re-design of the myTV part (https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/re_design_mytv_get_involved-f211.html).

i think you all have a wrong picture of what is happening atm.
we are not "cloning" MediaPortal and then release a full featured replacement for it.

since we started from scratch, the developers have to workout the basic functionality first, and designers are scratching their head about the new GUI.
we also look at the input provided by the community in the MyTV redesign forum.
so atm. there is nothing which can be used or tested by the community.

as soon as we reached a level where it has basic features like playing music / videos ect. working as we want it to have, a test release will be available.
and MP2 will surely be also available in the public svn as soon as basic functionality has been established.

this takes very, very, very much time to design, code and document.
as soon as there is something ready to play around, it will be released.
after this release we will open new forum(s) where it can be discussed, and you all can propose your ideas.

but first we have to get the basics done.

Ok I understand and we were just asking this to be sure we can't help out with anything to make your lives a bit easier

So basic functionality first and then input from users. One question about this though, for example this thread: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/new_zoom_mode_4_3_show_16-t30345.html?t=30345 about a new zoom mode, isn't this also some basic functionality BUT very IMPORTANT though so shouldn't users discuss about this so video/tv/DVD are displayed in a correct way?

So here is a suggestion what about using the time there is now, before a first basic release has been made, open a thread, or better new forum, where users can discuss what should be included, what could be done better or what even should be left out. Have a thread in this forum for all the different parts of MP. Any thoughts?

 

[NLS]

Will it finally have the ability to customize the menu system at will? (folders/subfolders/calling the modules multiple times with different parameters/call external programs/naming the menu items as we want/NOT have the *&^% "my plugins" etc.)

 

[infinite.loop]

Ok I understand and we were just asking this to be sure we can't help out with anything to make your lives a bit easier

would be nice to see some more proposals in the MyTV redesign forums

So basic functionality first and then input from users. One question about this though, for example this thread: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/new_zoom_mode_4_3_show_16-t30345.html?t=30345 about a new zoom mode, isn't this also some basic functionality BUT very IMPORTANT though so shouldn't users discuss about this so video/tv/DVD are displayed in a correct way?

no, thats just an additional feature.

basic functionality is to be able to play a video

 

[James]

I don't understand why an open source project like Media Portal keeps things like this (MP II) a secret. Is the MP core a closed project and only the plugins / skins open to the community to contribute to?

The main reason things are being kept quiet is to not distract everyone from the up coming 0.2.3.0 Release with new developments not yet ready or usable.

 

[Frodo]

but I do not know why so much about this project is so secret.

Quite simple

1) At the start of a project you dont want to have too many people involved
You need a small active group which can make decisions fast and work closely on the new project
Offcourse we all read the forums every day, so we do know whats going on in the htpc world
and in the MP forums and yes we do know whats bad about MP and whats good in other HTPC apps
All these things are taken in consideration when designing MP-II
Take for example the smart zoom. Whether this feature will be in the first release is unknown at this stage
However we do make sure that MP-II is flexibile enough so it can be easily added at any stage

2) We noticed that our ideas & code gets 'stolen' by other HTPC projects
This happened in the past and its another reason to keep things privately at the moment
We dont want others to 'steal' our code & gfx even before we released a first version of MP-II


Frodo

 

[joostzilla]

One simple question from a simple user: Why MPII?
Is there something wrong with the current MP?

btw thanks for creating MP in the first place!

 

[NLS]

I suspect because it is a "from the ground up" approach, not an update (even major).

Of course it could be because they could indeed plan to make a real functional Home plugin and this by itself deserves a major version bump.

...

...ok that was an attempt to joke.

 

[null_pointer]

We noticed that our ideas & code gets 'stolen' by other HTPC projects

If other closed projects are stealing your code you should publish their details here to publicly shame them into playing by the rules, this seems to the first step most OS projects take and it looks to work reasonably well.

If you have other OS projects using your code without Source Header inclusion to give credit then again publicly posting info is a good way to get them to take notice.

If you just have other OS projects using your code and giving credit, well that is the nature of OS, that is what is intended. If you don't want other OS projects using your code then perhaps your can think about changing your license to limit what your code can be used for instead of using the standard OS license that are out there.

 

[Frodo]

null-pointer, i dont care if other os projects use mp code, even if those projects are also bulding htpc apps
However, i would like to avoid this until the first release
It is a bit strange if someone else releases an application which uses our code/gfx
even before we got a change to release something dont you think?

dont worry, mp-ii will become an GPL os project right after the 1st release
frodo