Re: [FFmpeg-devel] Query from Reuters on XZ, open source, and Microsoft

From: epirat07@gmail.com
To: FFmpeg development discussions and patches <ffmpeg-devel@ffmpeg.org>
Subject: Re: [FFmpeg-devel] Query from Reuters on XZ, open source, and Microsoft
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 21:24:26 +0200
Message-ID: <C59718AD-8636-4E24-B0A9-43716545439C@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CABLWnS-pxVtmac+SHVT7u1RzqANrAY8D4_bKenQHhG3MPNHorg@mail.gmail.com>

On 11 Apr 2024, at 5:59, Vittorio Giovara wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 10, 2024 at 9:19 PM Michael Niedermayer <michael@niedermayer.cc>
> wrote:
>
>> […]
>>
>> To bring some of the new blood into the project the project needs to
>> first understand why they dont. And asking thouse who manage with
>> difficulty
>> to join could be a biased oppinion.
>>
>
> In my experience this boils down to three points
> 1. there is a legit barrier of entry in a large codebase such as ffmpeg,
> but over time newcomers can learn about it
> 2. the review process can be though and it's easy to miss a ping and
> patches get lost, very defeating for a new developer

This has honestly been one of the most discouraging things when contributing
here.

The ML workflow just contributes to make this even worse for me, as it makes
it really hard to keep track of things. (Of course everyone is different
and I get why some people like the ML-patches workflow, but having experienced
both at VLC, I can say for myself I vastly prefer Gitlab-like solutions)

> 3. there is net negative help from trolls who spread toxic poison, which is
> confusing and uninteresting for the new blood
>
> 2 out of 3 can be solved technically, while the last one needs a cultural
> shift - overall I think we're doing a good job at slowly changing pace and
> having a bit of a better structure to solve situations when they arise, but
> there is still a lot of work to do

Another factor is IMO the general tone here on the ML, let’s just say it is not
the most welcoming environment. It doesn’t help that sometimes technical discussion
and „politics“ are mixed together so you have no way to escape it when you don’t feel
like being dragged down by the state of this community some days…

> -- 
> Vittorio
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