Re: Gnome Media Library

[Derek Simkowiak <dereks kd-dev com>]

> The first thing that SHOULD be done, is to settle or implement standard
> file loading libraries for video and audio, like gdk-pixbuf is de facto
> standard for images. It is extremely inconvenient, if every simple program
> requires different kind of libraries simply for loading .mod tunes.

	Rather than "standard file loading libraries", I'd suggest
abstracting one layer upwards and instead having a standard *interface*
for loading media files.  Then, make each particular file format (and
codec) be some kind of plugin or module.

	If we had a standard library, that library would probably not
support all desired formats.  It might support .wav's, .mp3, and .avi, but
what if someone wanted to use a .mov?  Or a Shockwave/Flash media file? Or
a .mod, or RealMedia file?  Or some VRML-based animated sequence?  What
about next year's media file formats that don't exist yet?

	It gets even worse when one considers how many codecs there are
for each format (AVIs have several, many of which have
trademark/patent/copyright issues and cannot be freely distributed).

	It would become a huge headache to maintain such a super-library.
Instead, let's design a standard framework for (a) loading an arbitrary
media file, and (b) implementing an arbitrary codec/file format plugin.  
Then, if someone wants to ship an app that uses their own, proprietary
streaming media format, they'll only need to ship the plugin with their
program and voila! instant Gnome support for that media type.

	Just my $.02.

--Derek