Re: [jokosher-devel] Nearing the freeze

[Michael Sheldon <mike mikeasoft com>]

On Fri, Jan 26, 2007 at 12:10:01AM +0000, Jono Bacon wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Well, an exciting time is afoot, and Jokosher is nearing its 0.9/1.0
> freeze. There is still confusion as to whether we are 0.9 or 1.0, and
> just when we were resigned to us being 0.9 because multi-channel card
> support may not go in, it seems that the GStreamer side may be fixed
> up and we may well have the support in. Elleo is testing it tonight.
> :)
> 
> So, where are we? What needs doing? How are we going to make this
> *the* Jokosher release for people to use? I really get the feeling
> that people are looking at Jokosher for actual recording - more bug
> reports, podcasts saying they are considering it (such as the Linux
> Action Show) and my test podcast proves we can do it. Now the
> dependencies are hitting distros, this is making life *much* easier.
> Exciting days. :)
> 
> So, here are some things to think about, comments are encouraged:
> 
> --> Multi-channel support
> 
>   I think if we can get this in, this is essential. Right now
> everything we need is in a released gst, but multi-channel support
> will require an updated audioconvert and the deinterleave element -
> can we use caps detection to see if the correctly patch audioconvert
> is available for correct recording - i.e. if the user has an
> audioconvert that does not have the bug fixed, can we disable
> multi-channel support?

 Checking audioconvert should be fairly simple, it's just a matter of
seeing if the user's version of audioconvert can handle less channels
then their card. Even with an old version we won't need to disable it
for users who have 8 or less simultanious inputs; although we will
still have to check for deinterleave.

> 
> --> docs vs. userdocs
> 
>   I have been thinking a lot about the docs sites, and I think doc.j.o
> is becoming irrelevent. I suggest we ditch it, make userdocs docs.j.o
> and theme it like the main site. I will then poke the site and make
> clear separate sections so that official docs appear on the front page
> and people can link to development docs.
> 
> --> Bugfixing and testing
> 
> When we freeze we have a month of bug-fixing, which is essential to
> make Jokosher rock-solid. When we released 0.2, we got a lot of
> recording bug reports, much of which seemed to be down to dependencies
> and certain sound cards (such as the big SBLive bug report thread). I
> think we need to encourage as much testing and bug reporting as
> possible. Rest assured, I have a plan for this, and I am going to go
> on a "test Jokosher, report bugs" pimping mission. It would be amazing
> if we could nail the vast majority of our bug reports. :)
> 
> --> Stuff left to add
> 
> Not much left to hack in, but mainly:
> 
>  * Mixdown Profiles - Aq is working on this and assures me it will be
> in before the freeze. I think Aq needs to hack this, and we should
> determine how stable the code is. There is no reason why itcan't go in
> and we disable it from the UI if we are not confident it is mature
> enough. We not only need the facility, but some actual profiles too,
> and I would suggest "update a podcast feed" is the first one to use.
> 
>  * Freesound - the freesound extension needs some UI love. The code
> actually works, and is awesome for demos, but it needs refining and to
> have a non-blocking GUI.
> 
> --> Effects and presets
> 
> I would like to ship some preset packs with Jokosher that can go on
> the website and be included. Would be useful to have a preset pack
> installation option if we have time to include it. I hope to spend
> some time sitting down and making a bunch of presets that sound
> decent. I did for 0.2 and managed to get some really nice sounds. Of
> course, these are listed at the instrument level, which is cool. :)
> 
> --> Accessability
> 
> Elleo has been hacking on some pretty incredible accessibility stuff,
> and of course, our effects code is so much more accessible now. Would
> be good to get a disabled user or two to test this.

 Yes, it'd be great if we could get someone with real experience to
test things out, there are still some feature I know are completely
impossible to handle without a keyboard (such as fades), but I'm 
confident I can make this accessible given time.

> 
> So, I think those are the main points. Pretty exciting days, and I am
> realy confident that if we can ensure Jokosher works for most people
> and we can avoid the recording bugs that we were getting, we should
> actually start hearing things recorded in Jokosher. :)
> 
> As ever, thanks for all your efforts folks. We have an awesome
> application and an awesome development and user community forming. :)
> 
>   Jono
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-- 
Michael Sheldon
http://www.mikeasoft.com