On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 2:22 PM Bastien Nocera <bnocera@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Hey, > > I wanted to gauge interest for this particular solution to a long-standing > problem, that of being able to play back videos in the user's possession. > > TL;DR: Remove totem so that users get it from a place where it can play videos > > A long, long time ago, thomasvs and I worked on implementing a mechanism for > automatic codec installation in GStreamer applications, such as totem: > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureCodecBuddy > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Interviews/CodecBuddy > https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2007/09/gnome-2-20-officially-released/ > > There was only one implementation, which offered a native(-ish) front-end to > Fluendo's web store. Fluendo at that time was[1] providing proprietary plugins > so that distributions based in jurisdictions where software patents applied, > or that wanted to distribute there, or organisations where this applied, > could buy those plugins to get peace of mind. > > Obviously, pointing to a company's webstore in a package that was part of > Fedora's default installation didn't go down well, and the implementation > was replaced with something more generic: GStreamer plugins inside packages > would be scanned at build time to have "RPM provides" metadata added to > the package, and an application[2] was added to look for "a package that > provides this thing" when a multimedia application was missing a plugin. > > Fast-forward 12 years, and even if the name of the codecs that are missing > have changed, and what we can automatically install online to has also > changed (we have full MP3 support, yay! but the AAC and H264 support are > rather incomplete), the workflow is still the same, but probably slightly > more broken. > > The problems: > - the PackageKit GStreamer plugin installer doesn't implement the "missing- > plugins" interface correctly: > https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=100791 > which breaks applications (because it tells the app to re-scan the installed > plugins even though nothing's installed yet): > https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/totem/issues/62 > > - The "provides" in the RPM packages can't fully express the required plugins. The > GStreamer missing plugins code gives out a very very detailed information on > what plugin is needed, something which cannot be implemented via the simple > string comparison we use to select which package to install. This is a problem > you could get with the plugins that Fedora points to out of the box, but that > don't implement all the profiles[3]. > > - Even if a compatible plugin gets installed, it might not be _the_ plugin that > needs to be used to integrate a particular feature. For example, the GStreamer > DVD playback plugin requires the liba52-based AC3 decoder to work, and will not > work with another one.[4] > > - The user still needs to figure out where to get the rest of the codecs. > Want to play H265? Go search for the repository that provides this. Want > to play DVDs? It won't install automatically and you'll also need to search > for it. > > - Providing the automatic codecs installation functionality using the RPM-based > Flatpaks for Silverblue would be a *lot* of infrastructure work, if it even > is feasible[5]. > > If for some reason we decide that we want to keep totem in the distribution, > then a number of things would need to happen: > - PackageKit's plugin installation helper would need to be fixed to match > what the API requires Is that worth it given it seems PackageKit is being EOLed? https://blogs.gnome.org/hughsie/2019/02/14/packagekit-is-dead-long-live-well-something-else/ > - We'd need to review popular codecs, and make sure that for both decoders and > encoders, enough metadata is available in the RPM provides for the "right" > ones to be installed > - Figure out what to do for the RPM-based Flatpaks > > Note that this only applies to Fedora. If somebody wants to discuss the status > of this for the other distribution on which I work, please reply privately. > > Cheers > > [1]: Maybe they still are? The page still mentioned GStreamer 0.10: > https://fluendo.com/en/products/enterprise/fluendo-codec-pack/ > [2]: Might have been a PackageKit front-end already, I couldn't find > a reference after a quick web search, and it's not super relevant > [3]: I've not verified/tested this, I know it to be a possibility though > [4]: This isn't a problem since Fedora ships the a52dec, but it was one > [5]: It's always feasible, given enough time ;) > _______________________________________________ > desktop mailing list -- desktop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe send an email to desktop-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/desktop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _______________________________________________ desktop mailing list -- desktop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe send an email to desktop-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/desktop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
