[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] avdevice/avdevice: Deprecate AVDevice Capabilities API

[Nicolas George]

Mark Thompson (12021-01-26):
> Even after such a merge, the libavdevice API is still a problem.

I will re-center the discussion on this alone.

And I ask, simply: what problem exactly?

You, who AFAIK, do not maintain anything in libavdevice and have never
used it in a project, say there is a problem with its API. I, who
maintain parts of libavdevice and have been using it in projects for
years, say there is no problem, there are ways to enhance it, but on the
whole it works well enough.

Who might be right? Maybe the person with the most experience, don't you
think?

Therefore, I will cut short this discussion:

If you want to know what my ideas are to enhance the API of libavdevice,
just ask, and if you'll read the answer I'll be happy to explain at
lengths.

If you have a diagnostic of an actual problem, please share it.

If you have a detailed plan to make libavdevice's API significantly
better, then please explain it, I am keenly interested.

Another point: remember that in this project, we have a policy of no new
API without user: we do not add a new function or API just for the fun
of it; we add a new function or API when and if it allows to add a
feature, to simplify existing code, etc.

So, if you invent a new design for devices, and you implement an useful
new feature thanks to this new design, or even better, several useful
new features, then excellent.

But if you propose to just add a grand new design for devices, and add a
wrapper so that existing devices can be used unchanged, and another
wrapper so that existing applications can still use the old API, and
that's it, then you are making it worse.

So, since AFAIK, you do not have plans to add new useful features to
devices, or to libavfilter as a whole, my advice is: for now, leave it
alone, until you have given it much more thought.

(In return, I will continue to refrain from criticizing the design of
the VAAPI stuff.)

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 833 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/attachments/20210127/a2d135c1/attachment.sig>