[FFmpeg-devel] Hardware purchase request: AVX512-capable laptop

[Lynne]

Jan 6, 2024, 12:10 by remi at remlab.net:

> Le lauantaina 6. tammikuuta 2024, 12.38.28 EET Lynne a écrit :
>
>> Emergencies could happen, but progress must always happen.
>>
>
> Laptops are more prone to breaking, and as already noted less serviceable. The 
> whole premise is that your current laptop broke after just 2 years, while the 
> normally (fiscally) expected lifetime of a laptop is 3 years.
>
> Don't get me wrong! I don't deny that emergencies of that sort do happen to 
> software engineers. Considering the "running cost" of a skilled software 
> engineer, many employers will want to minimise the risk that they get bogged 
> down by lack of a development computer, and the inability to carry a laptop 
> with them on business trips.
>
> But then, whose emergency would are they exactly? If an entity has dire needs 
> of your continued ability to work, then they should take the measures and 
> costs. That's just not something that the FFmpeg foundation should bare. 
> Except maybe for Michael, I think the project will do just fine if any 
> developer is out of a computer for a week, to be honest.
>

A fire would put me out for much more than a week tbh.
Other than that, occasional trips, during which reviews still have to be made.
Plus, power analysis of whether AVX512 helps on current-gen mobile devices.
I don't see this as being too big of a thing to ask for, considering how much we
have and how much we receive each year, and how very rarely requests are done.
Nor something that deserves a lengthy article on the benefits, ergonomics,
and ongoing maintenance of desktop versus mobile systems.