[MPlayer-dev-eng] User Frendly mplayer

[Ivan Kalvatchev]

This may be offtopic, but as nobody sow my letter 
in mplayer-users...(i forgot to change the subject).
This is reply to arpi's P L E A S E ! ! !

  It is normal begginer users to come here and ask one and same questions.
  How a regular user installs new program:
     1. Go to the web site. Go to download page. Find the main
package and download it
     2. gunzip,untar
     3. read the README and INSTALL files in the main direcory.
The begginers usually skip this step.
Some people make ./configure --help
     4.configure, make , make install
     5. mplayer test.avi
     6. if mplayer doesn't start -> man mplayer
     7. if mplayer doesn't work they look for help
     8. if they can't find help they take a vacation and start
reading the manual. If they find it of cource. Becouse currently
html dicumentation is not installed with mplayer.
     9. if they can't make mplayer run -> rm -r mplayer/ 

You see that reading manual is the last step. What could be done:
1. Write (short) README and INSTALL files. Add things like from
where to download additional packages (divx4linux,ffmpeg, faad,
mad etc...). README with text like : "Read 'War And Peace' before
installing mplayer" is not the right one.
2. It is mythe that user don't help users. Go to www.divx.com or
some of the other over-crowded project. Users really help users.
3. Propoce official user irc channel. There is one in
irc.openprojects.net #mplayer. Irc is the fastest way to ask
right questions, and help compleate newbie users. A lot of
people just stay in their favorite program channel and could
answer questions like 'how to add subtitles?', 'can mplayer do that'.
3. Make a forum. It is easyer to browse in forum.
4. All repeating question from the forum should go in the FAQ.
5. FAQ, forum ,channel and Documentation links should be visible at
first look in the web homepage.
6. newbie-user mailist could be made if forum don't help.
7. At least one skin should be included in the realese.
8. It is not bad to include a short video clip to test does mplayer work
at all.
9. A lot of users say that mplayer is slow. By default mplayer uses x11. 
Maybe configure could be used to chose best (xv,sdl) driver.
10. Or simple script that ask for option and write them in the ~/.mplayer/config
11. Make compleat release package with mplayer, all (L)GPL codecses, 
win32.dll, skins, etc...
12. Automated Bugreport. Something like ./mkbugreport test.avi

On developer side:
1. There must have some way to track the bugs. Some bugs are
daleied and then forgoten.
2. Maybe speacial mailist for reporting changes in behavior. e.g
When a developer add new function (s)he must send a short notice
about the change and how it works now. This will be easyer for 
none English (hungarian) doc writers, to read that list instead of cvs.

Finaly. If mplayer projects need more documentation writes
then add an advertisement in the mphq homepage. Resently I sow a
xmms developer looking for apartment:O

Best Regards
  Ivan Kalvachev

p.s. not all ideas here are mine, the original autors could send patches
with their names;)


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