i'm just wading through 2k5 linux audio mails, as i'm a little behind on current affairs due to a lengthy and less-than-smooth moving of houses.
after reading the LADSPA related threads of about a month ago, a couple of things became obvious to me:
* LADSPA has some showstopper deficiencies to some developers
* there seems to be an ongoing battle about how essential rdf metadata support should be: if it's purely optional, then many things that conceptually should be metadata must be duplicated in more or less inelegant additions to ladspa.h, and there seems to be no real consensus on how to do that. if metadata support is necessary even for simple hosts to create usable guis, we put the famed 'S' in danger.
* at present, the discussion has reached the "matter of taste" point and is pretty much dead in the water.
* with no real formal process for the development of LADSPA except for richard's role as the "benevolent dictator", and richard being very quiet on the matter, those developers who opt for an extension of the spec may feel there is no way to get their proposals through.
* maybe for that reason, there has been some imho ill-advised rhetoric towards fait-accompli tactics.
now wherever LADSPA is heading, one thing is very certain for me: LADSPA and JACK are the very two projects that absolutely *MUST* *NOT* *FORK* or even develop "local dialects" at this point in time.
i'm not afraid of forks in almost all contexts, but a forked "common" api is a dead api. whatever happens, let's not jeopardize the two major kickass components of linux audio.
there may come a time when LADSPA has become so inert and obsolete that we should take care of it the darwin way, but this time is still a long way off.
for that reason, let's try to cram a LADSPA BOF into the already overflowing schedule at LAConf#2, or at least dedicate a "working dinner" to the future of LADSPA.
i have this feeling that injecting the face-to-face factor and some german beer into the discussion might remove some obstacles. :-D
richard, if you are reading this, some comment from your part would also be helpful imho. i found you have not participated in the ladspa discussions since release 1.1, which was in august 2002.
it seems everyone still considers you the keeper of LADSPA, and it might clarify things if you stated
* your opinion on the current discussion;
* your criteria for approving extensions;
* whether you are willing and have the time to retain the role of official LADSPA maintainer and to have the final say over what goes in or what doesn't, or let go of this role;
* whether you can make it to LAConf#2 for a beer :)
all the best,
jörn
-- The handles of a craftsman's tools bespeak an absolute simplicity, the plainest forms affording the greatest range of possibilities for the user's hand. That which is overdesigned, too highly specific, anticipates outcome; the anticipation of outcome guarantees, if not failure, the absence of grace. - William Gibson, "All Tomorrow's Parties"
Jörn Nettingsmeier Kurfürstenstr 49, 45138 Essen, Germany http://spunk.dnsalias.org (my server) http://www.linuxaudiodev.org (Linux Audio Developers)
