Why is Fedora a multimedia disaster? - Here is why.

[Dotan Cohen]

On 19/04/07, Rahul Sundaram <sundaram at fedoraproject.org> wrote:
> Dotan Cohen wrote:
>
> > Until end users can click on an mp3 file, and keep clicking dialogs
> > until it plays (with no googling/searching/reading and no prior
> > knowledge) then Fedora will not be simple for new users. Additionally,
> > I didn't think that Fedora wanted to get to that point until I saw
> > CodecBuddy.
>
> Clicking on mp3 files is just one activity. User friendless is not
> measured by just this one factor.

Excuse my English, but how do you refer to the chemical that runs out
first in a chemical reaction, thereby limiting the amount of product
produced? Would it be "limiting agent"? (that's an exact translation
from Hebrew)

User friendliness is the least friendly of several measurements. As
Fedora now stands, the limiting agent in Fedora user friendliness is
the (lack of) multimedia support. It's not a coincidence that that is
the title of this thread.

> We have already explained in detail
> why we don't intend to support it by default on this at
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FAQ. It serves no purpose repeating this
> information again.

And I agree with every word of it. That was never under dispute. It's
the implementation that I disagree with, not the policy.

> So let's not have the same discussion on mp3 codecs
> for the umpteenth time.

We're not. We are discussing the implementation.

> > Obviously I don't want the LiveCD project to be dropped. But I
> > emphasize the need to consider it's impact.
>
> You certainly questioned the need for a live cd before. We have already
> considered it in detail and decided to do it before we started investing
> resources on doing it.

Not the need, but the purpose and implementation. If it's implemented
as FC7 test1 (the latest I have been priveleged to play with, please
excuse me if the point is not valid for test3) then it is a bad
implementation and should be addressed. It's more critical in a LiveCD
than the install distro as the LiveCD is more accessible to
(potential) new users.

> > We cannot avoid that, therefore we must ensure that the LiveCD does
> > not deter them. Do you disagree with that?
>
> How exactly do you ensure that? That is the information that I have been
> asking for.

Ah, we are making progress. This is where I wanted to get to with you.

We can not deter them by identifying the most popular usage
[work|play]-flows and making them possible with no
googling/asking/prior knowledge/searching. Only click-click-click.
It's possible, as [k]Ubuntu has proven. It's even possible given the
legal requirements imposed on Redhat. It just needs to be done.

The Fedora LiveCD likely will be, like the Ubuntu LiveCD, the decision
maker for many people whether or not to use Linux. It boils down to
this: Can I do X1, X2, ... , Xn with this thing? If all the answers
are yes, then Linux (Fedora, Ubuntu, or whatever distro) gets
installed. If not, then Linux does not get installed and the user
proclaims to all his friends that he tried Linux and Linux is
difficult/for geeks/not ready/impossible.

Dotan Cohen

http://lyricslist.com/
http://what-is-what.com/