Totem/GStreamer and Fedora

[Thomas Vander Stichele]

Hi,


> YES!!
> I'm using totem-gstreamer now on FC2 (0.99.16) and it isn't perfect,  
> there have been files it won't play that gst-launch-ext will play, but  
> it is quite good.

For any kind of file like this, please file a bug.  If gst-launch can
play it, it means it's just a matter of integration.

> GStreamer is definitely the missing piece of the puzzle in Gnome  
> multimedia - since it provides a good plugin framework that allow  
> installation of proprietary plugins without needing to recompile your  
> software against it.

Yep, that was the goal from day one.  IMO it's the only easily shippable
solution for distros that do not want to violate patent-related laws,
while still giving users the flexibility of adding functionality.

In the not-so-far future, users will have the choice of installing
"community plugins" (because the patent-related laws do not apply in
their country, or they interpret them into not applying, or because
users choose to take the risk themselves), and "commercial plugins"
where you pay for the licenses, making sure you are legally in the
clear.  The latter will be provided by Fluendo, a new company which I
work for.


> I was planning to host a small yum repository for totem-gstreamer with  
> some plugins that livna/fedora stable doesn't provide - but if totem- 
> gstreamer makes it into Fedora Core (or even Fedora Stable) I only will  
> need to provide some of the video plugins.

Which plugins does it not provide that you'd put in there ? It's better
to get me to put them into the GStreamer rpms which are meant for
submission into fedora.us

> Now if someone would port Audacity to GStreamer - and sox (gsox ??) ...

Take a look at marlin (http://marlin.sourceforge.net/), which is
evolving very rapidly.  It will probably hit the GStreamer repository
soon this week.  As for sox, I find gst-launch does everything I used to
do with sox.  Its syntax takes some getting used to, but less than sox
:) I have been toying with the idea of writing replacements for common
tools, but using GStreamer.

Also, there are some interesting applications that would make worthwhile
additions in the future.  One is a video recorder using GStreamer,
written by Ronald.  Now that Theora is part of the distribution, it
makes sense to have such an application in the core.  Having one that is
based on GStreamer would make sense, and it's shaping up nicely.

The other I'll only mention briefly since I'm working on it and I don't
want to toot our own horn too much :) But we're writing a streaming
media server, called Flumotion, and the GPL version will stream
Ogg/Theora and Vorbis, as well as some other things (like multipart
encoded jpeg and audio), and the first release will be sometime this
month.

Exciting times for GStreamer ahead, for sure.  As a company we're
commited to pushing it above and beyond.  I don't want to do too much
cheerleading, but I'd be very happy if totem were accepted into Fedora
Core 3.  It makes sense.

Thomas


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