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Topic: Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released (Read 46024 times) previous topic - next topic
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Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #50 –
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I wait for the day to see my modified double my parentz and some other will love a bit more, hope so... if the good ol' man and his tuning factory will get it
I will not be able to confirm it - it will not change your life *bow*

..aah, Synthetic    can (of course, it's phun)

I don't fully understand what you are saying, but I think you make the point that Gambit will be put out that his work (you) has been modded (your improved clone), and that people (your parents/partner) are appreciating the benefit (I dunno, better grammar?). The inference being that 0.6 was not up to scratch.

There is a simple answer to this dilema: don't release it open source.

Miriam has released the source to 0.6.2. Gambit may have been saved some man hours if he chooses to use Miriam's work, freeing him up to create other stuff that surpasses 0.6.2.  And so it goes on.

I don't pretend to understand the licensing of these things - but from what has been said earlier Miriam is well within his rights to do what he did.  I understand the concerns toward Gambit - he is a well-respected member of this community - but as far as I am concerned Miriam has improved Mr QuestionMan, and I, and possibly others, am benefitting from that.

If 0.7 has subfolder scanning and further improvements I'll no doubt switch back.  I'm a fickle end-user with no concern about open source, LGPL, or usual development cycles.  The competition is good for me.
I'm on a horse.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #51 –
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it is rude (and possibly illegal, depending on whether it is trademarked and the country in question)


Just to clarify on Trademark law (off the top of my head):

A trademark does not have to be registered in any country for it to take effect, BUT you have to indicate somewhere that is it your trademark (such as TM after it).

There is nothing illegal about using another companies trademark (as long as it is not product counterfitting), it is up to that company to enforce it's own trademark with it's own money in the courts. If a company does not enforce a trademark (ie lets its usage go, even once, because a) they cannot be bothered  b) they have no money) then that trademark item will enter the public domain.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #52 –
Right, maybe the most simple answer is that we don't really need an answer as we take everything to our needs.

Of course improved apps give us a benefit, therefore we label them as improved - and the code is somewhat open, there is room for improvements and there are people who are willing spending some time on improving  - all this make the program better and noone will object to this as there is a benefit at your side.

All I dislike is not the work Miriam finally did but the way how he presents his additions in Gambit's work, so it's not the final result, that's undoubtable good (from a technical and also useful point of view), but how it is presented.

There are people who sh*t on thoughts like that and there are people who appreciate a regardful handling - no no, don't adhere on words 

hmm, does somebody know why I am writing all this stuff, there is undoubtable more important work to do... is it the lost riddle of human being ? 

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #53 –
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It is a purely cultural issue, that many people aren't aware of, but it is considered bad form to fork open source projects except in very exceptional circumstances.


Nonsense. Think about Gogo, aoTuV, eMule mods... branches are everywhere. And they are common practice whenever a)the developer isn't willing to implement the features you want (eMule) or b) the developer stopped developing or is developing at a painfully slow pace (aoTuV)

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The correct thing to do would be to submit a patch to the author and wait for them to include it in the next release.


Wouldn't work, as Gambit himself said Miriam is implementing features he wouldn't have implemented.

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Imagine, for a second, if the people who added USB support to the Linux kernel forked it.


The Mandrake guys actually did so. They created a forked kernel with USB that would break compatibility with other kernels. The bru-ha-ha in the Linux community was so huge that they eventually gave up. But at least they tried.

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While it would be legal to release thousands of forks, it isn't a Good Idea.


Forking a kernel isn't indeed a good idea, since it potentially breaks compatibility with countless programs that run on it. But forking stuff like Vorbis and Lame (as long as decoder compatibility is retained) and Mr QuestionMan is harmless.

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I would appreciate it if you would not make such sweeping (and incorrect) generalisations in future.


Meh.

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A trademark does not have to be registered in any country for it to take effect, BUT you have to indicate somewhere that is it your trademark (such as TM after it).[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282967"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Well, if you ever plan to enforce it (E.G, in the case some domain thief stealed your URL), then you must have it registered, or the courts won't give you a damn. See the recent case of Apple vs. itunes.co.uk.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #54 –
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See the recent case of Apple vs. itunes.co.uk.


Even if it is registered, the courts will only take it off you if a person visiting your robbed domain name would confuse it with the real thing (ie the content is the in the same field and your site is commercial) You could have a non-commercial windows.com and Microsoft are not entiled to take it, if you try to sell it to Microsoft then you are trying to sell them their tradename and it will go to MS.

I could sell 'itunes swimming trunks' and Apple shouldn't have any recourse, they might try in courts - as often is the case bigger bucks can win, even if they shouldn't. That is why you have Jaguar cars and Apple Jaguar OS, an average person should not confuse the two so there is no problem.

Apple (incidently a trademark of Apple records) were fine until they released a computer with audio features.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #55 –
Ah, very interesting. I stand corrected.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #56 –
Quote
Quote
It is a purely cultural issue, that many people aren't aware of, but it is considered bad form to fork open source projects except in very exceptional circumstances.

Nonsense. Think about Gogo, aoTuV, eMule mods... branches are everywhere. And they are common practice whenever a)the developer isn't willing to implement the features you want (eMule) or b) the developer stopped developing or is developing at a painfully slow pace (aoTuV)
Quote
The correct thing to do would be to submit a patch to the author and wait for them to include it in the next release.

Wouldn't work, as Gambit himself said Miriam is implementing features he wouldn't have implemented.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282980"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Good examples. However, in this case I don't think that the difference between the two developers was enough to motivate a fork. This is, of course, Miriam's decision and Gambit has no right to step him, however I don't believe it was The Right Thing.
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While it would be legal to release thousands of forks, it isn't a Good Idea.

Forking a kernel isn't indeed a good idea, since it potentially breaks compatibility with countless programs that run on it. But forking stuff like Vorbis and Lame (as long as decoder compatibility is retained) and Mr QuestionMan is harmless.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282980"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It's not really harmless - forking over such a minor issue makes both branches of the project less useful. It means that twice as much work is needed to maintain the project and ensure it keeps up with developments in audio technology and to add new features.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #57 –
I think that what roberto meant was that LAME, Vorbis, Mr Questionman etc. etc. are much less important than Linux. The impact of these apps outside specific communities is negligible... That's not the case with Linux.

Bear in mind that I mean no offense to any developer with this comment.



edit: grammar

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #58 –
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I think that what roberto meant was that LAME, Vorbis, Mr Questionman etc. etc. is much less important than Linux.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=283035"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Right. And not only that. Think about it: branches in the kernel could lead to uncompatibility, instability, and so on. That would be a very, very serious issue, since its stability is one of Linux' biggest selling points.

Now, even if branches to MrQ, Lame and Vorbis lead to instability, it'll just be a matter of closing the program and waiting for the new version that will hopefully fix it.

Anyway, that's just my point about the Linux Kernel not being a good example. My opinion in the current enchilada is that Miriam didn't take the best decisions when releasing his branch, but he has all the rights to release it and keep developing it anyway, with Gambit's approval or not.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #59 –
"It's not really harmless - forking over such a minor issue makes both branches of the project less useful"

I don't understand this comment. The application got more useful to a number of people after it was 'forked'. One of the functions was not even planed to be added (ever?).
Ie. there is already a positive outcome here and it's only been forked for a few days !. I'm not saying that this is any indicator of the future outcome/development activity on this fork, but it definitely is a change for the better (for many people).

I'm not using the application at all (os x user), but I find it strange that people can take this development as something negative.

The only thing that IMO was handeled a bit.... rough ... , was the choice of name and lack of communication with original developer, but this was corrected very quickly and fork'er even appologized for the trouble.

Please don't make this into a bigger issue than it really is.

This is all of course just my opinion on the situation, heh.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #60 –
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Quote
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The modified version 0.7 is a bit slower than Gambit's 0.6. Moreover, it does not show which preset has been used or if it's an alpha.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282762"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yep, but otherwise it's pretty nice. In addition, is it possible to display the *real* average bitrate? And not just the average bitrate for each file...for instance, if I have 2 files; one has a duration of 10 seconds and an average bitrate of 220kbps and the second one plays 600 seconds and has an average bitrate of 170kbps, the average bitrate according to Mr. Question Man would be 195kbps...however, the real average bitrate is only 170,8kbps...

thanks
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282769"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Ehm, are you sure? AFAIK, MrQ *is* displaying the *real* average bitrate.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282825"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yes I'm totally sure...I've tested it. Mr. Question Man does something like:
Code: [Select]
(average_bitrate_file_1 + average_bitrate_file_2) / (number of files)


but it should be:
Code: [Select]
[(file_1_size_in_byte + file_2_size_in_byte)  / 1024 * 8]  / (file_1_length_seconds + file_2_length_seconds)

the difference between these 2 methods it's quite big...~5kbps
--alt-presets are there for a reason! These other switches DO NOT work better than it, trust me on this.
LAME + Joint Stereo doesn't destroy 'Stereo'

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #61 –
Quote
Quote
Quote
Quote
The modified version 0.7 is a bit slower than Gambit's 0.6. Moreover, it does not show which preset has been used or if it's an alpha.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282762"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yep, but otherwise it's pretty nice. In addition, is it possible to display the *real* average bitrate? And not just the average bitrate for each file...for instance, if I have 2 files; one has a duration of 10 seconds and an average bitrate of 220kbps and the second one plays 600 seconds and has an average bitrate of 170kbps, the average bitrate according to Mr. Question Man would be 195kbps...however, the real average bitrate is only 170,8kbps...

thanks
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282769"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Ehm, are you sure? AFAIK, MrQ *is* displaying the *real* average bitrate.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282825"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yes I'm totally sure...I've tested it. Mr. Question Man does something like:
Code: [Select]
(average_bitrate_file_1 + average_bitrate_file_2) / (number of files)


but it should be:
Code: [Select]
[(file_1_size_in_byte + file_2_size_in_byte)  / 1024 * 8]  / (file_1_length_seconds + file_2_length_seconds)

the difference between these 2 methods it's quite big...~5kbps
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=283049"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

No, actually Mr QuestionMan does something like:
Average Bitrate = DirectorySize * 8 / (DirectoryDuration * 1000)
which is correct IMO.
Note that for audio encoding, 1 kbit = 1000 bits and not 1024.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #62 –
Quote
Please don't make this into a bigger issue than it really is.

I agree.
Actually, there is no problem.
Those who prefer Gambit's version, use that version, those who prefer my version, use my version. The difference between the two are relatively small, and, after all, it's a matter of taste in chosing one over another.
I encourage you to use the version you think suits you best.
From the Gambit's point of view: as Synthetic Soul (thanks for your support) said before, my "branch" could have saved him some minutes of work, if he chooses to implement some things I did. If not, there is no problem, actually it's HIS program. I made several modifications and I released it in every possible way, setup, zip + source, so everybody can benefit and, more over, potentially improve the program further.
From my point of view: firstly, I want to thank you for the BIG interest in Mr QuestionMan ME, I really didn't expected at first such a "shock wave". I'm very glad to see there are many enthusiastic guys here that appreciate my work. My work is dedicated to you.

@ all: If you like my "mod", use it, if not, don't or use Gambit's original version.
There is place for everybody.

Take care!

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #63 –
Your mod is fine.  Even more fine now that it's labeled as a mod  Forks are fine as long as they don't get retarded (like eMule as Roberto has mentioned in the past).

I actually like how I have subdirectory scanning now.  Something I've been wanting for a while

Don't worry about that youthful enthusiasm stuff.  I'm 21 as well.
Nero AAC 1.5.1.0: -q0.45

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #64 –
thank you Miriam. much better to scan subfolders

(oh and admin when will i use my warn levels.. its been aggggesss now)

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #65 –
Quote
Quote
Quote
Quote
Quote
The modified version 0.7 is a bit slower than Gambit's 0.6. Moreover, it does not show which preset has been used or if it's an alpha.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282762"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yep, but otherwise it's pretty nice. In addition, is it possible to display the *real* average bitrate? And not just the average bitrate for each file...for instance, if I have 2 files; one has a duration of 10 seconds and an average bitrate of 220kbps and the second one plays 600 seconds and has an average bitrate of 170kbps, the average bitrate according to Mr. Question Man would be 195kbps...however, the real average bitrate is only 170,8kbps...

thanks
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282769"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Ehm, are you sure? AFAIK, MrQ *is* displaying the *real* average bitrate.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282825"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yes I'm totally sure...I've tested it. Mr. Question Man does something like:
Code: [Select]
(average_bitrate_file_1 + average_bitrate_file_2) / (number of files)


but it should be:
Code: [Select]
[(file_1_size_in_byte + file_2_size_in_byte)  / 1024 * 8]  / (file_1_length_seconds + file_2_length_seconds)

the difference between these 2 methods it's quite big...~5kbps
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=283049"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

No, actually Mr QuestionMan does something like:
Average Bitrate = DirectorySize * 8 / (DirectoryDuration * 1000)
which is correct IMO.
Note that for audio encoding, 1 kbit = 1000 bits and not 1024.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=283075"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


wait a minute...what does that have to do with audio encoding? Also, I thought that 8 kilobits = 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes...but according to you 8 kilobits = 8000 bits = 1000 bytes...
--alt-presets are there for a reason! These other switches DO NOT work better than it, trust me on this.
LAME + Joint Stereo doesn't destroy 'Stereo'

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #66 –
oops....
!Edited

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #67 –
Unicode people!!! Unicode           

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #68 –
I absolutely love this program but I have one thing that would be completely awesome for me that's not currently there.  The ability to export the scan info into an external file would be very nice.

Not that I'm ungrateful for what I've been given
Nero AAC 1.5.1.0: -q0.45

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #69 –
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I like the humor on the settings page.

I don't. It's seems to me very little time & effort was put into this program.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I kinda agree that MrQ gives an impression of a big joke with additional ability to provide info about audio files. An eastern egg in the program is always a nice thing, but in MrQ there's too much "humor" IMO. One could think that informations it provides are a joke too. I'm not impairing the effort that was put in the serious part of this program, I just hope that in the next version's about box I won't see one of [a href="http://www.mp3s.pl/dzienpo/]these pictures[/url] (don't look if you're eating ATM).
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Good luck finding an open source zealot that actually read and understood the GPL and LGPL. Most zealots I know of are that way just because all his nerd friends are, or because he (it's always he) is particularly fond of Stallman's hobo-look.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=282866"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I think it's more about free stuff - if they see GPL they're happy because they won't have to download it via eMule 
Did anyone notice that all the GPL, open-source, community-driven things, P2P sharing, is what communism is all about? I'm not saying if it's good or bad, just state the fact to think about

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #70 –
==> I am NOT a communist <==

I may like Stallman's point of view on patents,
... but I don't like StalineMan's point of view on politics ... AT ALL

... many GPL-Zealot are just democrats ... not communists ...

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #71 –
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My opinion in the current enchilada is that Miriam didn't take the best decisions when releasing his branch, but he has all the rights to release it and keep developing it anyway, with Gambit's approval or not.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=283041"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Agreed.
Quote
Did anyone notice that all the GPL, open-source, community-driven things, P2P sharing, is what communism is all about? I'm not saying if it's good or bad, just state the fact to think about
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=283183"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

If you download Open Source the commies will come get you? I'm not even going to touch that.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #72 –
Yeah, right. 

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/05/bill_..._free_cult.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/06/creative_commies.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/06/more_..._creative_.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/10/creat...ommies_mor.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/25/maxim...directors_.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/11/get_a...tive_commi.html

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #73 –
Quote
wait a minute...what does that have to do with audio encoding?

Nothing, specifically.

Quote
I thought that 8 kilobits = 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes...but according to you 8 kilobits = 8000 bits = 1000 bytes...

One byte is still eight bits - it's the decimal kilo verses binary kilo that's the issue.

Generally, most figures you see use the decimal kilo, so 1kb = 1000 bits, and 1kB = 1000 bytes.  More so with bits.

1kb = 1000 bits, 1Kb = 1024 bits.  But this standard isn't even recognised by everyone, so everybody just mixes them up anyway.  We're supposed to be using kibibyte (KiB) for 1024 bytes now.

Some info taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilobytes
I'm on a horse.

Mr QuestionMan 0.6 released

Reply #74 –
Quote
==> I am NOT a communist <==
I may like Stallman's point of view on patents,
... but I don't like StalineMan's point of view on politics ... AT ALL
... many GPL-Zealot are just democrats ... not communists ...[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
[a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism[/url]

back to topic: it never hurts to first 'submit' a patch prior to releasing it, but i guess that's all understood and settled now.
i'm only hoping one day there'll be a linux port of mrq, or at least one version that runs under wine.
a command line utility would be a giant advance in that direction. and please remember that non-gpl stuff won't be included as a part of any official debian distributions, and that would be a hell of an honor, wouldn't it?

Code: [Select]
$ mrquestionman [-R] <filename>
would be all i need, but then again, i'm just a piece of blah w/o practical knowledge. please consider this as a feature request.