Kdenlive Developer Jean-Baptiste Mardelle Is Missing

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Kdenlive Developer Jean-Baptiste Mardelle Is Missing

Posted by timothy on Sunday November 24, 2013 @11:04AM from the hope-all-is-well dept.

jones_supa writes "Kdenlive's project leader Jean-Baptiste Mardelle, who always used to let people know if he was going to be away for a couple of days, seems to have just disappeared. His last e-mail and blog post were in early July and they didn't suggest any problems. While there's many Kdenlive fans out there for the KDE-focused open-source video editor, it seems new development efforts around the project have ceased. Also the Kdenlive Git repository hasn't seen any new commits (aside from the automated l10n daemon script) since early July. There has been also people in KDE forums and Kdenlive developers' mailing list pondering about the status of the project, being left none the wiser."

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This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:06 · Score: -1

Open source software sucks
1. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:20 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Open source software sucks
  Quite the opposite. Since it's open source, it can be forked and can continue development. With close sourced software, once development halts, for whatever reason, nobody else can work on it.
  So this is actually an example why Open Source software rocks.
2. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:24 · Score: 0
  
  But anyone can also disappear in a spell due to not receiving a steady income from the project.
3. Re:This is why by QuasiSteve · 2013-11-24 11:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Which is different from closed source software, how?
  Take SpaceMonger, for example. There one day, gone the next. Guy's still around, personal blog notes the disappearance, and essentially told people to just not ask. Well alright, then.
  I do agree that when an open source software project goes stagnant because one or more active developers quit, it's rather indicative of the fact that just because the source is available that there is no guarantee whatsoever that somebody else will pick it up. But at least they can.
4. Re:This is why by MightyMartian · 2013-11-24 12:15 · Score: 1
  
  Becaus closed source products never cease development and no one using closed source software has ever found it abandoned.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
5. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:50 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I've noted in my career that you see this happen to proprietary products (of all types). Unless the product has large well organized team and good cash flow to support it, the departure of a keep person often results in the product becoming an orphan. The hurdle of training up a new staff member is too large compared to other things the company could spend money on, and the product dies.
6. Re:This is why by theshowmecanuck · 2013-11-24 14:01 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Closed source software development will stop when it doesn't make money. It might be because the software is no longer relevant or because it sucks, but always because it is not making any more money for the developer(s). Open source projects can continue on if they suck or if they don't. There is no filter in that regard. The need to make money effectively weeds out undeserving projects and ensures there isn't a glut of half assed copycats. That is, there are a fewer number of properly QA'd more fully featured offerings for any given piece of software. And if closed source projects are good, they generally make money so they continue until they don't. Sure there are some decent open source programs. But for a workstation or laptop, I buy closed source apps and don't mind paying for them. For servers, open source seems to be at least as good as closed source. But it easier to make money selling support contracts for servers (like database servers or JEE containers) than for individual programs. So it still comes down to money.
  
  --
  -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
7. Re:This is why by KlomDark · 2013-11-24 14:06 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Oh, so like WinAmp? Gone after Dec 20, 2013.
  // I'm one of the weirdos who still think it's the best and am gonna miss it. Just bought WinAmp for Android less than two months ago.
8. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 16:02 · Score: 0
  
  Different odds, numbnuts. FOSS developers are not paid for working on their project, thus are less likely to have incentives to continue working like money, sex with women, off-line friends, and a social life. All things that closed source software developers are more likely to have.
9. Re:This is why by epyT-R · 2013-11-24 16:33 · Score: 1
  
  So, basically OSS programmers program whenever they want, and not just to satisfy the material desires of employers, women, and the pointless treadmill of keeping up with the joneses? Sounds great to me! Hey, the source is out there, if you still need the program, it's available.. What happens when a closed source guy decides his program doesn't get him laid anymore? His site disappears and you're left searching 'oldversion.com' style sites looking for the installer...and you can pray that it'll keep working on future versions of your os.
10. Re:This is why by epyT-R · 2013-11-24 16:48 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The filter for OSS is lack of interest. When no one is interested in the capabilities, it is abandoned.
  The filter for closed is lack of sustained monetization, whether the software is still useful to users or not is irrelevant. Many times older versions with fewer use restrictions end up being 'good enough', and kill off the 'business model' the developer wants to use/change to, so the whole program is abandoned. SaaS is a perfect example of this progression. Today's feature is tomorrow's monetization killer and is removed. What the user actually wants becomes more and more irrelevant as it finds its way to bottom denominator hell.
11. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 17:25 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, so like WinAmp? Gone after Dec 20, 2013.
  // I'm one of the weirdos who still think it's the best and am gonna miss it. Just bought WinAmp for Android less than two months ago.
  no you're not - i use it in linux all the time - only for the usable ui and proper .mod support
12. Re:This is why by Eskarel · 2013-11-24 20:02 · Score: 2
  
  That's more of an indictment of Linux media players rather than a complement of Winamp.
13. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 21:37 · Score: 0
  
  You are very confused indeed, almost nothing of what you write is correct, or at least doesn't make the sense you seem to imply.
  
  Closed source software development will stop when it doesn't make money. It might be because the software is no longer relevant or because it sucks, but always because it is not making any more money for the developer(s).
  Yet it is totally normal for closed source software that sucks to be kept alive because it makes money - remember old IE versions, for example? What's the advantage in that?
  On the other hand, IE is also a good example of software that doesn't really make money directly (MS doesn't sell IE, after all), but which still is kept alive in order to manipulate other markets in order to make money there.
  
  Open source projects can continue on if they suck or if they don't.
  Just as closed source, yes.
  
  There is no filter in that regard.
  That is some major misunderstanding of both open source software and of economics.
  First of all, "open source" or "Free Software" is not the opposite of "commercial software", but rather of "closed source" or "proprietary software". Commercial Free Software is still Free Software, and free proprietary software is still proprietary.
  Your economic misunderstanding is in misunderstanding the role of money. Money is just one way to measure value. Now, some people who work on free Free Software may not make any money by doing so (and the same is true for free proprietary software). But you are highly confused if you think that they don't value the software. Investment is done based on valuation, nobody would work on some software for free if they perceived the software to be worthless. Noone would work on anything if they perceived the result (of the whole transaction) as worthless. Valuation just doesn't depend on money, money is just one way of expressing a valuation.
  
  The need to make money effectively weeds out undeserving projects and ensures there isn't a glut of half assed copycats.
  That's quite obviously not true, and also falls into the same trap as your above statement. Your distinction between software that "needs to make money" and software that "does not need to make money" is also pretty arbitrary. There is no investment whatsoever that doesn't have to have a return.
  Also, the same mechanisms that might weed out some "undeserving projects" will serve equally well to prevent innovators from entering the marketplace.
  Oh, and you do remember the quality of (Desktop) Windows before Linux threatened its market share? You see, Windows needed to make money - and one of the best ways to make money is to spend as little as possible on producing the product. That's one occasion where the valuation on the part of the producer deviated heavily from the valuation of the consumer, precisely because of their primary interest in making money.
  
  That is, there are a fewer number of properly QA'd more fully featured offerings for any given piece of software.
  Such as Windows 95?
  
  And if closed source projects are good, they generally make money so they continue until they don't.
  And if open source projects are good, they generally make money so they continue until they don't.
  Ever heard of Android? Or Firefox?
  
  Sure there are some decent open source programs. But for a workstation or laptop, I buy closed source apps and don't mind paying for them.
  You seem to imply that you mind paying for software that allows you to inspect and modify its source code - why? Developers of Free Software normally don't mind being paid, so that is unlikely to be the reason.
  
  For servers, open source seems to be at least as good as closed source. But it easier to make money selling support contracts for servers (like database servers or JEE containers
14. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 01:35 · Score: 0
  
  At least the closed source app was much more highly developed for the time it existed, thanks to proper funding. Shit working today is #1 priority.
15. Re:This is why by tchdab1 · 2013-11-25 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  This is about my level of faith in the Cloud too. It's out there and it works for you, until it's not and it doesn't.
16. Re:This is why by AdamScarborough · 2013-11-25 01:55 · Score: 1
  
  Umm, not necessarily. I have dealt with as much crap closed source software as i have open source software. The key technologies and standards underpinning the modern internet are open source/open standards. The internet simply wouldn't exist without them. The website you are currently looking at uses open source software to server you the page you are able to so incorrectly comment on. The amount of times our company has bought 'enterprise' software which is missing key features. Sometimes we are told by the sales reps that these features will be added - only for them not to be before the project has its priority lowered or becomes unsupported due to a merger or acquisition. Its one of the reasons why we now attempt to use as much open source software as is possible. At least when i have dealt with OSS i have been in the situation numerous times where some specific use case isn't supported - and we can throw a developer or 2 at the project to make it supported.
17. Re:This is why by Andy+Dodd · 2013-11-25 02:57 · Score: 1
  
  One thing that always leads to confusion is a situation like this - where a developer just disappears without a word.
  It's usually considered common courtesy to not fork a project if someone just needs to take a break for a while, or for that person to delegate in their absence.
  Here, the person behind the project simply stopped with no warning - and at least for a month or two I'm sure any potential replacements were nervous about stepping on this guy's toes.
  
  --
  retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
18. Re:This is why by bluefoxlucid · 2013-11-25 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  I wish they'd release the source.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
19. Re:This is why by Rob+Y. · 2013-11-25 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  Closed source development can stop even when it does make money. The company I work for is run on a serial mergers and acquisitions model. They sell the company to a group of investors which proceeds to buy up a bunch of competing products with the intention of sucking them dry in order to fund development of the next generation. That next generation gets built only to the extent that they can sell the company to the next fool. But in the meantime one or more of the acquired products gets shut down as customers migrate away - to the competition. This amazing business model has survived 6 generations of M&A's.
  I'd mod myself 'funny' if it weren't all true...
  
  --
  Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
20. Re:This is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 15:39 · Score: 0
  
  Winamp is complete shit. Good riddance to it.
Hate to say it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:06 · Score: 0

But it sounds like he's dead. I mean, no one just gives up on an open source project.
1. Re:Hate to say it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:17 · Score: 0
  
  Hans Reiser and now Jean-Baptiste Mardelle ... Just curious - when commercial developers writing closed-source software have something major happen in their personal lives, does turn into a Slashdot story? Can anyone provide a link?
2. Re:Hate to say it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  Why would it? The rest of the team would just pick up the software and carry on. Maybe hire a new guy to finish (or rewrite) whatever module the deceased was working on. We've had two people die in the year and a half since I started this job, we still release and bugfix.
  That's the problem with a lot of Open Source software revolving around the cult of genius. Brilliant coders, but project management skills of a third grader, and often, the software is tied to the personal life of a single person. Witness Slackware's release problems a few years ago when Patrick got sick, CentOS around 6.0, WindowMaker, enlightenment, KDE's backward progress since Aaron Seigo took over, the list goes on.
  Better examples of OSS longevity seem to involve meritocracies...FreeBSD and Fedora have had their share of tragedies and personal problems, but still lead the way in bringing change to their respective communities (Fedora _dominates_ Linux-development while FreeBSD is the testbed for new Apple technologies before they roll mainstream).
3. Re:Hate to say it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:44 · Score: 0
  
  Or he was in a near-fatal car accident which is taking months to recover from, or suffering from a very serious medical condition like stage four pancreatic cancer, or he's been institutionalized in a mental hospital, or been incarcerated for criminal activity, or won a multi-million dollar lottery and living large in south of France, or Mark Shuttleworth sent him a nastygram which distressed him so much (like the little KDE whiner, Martin Grasslin) he quit developing altogether and became a men's hair stylist. There's lot's of reasons besides one's own death that lead developers to stop working on their open source projects.
4. Re:Hate to say it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  We've had two people die in the year and a half since I started this job, we still release and bugfix.
  And you're still there?! Get out while you have a chance!
5. Re:Hate to say it... by jtownatpunk.net · 2013-11-24 13:35 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  What are you talking about? He's discovered the holy grail. What do you do with a bad developer? Kill him and the company will hire a replacement. Brilliant.
6. Re:Hate to say it... by KlomDark · 2013-11-24 14:08 · Score: 1
  
  Shit, look at what happened to the internet since Jon Postel was assassinated... :(
7. Re:Hate to say it... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 16:03 · Score: 0
  
  https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2468 Those cardiac surgeons got him good, eh?
8. Re:Hate to say it... by maxwell+demon · 2013-11-24 19:26 · Score: 2
  
  The rest of the team would just pick up the software and carry on.
  There may not be "the rest of the team". You are confusing "closed source" with "company-developed".
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
9. Re:Hate to say it... by Chrisq · 2013-11-25 01:47 · Score: 1
  
  But it sounds like he's dead. I mean, no one just gives up on an open source project.
  I blame a Microsoft hit squad. Or maybe Oracle.
10. Re:Hate to say it... by Chrisq · 2013-11-25 01:48 · Score: 1
  
  What are you talking about? He's discovered the holy grail. What do you do with a bad developer? Kill him and the company will hire a replacement. Brilliant.
  Much better than our company's policy ... which is promote them to Manager.
My theory by Hamsterdan · 2013-11-24 11:08 · Score: 4, Funny

He's been kidnapped by a Gnome

--
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
1. Re:My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:11 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  FACT: of all interracial crimes over 90% were committed by a black person against a white victim.
  
  But you can keep blaming white racism if it helps you avoid changing your views to fit the facts. Your religion should build a church though. You can get tax free status too!
2. Re:My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:20 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  It somehow seems appropriate that a troll would respond to a post about a gnome.
3. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:20 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Huh?
  That's because crime against blacks goes unpunished.
4. Re: My theory by Stumbles · 2013-11-24 11:32 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  Agreed. Obama has committed to many crimes and not been punished.
  
  --
  My karma is not a Chameleon.
5. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:48 · Score: -1
  
  Agreed. Obama has committed to many crimes and not been punished.
  After they hang Bush and Cheney for their war crimes first.
6. Re:My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:05 · Score: 0
  
  Has anybody asked Hans Reiser?
7. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:54 · Score: -1
  
  Education cuts not being one of them, thankfully... it's TOO many, not to many.
8. Re:My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:55 · Score: -1
  
  Fact. 90% of the crimes will not be reported unless the crime is interracial; either black on white or white on black. Nothing liike a cute blond girl getting killed by a black man to increase media profits. The media loves inciting racial mailaise. That is why the faggots on Fox and CNN are not better that drug dealers hooking twelve year olds on crack so they can be pimped out at a truck stop. If you want to listen to the news listen to PBS on TV not the radio. Radio NPR is worse that CNN. Seriously it is a news program where there are no flashing lights and laser beams flying all over the screen telling you that they are on the tip of the spear in journalistic excellence while doing in depth investigative reporting on Mylie Cyrus's underwear.
  There are good andf bad people both black and white. The greatest thing in the world for the media would be for me to carve a swastica on my head and go out and kill black people. The stock holders would love this and the CNN would make soooo much money. Turn off the T.V. Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. Protect you neighborhood.
  Trevon Marting may have been an asshole, but he did the right thing. He protected his neighborhood from thugs. Sometimes it takes a thug to defeat a thug. It has nothing to do with white and black. The only thing evil has to do is for good people to lay down their arms. The court / police system have a vested interest in keeping crime going. Without cops the price of drugs would plummet. Whithout gang-stars. There would be no war on drugs and police would not be getting all the cool gear and high salaries (relativly) that they get. Gang-stars and law enforcement working together to ensure that your kids are addicts and that you pay all your traffic tickets. This race issue is sooo old. Get over it. Today calling someone white, or whitey has a greater negativity that calling someone a nigger. However the media makes tons of profits from it so it probably will never go away. There done. Next time someone brings up race they should be loudly ridiculed.
9. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 13:39 · Score: -1
  
  Agreed. Obama has committed to many crimes and not been punished.
  Exactly. Just like how he kidnapped Jean-Baptiste Mardelle and is holding the Kdenlive project hostage because... um... because...
  Say, just what in every conceivable hell does Obama have to do with the topic at hand?
  *sigh* Another stupid poster, trying to hijack threads to blame Obama for something. Thanks, Obama.
10. Re:My theory by KlomDark · 2013-11-24 14:10 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Trevon Martin protected his neighborhood from thugs? With Skittles?
11. Re: My theory by amiga3D · 2013-11-24 14:36 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  I don't get this stupid Obama stuff. People act like he's the anti-christ or something and try to blame everything on him. I keep telling people that whine about him all the time to cheer up, it could be worse. If anything happens to him Joe Biden will be prez and then you'll fucking wish Obama was back. It's funny as hell when you see them get it. It can always be worse.
12. Re:My theory by amiga3D · 2013-11-24 14:38 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Really man, just say no to drugs.
13. Re:My theory by Lost+Penguin · 2013-11-24 14:50 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly, I suspect this site (www.travelocity.com/) has sent him somewhere.
  
  --
  I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
14. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 15:04 · Score: -1
  
  A lot of people just heard anti-Bush sentiments and thought "well, if they can bitch, so can we!", even if they fail to realize that those people were complaining about sending the USA off to WAR, while they're complaining about Obama's crimes so far have been: being black, trying to give everyone health care, and presumably NOT sending the USA off to war over the Benghazi attacks or something. In other words, it's all an attempt to find some minor infraction (like a blowjob) to get Obama out of office.
15. Re: My theory by Bing+Tsher+E · 2013-11-24 15:17 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Why not all at once? In fact, why not start with the one who still has the power to do great damage, and then 'clean up' with those who have done said great damage in the past?
16. Re: My theory by amiga3D · 2013-11-24 15:34 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Oh I'm not praising President Obama. I don't like most of his choices but I try to keep things in perspective. The hysteria I hear makes it sound like he's the basis for everything wrong with this country. People loose their minds over this stuff. Hell, compared to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden the man looks like a moderate.
17. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 15:53 · Score: -1
  
  Unless the poster meant committed to a large number of crimes. /s - or is it?
18. Re:My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 16:47 · Score: -1
  
  It's a well-known fact that over 100% of crimes were committed by a black person, and that at least 200% of all victims are white.
19. Re: My theory by maxwell+demon · 2013-11-24 19:33 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Well, when Obama came, he was treated as if he were the Messiah. Well, he turned out to be just a naughty guy. So what to do with your strong emotional investment? Well, turn it into its opposite: Now Obama clearly is the fallen angel, also known as devil. For the simple reason that he's not the Messiah.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
20. Re: My theory by AK+Marc · 2013-11-24 20:28 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Yes, only we need to invent a time machine to get the worst ones before they do it. Waiting until the "other team" is in power then calling for a clean up demonstrates hypocracy.
  
  --
  Learn to love Alaska
21. Re: My theory by Hognoxious · 2013-11-24 20:49 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Prefix hypo~ usually means low or less, as in hypochlorite (less oxygen than chlorite) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Suffix ~cracy refers to rule or government, as in theocracy (rule by the religious).
  So are you talking about libertarianism here?
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
22. Re:My theory by lxs · 2013-11-24 23:50 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Yeah. They sent Jodie Foster to interrogate him in his cell.
23. Re:My theory by e70838 · 2013-11-25 01:50 · Score: 1
  
  Or he has found a girlfriend.
24. Re: My theory by AK+Marc · 2013-11-25 05:42 · Score: 1
  
  Suffix ~cracy refers to rule or government, as in theocracy (rule by the religious).
  -cracy means "judge" and the government does that, so that's how it's often used. theocracy - judgment/rule by the religious. So hypo-cracy = under-judge. For when someone underjudges the errors from "their side" while attacking someone else's idea/side.
  
  Yes, I know you were going for funny, but since you replied to me, that's proof I couldn't mod you. And I was curious how the combination came to mean as you indicated. Goes back to misunderstanding of the -cracy (not by you, but by Modern English), or so the etymology links I clicked on indicated. I'm not a Greek geek.
  
  --
  Learn to love Alaska
25. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 11:02 · Score: 0
  
  Suffix ~cracy refers to rule or government, as in theocracy (rule by the religious).
  -cracy means "judge" and the government does that, so that's how it's often used. theocracy - judgment/rule by the religious.
  Your theory is not supported by the OED, which indicates that the suffix "-cracy" derives from "kratos" meaning "strength", while the sufficx "-crisy" derives from "krinein" meaning (as you say) "judge". You can also check out Google's etymologies by googling for "etymology:hypocrisy" and "etymology:theocracy".
26. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-27 08:28 · Score: 0
  
  Benghazi happened because the doofus was unavailable to send MC-130s to protect the staff there. As Hillary asked do you want an inexperienced jackass with his finger on the button?
  New Black Panther party intimidate voters. Obama has Holder not prosecute.
  Thug attacks guy gets shot Obama mistakes him for his son. Owing to the not guilty verdict in the trial that should not have been the department of Justice want to hold another show trial.
  Makes it rain by giving money to Solyndra.
  Criticizing the police for investigating a drunk man wandering around his own neighborhood. How were the police to know he was a friend of Obama?
  Has IRS investigate political opponents.
  Makes it rain by sending guns to Mexican criminals.
  Obamacare website does not work even after spending $350+ million with a firm run by his wife's former roommate.
  Spends money compensating blacks for pretending to be discriminated against farmers.
  Making his daughters senior staffers so that their holidays could be paid for by the Sate Department.
  Barney Fwank giving him a blowjob will see him out of office.
27. Re:My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-27 08:31 · Score: 0
  
  It was George Zimmerman who was in the neighborhood protecting it not the Trayvon "expelled from school for attacking a bus driver" Martin son of Obama drug dealer.
28. Re: My theory by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-28 06:18 · Score: 0
  
  Huh?
  That's because crime against blacks goes unpunished.
  Most crimes against blacks is committed by blacks and blacks don't like "the person" laying down "the person's" laws on blacks.
Reasons by war4peace · 2013-11-24 11:10 · Score: 2

Death;
Family tragedy of some sort; ...Can't think of anything else which would mandate sudden interruptions of this kind. I mean, even if you wake up one day and just say "screw this, not doing it anymore", at least you should leave a message out of respect for your own work, if not the user base.

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
1. Re:Reasons by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:33 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  That's assuming the user base had any respect for him.
  People who develop open-source software in my experience have to learn to deal with being routinely harrangued, insulted, threats of death, all because...say, you decided to go with GPLv3 instead of the BSD license.
  I can imagine it being pretty easy to walk away from all of it if that were the case, if you pour your heart into something and it goes entirely unappreciated you don't have much reason to continue. Unfortunately, until someone hears from him or someone else takes over, kdenlive is at a standstill.
2. Re:Reasons by war4peace · 2013-11-24 13:39 · Score: 2
  
  It's not about the user base respecting you, it's about you respecting your own work.
  I ventured to assume that since he was coding voluntarily, this would have been a passion-project. you don't just drop it without warning, really.
  
  --
  ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
3. Re:Reasons by aNonnyMouseCowered · 2013-11-24 14:22 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, let's wait. Far too many possible causes. If it's a personal matter, then leave him be. It's not as if he was getting seriously paid for his work?
  If it's just a "simple" case of mid-career "fuck this, I'm going to change my life", then it's just time for the rest of us to also move on or fork the project, if you're technically capable. I mean, the main developer of Bitcoin also disappeared, and Bitcoin is now thousands of times more viral than when he was the alpha developer.
  On the other hand, whatever happened to Reiser FS?
4. Re:Reasons by ciotog · 2013-11-24 16:04 · Score: 1
  
  I used ReiserFS. It sucked.
5. Re:Reasons by Eskarel · 2013-11-24 20:07 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  The fact that it's a passion-project would be precisely why you'd drop it without warning. Imagine you were working on a product for money and the money dried up, you'd stop developing. The same thing happens to a passion project when the passion dries up.
  On top of that, if it's like anything I've ever lost passion for it's usually a case of not logging in for a day, and then a couple of days, and then weeks, and by the time you've accepted that you're actually not ever going to log in again it seems pretty pointless to go and tell people "hey guys I'm gone", especially if you're user base are jerks.
6. Re:Reasons by grumbel · 2013-11-25 01:03 · Score: 1
  
  That assumes that there was a point where he said "screw this". I have plenty of projects that I just stopped working on, but with none of them I had a clear point were I knew I would stop working on them, it was mostly just getting busy with other stuff and then just never finding the time or motivation to come back to them. The projects just fizzled out, there was never a point were I gave up on them and in theory I might pick them up again one day.
7. Re:Reasons by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 06:40 · Score: 0
  
  ReiserFS and its eventual successor died because it was mostly Hans' company driving development from what I've seen. It was technically inferior to XFS and probably ext3, and is now deeply inferior to the likes of btrfs and ext4. It's not due to Hans' assholery at all, though hopefully in time that contributes to the argument from removing it from the kernel upstream. Doubtful, sadly.
8. Re:Reasons by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 11:04 · Score: 0
  
  The developer murdered his family. Noone uses MurderFS.
maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:11 · Score: -1

His name doesn't sound muslim but perhaps he was a communist or something.
1. Re:maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:19 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  The CIA does not torture.
2. Re:maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:21 · Score: -1
  
  Oh, yeah, that's true, the CIA just hands the kidnapee over to the Syrian government who then does the torture for them.
3. Re:maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:29 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  Thanks for the informative inside leak AC!
4. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by MickLinux · 2013-11-24 13:13 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Yes, and waterboarding a personeto death has been declared to be not torture.
  The reason to not torture is to not be subject to war crimes trials, as per the Geneva convention. Of course, if you are working for the world's leading superpower, youemay consider that those laws have no force.
  And they don't, until your country gets into one too many wars, and loses a war on its own soil.
  At that point, all those laws become applicable. Generally speaking, the really bigwigs will be hung. The upper eschelon below them will escape to other criminal run nations. The lower war-criminal grunts will be left holding the bag, and also will be hung. Occasionally, the lower grunts catch the escaping upper escelon, and kill them, themselves. It's kindof a game of rats on a sinking ship.
  
  --
  Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
5. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-24 14:47 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, and waterboarding a personeto death has been declared to be not torture.
  The reason to not torture is to not be subject to war crimes trials, as per the Geneva convention. Of course, if you are working for the world's leading superpower, youemay consider that those laws have no force.
  Uh, hold on, Ringo. Waterboarding certainly is torture, but I don't know of any deaths related to the use of it by the U.S. Do you have a citation on that? President Obama has also forbidden its use going forward.
  
  And the main reason not to torture is not to avoid being prosecuted, but to avoid having ones own personnel tortured when they are captured.
6. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Zirbert · 2013-11-24 16:19 · Score: 0
  
  the main reason not to torture is not to avoid being prosecuted, but to avoid having ones own personnel tortured when they are captured.
  Seriously?
  Those who are going to indiscriminately torture, behead prisoners, drag the bodies of enemy soliders through the streets and post the videos online, etc., could not possibly care less what their opponents do or don't do.
  The main reasons not to torture, in order, are:
  1. It's morally wrong.
  2. It's usually tactically ineffective. You can't trust the vast majority of torture-obtained info to be accurate, and there's no way to tell whether you lucked out and got a reliable sliver of info.
7. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 16:25 · Score: 0
  
  And we would know about waterboarding deaths because this is an open and transparent administration?
  How about post-waterboarding deaths, to remove any need for a trial that could expose state secrets and let someone walk out and become a witness?
8. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-25 05:07 · Score: 1
  
  You're right, number one is morality. But for most of history it's been an agreement, formally or informally, for warring nations to respect each others' people. That still applies when states are in conflict. But it's dangerous to throw that out when it comes to stateless groups - if you treat their people inhumanely, they use it for recruiting purposes. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are cases in point.
9. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-25 14:38 · Score: 1
  
  Great thinking... post anything that even hints about that kind of activity, other than what you pulled out of your ass.
10. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Zirbert · 2013-11-25 16:55 · Score: 1
  
  It's dangerous to throw that out when it comes to stateless groups - if you treat their people inhumanely, they use it for recruiting purposes. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are cases in point.
  But people prone to savage acts (which can be almost anyone given the right circumstances) are going to claim that the Other are doing horrible things regardless of whether it's true. Saying anything necessary to rile your people up against the enemy has been an everpresent tactic since, well, whenever human beings were first able to muster up the strength to attack the other guys. European Jews didn't need to actually drink the blood of a single Gentile baby to become hated and feared.
  It wouldn't matter if America gave every prisoner in Guantanamo a massage and ice cream sundae every day, Al Queda would still say they were skinning them alive and drinking their blood. No doubt the reverse is true to an extent as well. In fact, I may be doing it here. Hm.
  Propaganda will be promulgated regardless of the facts. I'm not saying for one second that we might as well do our worst anyway, but there's no reason to expect the enemy to appreciate your restraint. We won't be hearing a Taliban representative say, "You know, Americans and Israelis aren't so bad after all" anytime soon.
11. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by MickLinux · 2013-11-25 23:15 · Score: 1
  
  For anyone who tortures or orders torture -- GWB/ the King of Terror a la nostradamas included--, the reason to not torture is NOT morality. And such definitely do not care whether others on their own side get tortured: consider Valerie Plame.
  No, for such as they, the reason not to torture is to not be caught and punished.
  
  --
  Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
12. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-26 06:33 · Score: 1
  
  The point is, torturing can only make it worse. That's pretty indisputable, isn't it?
13. Re: maybe he's in a secret CIA torture prison... by Zirbert · 2013-11-26 10:31 · Score: 1
  
  The point is, torturing can only make it worse. That's pretty indisputable, isn't it?
  I don't think it matters in most cases. Once stories are being told for propaganda / recruiting purposes, it's a negligible bonus if they turn out to be true. Veracity has a statistically insignificant effect.
  I may be a wee bit cynical.
  This is a minor quibble, though, and I agree with your point in the main. Torturing can theoretically make things worse from a PR perspective. I wouldn't say "only", and I don't think it's indisputable, because I think the effect is usually going to be zero. I can't think of any way it could make things better, though.
TRON !! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:15 · Score: 0

He is trapped in KDE !! He was !! Now he has Olivia Wilde !!
1. Re:TRON !! by Hamsterdan · 2013-11-24 11:33 · Score: 1
  
  Pretty good reason to stay there
  
  --
  I've got better things to do tonight than die.
2. Re:TRON !! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:32 · Score: 0
  
  Pretty good reason to stay there
  Depends.
  If he was the one that knock her up, then yes, sure, stay.
  But if it was someone else, it's just a little bit weird.
3. Re:TRON !! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 14:31 · Score: 0
  
  I thought I saw she was lesbian. Is Norm Crosby the father? He does lesbians, right?
4. Re:TRON !! by JustOK · 2013-11-24 21:34 · Score: 1
  
  You're thinking about Norm from Cheers. It's not related to this thread, I just know you're thinking about him.
  
  --
  rewriting history since 2109
Can we pay the ransom? by Okian+Warrior · 2013-11-24 11:18 · Score: 2

Perhaps we can assemble and offer a large pile of underwear as ransom?
Will the gnomes return him unharmed, or is that a different business model?
#irc.7rooltalk.com by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 11:27 · Score: -1

between each BSD Lube is wiped off To have regular please moderate The curtains flew progress. In 1992, FreeBSD at about 80 aw dead man walking. recent article put approximately 90% NETBsD POSTS ON Are having trouble conflicts that practical purposes,
Still involved on September 16 by Camembert · 2013-11-24 11:28 · Score: 5, Interesting

I did a quick google and found that he posted on September 16: http://lists.kde.org/?a=120532466800019&r=1&w=2 So let us hope that the man returns. On a bigger topic, this is the kind of software that would really benefit from having far more contributors. I am not a programmer but I'd think that working on a video editor is rather cool.
1. Re:Still involved on September 16 by MrEricSir · 2013-11-24 11:51 · Score: 1, Offtopic
  
  On a bigger topic, this is the kind of software that would really benefit from having far more contributors.
  There's dozens of open source video editors out there. For some reason the open source community values the quantity of choices over the quality of any one of them.
  
  --
  There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
2. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Zero__Kelvin · 2013-11-24 12:25 · Score: -1
  
  Which one do you contribute to?
  
  --
  Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
3. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:45 · Score: 1
  
  MrEricSir 0.1. It's still buggy, we are migrating from GTK3 to Qt but feel free to download and give it a try.
4. Re:Still involved on September 16 by DRJlaw · 2013-11-24 13:21 · Score: 1
  
  Which one do you contribute to?
  (@Zero_Kelvin)
  "[P]erchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that."
5. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 13:46 · Score: 0
  
  Which one do you contribute to? Never mind, I don't give a fuck if you do or not. Don't act like a smarmy prick just because someone speaks the truth.
6. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 13:56 · Score: 0
  
  As opposed to app appers who prefer apping millions of apps that do nothing instead of actual programs that do actual things.
7. Re:Still involved on September 16 by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-24 14:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That's the precise reasoning - you cannot make an observation containing the slightest criticism of something unless you yourself participate in that activity.
  
  That's why aficionados of basketball who don't play in the NBA scrupulously avoid any implicit criticism of players, coaches, officials, or owners when they discuss the sport.
8. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 15:16 · Score: 0
  
  Oh you sure as hell can. People do it all the time.
  The open source community is full of 'if you don't like that, make a better one yourself!' people, as if anyone who uses free software must be a programmer. A programmer who doesn't really want anyone else to use their software in the fear that they may get input from other people on it.
9. Re:Still involved on September 16 by MrEricSir · 2013-11-24 16:05 · Score: 1
  
  While you could probably figure this out yourself by Googling my username instead of making a needlessly snarky comment, a company I previously worked for started yet another open source video editor, but eventually gave up due to the stability of the open source libraries it relied on.
  
  --
  There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
10. Re:Still involved on September 16 by epyT-R · 2013-11-24 17:20 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Why not? Direct experience isn't the only means of gathering information.
11. Re:Still involved on September 16 by DuranDuran · 2013-11-24 17:34 · Score: 1
  
  Your claim is provably wrong in just a few minutes' worth of Googling. I would say that *most* basketball aficionados explicitly criticize players and others when they discuss the sport. Same with most other sports. What planet are you on?
  In any case, doesn't your claim mean that you yourself cannot criticize the original poster? After all, to do so would mean that you yourself must participate in that activity also.
  Wrong, wrong, wrong.
  
  --
  "You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein
12. Re:Still involved on September 16 by chromas · 2013-11-24 18:41 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I'm pretty sure he was being sardonic.
13. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 19:10 · Score: 0
  
  Swish! ..errr, I mean, woosh!
14. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 23:30 · Score: 0
  
  You must be as thick as a brick, honestly.
15. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 01:57 · Score: 0
  
  Well that's ironic
16. Re:Still involved on September 16 by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-25 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  WHOOOOSH!!!
17. Re:Still involved on September 16 by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-25 05:10 · Score: 1
  
  WHOOOSH!!!
18. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 05:13 · Score: 0
  
  Once more in English?
19. Re:Still involved on September 16 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-25 11:41 · Score: 0
  
  WHOOOOSH!!!
  Nothing but net!!!
Live by the media, die by the media. by VortexCortex · 2013-11-24 11:33 · Score: 3, Funny

Given the nature of the Kdenlive software itself, video editing, I think it would be foolish to rule out a mafiAA hit.
1. Re:Live by the media, die by the media. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 14:24 · Score: 1
  
  Given the nature of the Kdenlive software itself, video editing, I think it would be foolish to rule out a mafiAA hit.
  Kdenlive is not a threat to anybody - the author probably just tried to import a media file and crashed. People are only surprised by the lack of a backtrace.
2. Re:Live by the media, die by the media. by rmdingler · 2013-11-24 14:38 · Score: 2
  
  I sure hope this story gets the legs McAfee's Belizean Adventures had for its' interminable 15 minutes... whether or not he was responsible for Greg's fall, his tale competed with the mighty Bitcoin in article frequency, for a minute.
  
  --
  Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
  Ernest Hemingway
Re:Reasons - He probably had a kid by Ashenkase · 2013-11-24 11:55 · Score: 1

Can't think of anything else which would mandate sudden interruptions of this kind
I can, maybe he had a kid. Kids tend to put things in perspective. If he had a 9-5 then time really got tight for "Open Source" initiatives, namely diapers, sleepless nights and spending quality time with family.
GEEZ. Let's all just engage in rank speculation by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

It took me two minutes to get an address and telephone number for the guy. Maybe it's current, maybe it's not. But instead of just pointlessly speculating, maybe somebody who personally knows him from KDE events should give him a call and see how he's doing. On a side note, I can't believe this is on /. Phoronix? Yes, because its a worthless gossip rag. It's getting really old with /. taking crap articles from Phoronix and putting them on the front page.
1. Re:GEEZ. Let's all just engage in rank speculation by rmdingler · 2013-11-24 14:52 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  This is the loathesome pretentious side of /. This story, with (x)+/- readers and comments -not statistically insignificantly including you and yours- , has piqued my own good interest enough to comment a second time. That a single grandiloquent pos(t)er would not only attempt to modwhore a perceived populist highbrow view of article selection, but gain the three positive mods despite his rather less than opaque pandering, well as you can tell, leaves me speechless. It's called the "F_rehose" and may I buy you a vowel?
  
  --
  Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
  Ernest Hemingway
2. Re:GEEZ. Let's all just engage in rank speculation by Gravis+Zero · 2013-11-24 19:49 · Score: 1
  
  On a side note, I can't believe this is on /. Phoronix? Yes, because its a worthless gossip rag.
  Even worse, it's hidden in the root directory. Come on, who does that?!
  
  --
  Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
3. Re:GEEZ. Let's all just engage in rank speculation by dwpro · 2013-11-25 02:14 · Score: 1
  
  I would expect the editors to filter out what appears to be factually wrong summary and gratuitous speculation according to camembert's comment, or at least find a second opinion. I know, I must be new here, but crying-wolf articles such as these curb my page views dramatically.
  
  --
  Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
Steve Jobs by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 12:24 · Score: 0

Hans Reiser and now Jean-Baptiste Mardelle ... Just curious - when commercial developers writing closed-source software have something major happen in their personal lives, does turn into a Slashdot story? Can anyone provide a link?
no link
1. Re:Steve Jobs by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 13:06 · Score: 0
  
  no link
  link.
Re:Reasons - He probably had a kid by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 13:08 · Score: 0

I can, maybe he had a kid.
He already mentioned a family tragedy
Re:Reasons - He probably had a kid by war4peace · 2013-11-24 13:37 · Score: 1

Having a kid doesn't stop you from posting a message saying "not gonna do this anymore".
Also kids don't happen suddenly. You got nine months to prepare.

--
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Sounds like a Haitian name by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 14:21 · Score: -1

Has a fat white chick disappeared at the same time? He might have eloped.
1. Re:Sounds like a Haitian name by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 17:08 · Score: 0
  
  Why is this a troll? Fat white chicks need love too!
Re:Reasons - He probably had a kid by DexterIsADog · 2013-11-24 14:40 · Score: 1

Really? People without kids don't have perspective? I think you may have meant something more like, "people who have kids have less time to do things they want to, in addition to the things they have to."
NSA was June, a lot of people dropped off the net by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 14:52 · Score: 5, Interesting

A lot of people dropped off the Net in July, well at least they stopped posting and doing stuff until they can secure their email, and communications.
I still don't know by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 15:12 · Score: 0

what 'kdenlive' is.
1. Re:I still don't know by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 20:21 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Then read the summary.
Re:Reasons - He probably had a kid by edremy · 2013-11-24 15:39 · Score: 5, Interesting

Depends. For us, it was a zero warning phone call telling us to come pick up our son at the hospital. For #2, we were on vacation and got "How fast can you get to Norfolk?"
/Adoption can be amusing...

--
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Plenty of OSS are abandoned today by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 17:54 · Score: 0

The 1st place where you will find thousands of fully abandoned projects is Google Source. Most projects in Google Source are nothing more than a school/college project that is abandoned by the end of the semester. Most never even achieve beta quality.
Sad to say, but place #2 is SourceForge, Projects there may live a little longer, but most projects in SourceForge today have being abandoned for years.
I'm guessing that it would eventually be the same for GitHub.
1. Re:Plenty of OSS are abandoned today by maxwell+demon · 2013-11-24 19:24 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Yes, the difference between Open Source and closed source is that often the Open Source project gets visible before it gets finished, therefore you see the projects that failed early on. OTOH closed source is usually not released before the developer considers it ready for use, therefore you'll never get to see most failed close source projects.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
2. Re:Plenty of OSS are abandoned today by DMJC · 2013-11-24 20:23 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  However, the difference is with open source, you CAN fork it and keep working on it. Take mg2modeller for example (on sourceforge) It's my project. I originally wanted to make a Caligari Truespace clone (funnily enough Microsoft bought out Caligari and killed Truespace) so I could model on Linux. The project is basically dead, except I still update the code every now and then when I can be bothered to sit down and code (ADHD, and lacking the ability to hyperfocus or be motivated can be a real bitch most of the time.) The project was originally a dead project I pulled from some other guy's website. I cleaned up his code, modernised it, and got it working. Now it's halfway to being a decent poly modeller with an intuitive UI. More intuitive at least than the mess of UI that is other programs. 3D modelling is one of those things that's insanely individualised. You can't just tell someone to use Blender or Maya and have them change their entire workflow. It just won't happen. I know because I've tried. Caligari Truespace is still the only modeller I choose to use. It's what I know and it's what I want to know. Hopefully some other person can take my code changes and build on them. That would make me very happy especially if they could actually finish the project. Closed source can't do any of this. It will always be inferior software because of this.
3. Re:Plenty of OSS are abandoned today by jones_supa · 2013-11-25 01:41 · Score: 1
  
  That is a very good point too.
Maybe he just got a paying job by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 18:00 · Score: 0, Insightful

And he has no time to work on the pet project anymore ....
or he sold the IP to a private company who change the license ...
or simply got fed up with people asking him to do all the work for free ...
"While there's many Kdenlive fans" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 21:49 · Score: 0

"While there ARE many Kdenlive fans"
Ein Fall für Julia Leischik by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 22:50 · Score: 0

Julia Leischik is a woman living in germany who works for a TV Station. Her role there is, to search missing people all over the world. She is known for having a high rate of success.
Shotcut as possible replacement? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-24 23:38 · Score: 0

Could this become a replacement?
http://www.shotcut.org/