Slashdot Mirror
Kdenlive Developer Jean-Baptiste Mardelle Has Been Found
jones_supa writes "A month ago there was worry about Kdenlive main developer being missing. Good news guys, Jean-Baptiste Mardelle has been finally reached and is doing fine. In a new mailing list post by Vincent Pinon, he says he managed to find Mardelle's phone number and contacted the longtime KDE developer. It was found out that Mardelle took a break over the summer but then lost motivation in Kdenlive under the burden of the ongoing refactoring of the code. Pinon agreed that there are 'so many things to redo almost from scratch just to get the 'old' functionalities'. The full story can be read from the kdenlive-devel mailing list. After talking with Jean-Baptiste, Vincent has called upon individual developers interested in Kdenlive to come forward. Among the actions called for is putting the Git master code-base back in order, ensuring the code is in good quality, provide new communication about the project, integrate new features like GPU-powered effects and a Qt5 port, and progressively integrate the new Kdenlive design."
An open source project stuck in "refactoring hell". Seems to have happened to Inkscape too. Such a waste.
Heavily refactoring projects of this size rarely brings any benefit for the users, it's just technical masturbation. If you're lucky, you will after a few years end up with a project that does the same things as before, most likely it will have acquired some bugs as icing on the cake.
Taking a few years to refactor your project might sound like a good idea at first, but chances are, you won't even be relevant anymore by the time you're done.
Some open source projects would benefit from proper managers who can stop them from shooting themselves in the foot.
it's a mature enough product that a kickstarter could probably raise the funding needed to get the work done :).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
...you assume something horrible has happened to girlfriend.
People like to be left alone a lot more than controlling types hope, and assume their silence must mean the worst.
Sometimes when a girlfriend or wife stops speaking to you, you count your blessings and leave well enough alone.
#DeleteChrome
nothing really matters (except me) anymore. free the innocent stem cells.
Would things have been better if the project was financially sponsored better? Mardelle might have been much more motivated to continue the work on the refactoring and, he might not have just disappeared because of "what's there for me in it".
It's still a bit worrying how things are arranged in open source if the lead developer of a major KDE video editing suite can just disappear on a whim and later just say "nah, I didn't feel it anymore". He didn't even write a "guys, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed" message but made people worry if something bad had happened to him.
What would happen if the lead developer of Apple's iMovie just didn't appear at workplace after his summer break?
They'd replace him with one of the many other people working on it.
Anyone with a little empathy.
7+ billion people found to not contributing as Kdenlive main developers have continued to not respond regarding their total absence from the project.
Why is everyone worried about the guy who gave the most already leaving? There are literally billions of people who gave nothing, and they haven't justified their continuing to do so. If you don't want to work on any particular project donating your time to the world, that is not a problem, its simply a lack of giving an undeserved gift to the rest of us.
I suspect this guy was driven from the project that he loved by the burden of it. That hurts him far more than it hurts us, so yes, we should have empathy to him: he gave is great gifts, and now suffers for it. Thank you Jean-Baptiste Mardelle: I don't know what the hell Kdenlive is, but it looks opensource, and a lot of work, so I'm glad to have more code out there for people to use.
Found alive having a life. More news at a 11.
They'd replace him with one of the many other people working on it.
Exactly. The big issue here is that these projects have so very few major contributors. It starts out as a one man project, picks up a few contributors who do translations and submit perhaps two bug fixes. Next thing you know there are ten "developers" making demands on the direction of the project and saying that the code is too complex for them to contribute and that it must be refactored. I don't blame the lead developer(only real contributor) for throwing their hands in the air and saying; "Fuck it! I can't be bothered anymore." They can just pick up a copy of Windows 8 which includes a more powerful and easier to use video editing application out of the box. Not to mention several other free or inexpensive video edition applications.
Now, before anyone starts arguing with this opinion, consider that regardless of what happens to the lead developer, the code still exists and is free. It could easily be continued by the remaining developer body or forked by one or more contributors that could carry on the project. Even in the case of Kdenlive where apparently only one man knows how to make the partially refactored code work(?), the old full featured and working version still exists and could be continued on. But that's not happening because no such body of real contributors exists.
Continuation of development is not happening because there are no other major contributors to the project. There is the initial main developer and a bunch of wannabe hangers-on prattling on in the mailing list. The primary developer loses interest and the project is DEAD! Once again leaving the Linux desktop without a video editor that any normal person could use.
Well, maybe 2014 will be the year of the Linux desktop. But, frankly I fear that in 2014 Netcraft will confirm that the Linux desktop is dying
Kdenlive is essentially one guy's hobby project. Blender has a number of professional developers working on it full time. Both are open source, but it's really an apples-to-oranges comparison.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
He isn't obligated to tell anyone anything, nor is he responsible for other peoples' 'worry'.
Code reuse? Readability? Maintainability? Wasn't OOP suppose to solve that? Isn't that why poor old Fortran (and others) are hated on? (eventhough it now too is tainted with objects)
i'm only half mocking here...but when one reads about these code debacles you have to wonder why people are so in love with OOP.
It's not dead as long as there are users using it who are satisfied with its current capabilities. If there's sufficient demand, it will at least be maintained at its current functionality by the linux distributions. The support libraries it depends on aren't going anywhere. If there's a lot of demand for new functionality, it will attract developers again.
It's proprietary solutions like your 'microsoft video' link that are purposely hobbled and/or disappear once a better (for the vendor) business model comes along. Microsoft's solutions become more dumbed down and useless with each iteration, and you're basically stuck with 'dead' versions if you want to retain older functionality missing in the new one. How is this any less 'dead'?
Well, technically not. I mean that it would have been ethically fair to let others know.
It will disappear? How so? Is Microsoft going to force people to uninstall it?
Using an older version of windows just as 'dead' as using an unmaintained open source application..
I don't agree. Someone can up and leave a personal project any time they choose. They should not be obligated to prop up anyone's feelings.
Nice try at goalpost shifting. So now do you care to show how it will "disappear"?
It makes it different because there was other people involved and Kdenlive has a status of being an important software.
I'm sure he still maintains some interest in KDE and reads the tech news..chances are he saw the initial brouhaha regarding his absence and ignored it.
Way to embarrass him...this whole adventure, from beginning to end, reeks of a serious lack of basic communication and social skills.
If somebody pays me for three months to re-invent the wheel then I can cope with that. OTOH 'why' volunteer when so few join in and make it a party of like-minds in an orgy of better engineering?
For me a lot of programming is like playing with a model railway. It's an intellectual and artistic diversion where detail matters... ...Which is why I can't understand the 'open for gacking' methods of Git/Guthub. I want newbies to be mentored then directed then become part of a team that knows how to jointly own an objective and share the methods.
There's a word that describes what happened exactly: Gafiate. Gafiating is sort of like taking a vacation, but it's a vacation from your hobby or other spare-time activity, such as working on OSS projects. Sometimes, you just have to walk away for a while until the interest comes back. If nothing else, it's good to know that there's nothing seriously wrong.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
.. and intelligent people are no longer trusting any kickstart. In fact, many people are starting to associate any kickstart project with a scam.
Last reports showed that less than 10% of the kickstart projects actually produce anything after reaching their $$$ goals and less than 1% actually deliver a working product. Most projects/companies disappear soon after cashing the target money.
Citation? I've backed several things on kickstarter that have finished successfully and I've also purchased products that started as kickstarter projects. Maybe I'm just really lucky or maybe I'm smart enough to not back anything that looks sketchy, but I've only had good experiences on kickstarter.
I think people who use terms like "open source" and "closed source" should realise that the type of source does not mean much about how its handled. You should rather look at the project as either a hobby or business venture. This guy did a hobby project and afaik he never signed any contract with anyone to agree to keep them updated with his whereabouts (or to finish the project), and he is free to do so. The lead of IMovie would be replaced (as he is not fulfilling his contract). There is probably a lot of old "closed source" software of old that today is just as lost in limbo, the 1-man-company behind it simply vanished (remember shareware?).
If you want kdenlive bad enough, sign a contract with a(/some) dev(s). and pay them, otherwise you really have no say over what choices other people make.
When people complain about a business not making a project they were planning on (due to realising it wont pay off). Those complaints are sent straight to /dev/null despite there often being a client-relationship.
It still makes no difference because he still do not owe anything to people who have decided they find his work important. If I like what you write on ./ do you owe to me to write new stuff whenever i want it, or to inform me when you go away for a period of time?
Exactly. Both are unmaintained. In other words, there's no advantage to the open source project over the proprietary one if neither is maintained.
Ah yes, thus reinforcing the stereotype of programmers as have zero empathy for others.
It still makes no difference because he still do not owe anything to people who have decided they find his work important.
I certainly think he owes. Not juridically but as part of having good manners.
This is incredible. Not only you have to work for free and do a job that gets zero social recognition, but you have to do it forever. If you try to escape THEY WILL FIND YOU!
Using an older version of windows just as 'dead' as using an unmaintained open source application..
I can't recite the countless number of OSS project that were included in major distros that, became unmaintained, fell out of favor or God knows what that became unusable due to new version(even kernel) incompatibilities. The numerous repeated times that a music collection with its database of playlists, album art, and meta data that was rendered useless because of some change or another either in the project, kernel, or distro.
Kdenliven is now for all intents and purposes dead! After 10 years, but before it got out of the gate with a stable version, it's dead. No distro is going to package it now that it is broken and unmaintained. And it is to be replaced with what? There continues to be a massive dearth of Linux video editing software that is even remotely approachable by normal users. There are at least half a dozen really good free options for Windows users and just as many fantastic paid options available.
oh dear that is hilarious. and also quite pithy. well said, good fellow! ambiguity may not be a friend of mine, but it still must be given a place at the table for any discussion of how to achieve anything.
[previewlounge posting as anonymous due to current refactoring of my forgotten password]
to get a refactored code base darling, back in four years