Drivel (was: [bongo-devel] Re: Changing backend for tracks)

[Daniel Brockman]

address@hidden (Daniel Jensen) writes:

> Daniel Brockman <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> By the way, I regret that I haven't gotten around to
>> installing the other cool stuff you have conjured up
>> recently and not so recently.
>>
>> The stream stuff should definitely go in, for example.
>> I thought I would get around to propose some lower-level
>> changes that would make a nicer implementation possible
>> and then install a modified version.  I didn't do that yet.
>> (I'm not even sure I can come up with something workable.)
>
> Is there a reason you keep your ideas secret?

No, just lack of time to put them into coherent messages.
I have a draft of a post regarding this that's been sitting
untouched in my mailer for quite a while now.  Reading it,
there is nothing particularly clever in it.  Here it is:

   From: Daniel Brockman <address@hidden>
   Subject: Large restructuring: first-class tracks, or `items'
   To: address@hidden
   
   Hi,
   
   I'm reading Daniel Jensen's code for parsing the metadata of
   streaming media, but I'm stopping to write this mail.
   
   I like Daniel's code, but I think it could be written in a
   more natural way if tracks were first-class objects.
   
   Well, what do I mean by `tracks' and whatever do I mean by
   `first-class objects'?  Let me tell you what I mean.
   
   By `track', I mean ``something that can be played''.
   Bongo buffers contain _track lines_, which are lines
   representing tracks.  How do they represent tracks?
   
   Here is the definition of `bongo-track-line-p':
   
      (defun bongo-track-line-p (&optional point)
        "Return non-nil if the line at POINT is a track line."
        (or (bongo-file-track-line-p point)
            (bongo-action-track-line-p point)))
   
   File track lines have `bongo-file-name' properties.
   Action track lines have `bongo-action' properties.
   (URI track lines are a kind of file track lines.)
   
   Notice how there is no coherent `track object' in sight.
   This is what I propose to change.


I guess I set out to write it as an essay, hoping to figure
out the details as I went along outlining the changes.

Since I didn't finish it, all I have is an `idea' that I
don't even know myself is any good.

> Feel free to take them here. Perhaps I can help.

Thank you.  Feel free to work on the idea. :-)

>> Well, now you know I feel bad about it.  I'll do it RSN.
>> Especially since I feel even more bad about it now.
>
> Daniel, you have apologized before and I don't think it's necessary.
> We're doing this for fun, and there is no reason to feel bad about
> anything.

I set out to do certain things, and then I don't do them.
That makes me feel bad.  I'm glad I don't disappoint you;
maybe I'm apologizing to myself a little bit as well.

My life has been a bit weird lately.  Basically, the upshot
has been that I have neglected a lot of things I care about,
including some friends, my mom, Bongo, and eating properly.

> (Well, bugs maybe! Hint, hint.)

You're right.  There are confirmed bugs that nobody is
working on fixing.  Maybe I'll get around to sometime.

>> Anyway.  Daniel Jensen, ladies and gentlemen.
>
> Heh, I don't know what that means.

Haha, just that I'm glad that you're here and running this
show with me.

Do you think the current setup is good, with me maintaining
some kind of --- in effect --- official repository, and you
and everyone else sending me patches?

I don't mind it much, except that I feel bad when I end up
not applying patches that are sent for a long while simply
because I have some undisclosed `ideas' about the code.

I could just install any good stuff sent here and then only
later apply whatever changes I may or may not want to make.
I guess I'm thinking of my repository as `my' repository,
and want to believe that it's nicely internally consistent.

But I know that's not true.  So maybe it's just that I care
about this piece of software a whole lot, and I want it to
look nice and clean both on the inside and on the outside.

Actually, in fact, I am probably just a control freak.
Yeah, that's the simplest explanation.  Occam's razor.

Anyway, if you want we could each maintain our own personal
repositories and pull patches from each other, instead of
having a bottleneck configuration where you shower me with
awesome stuff and I try to keep up with installing it all.

If status quo works for you, no worries.  I'm just sayin'.

-- 
Daniel Brockman <address@hidden>