ImpDev Meetups/2010-11-15

Summary
ImpDev Meetup for November 15, 2010.


 * We discussed the Viewer 2 menu layout, and what Kokua's menu layout should be like.
 * Some parts of the V2 layout are good. Boroondas likes that there is no "File" catch-all menu (Jacek agrees).
 * But, the "Me" is also not that great. Jacek suggests a "Kokua" menu, like how apps on Mac do it.
 * Jacek says to experiment, try different things, see how they feel.
 * Regardless, we will probably have an option for a 1.x-style menu layout, to make it more comfortable for current users.
 * We discussed pie menus in Kokua.
 * Jacek says we will probably also (eventually) have an option for a 1.x-style pie menu, for the same reason.
 * But, licensing is an issue. There is no pie menu code in the LGPL source, so we would have to reinvent it.
 * Kakurady mentioned the mockups for a new type of pie menu he made long ago.
 * Jacek isn't opposed to trying new options, but reiterated that the immediate purpose for recreating the pie menus is to make the viewer more comfortable to current users.
 * We discussed branching / merging strategy. This was a long and dense discussion, so read the transcript (12:33 to 01:08). It did not reach a final resolution, so it will need to be discussed again later.
 * We discussed the status of the Windows and Mac Experimentals.
 * They now compile and run, but audio streams do not work on either, no doubt due to some issue with the Quicktime plugin.
 * We either need to fix/extend the Quicktime plugin, or replace/augment it with another solution, like the GStreamer plugin or a new VLC plugin.
 * We discussed relicensing of existing (GPL) patches to LGPL.
 * Jacek's opinion: If we have the patch author's permission, in most cases there is no problem. Code original written by the author can be relicensed by them, even if it used to be surrounded by some GPL code.
 * For changes to previously existing GPL code (rewritten lines), if an equivalent change can be made to the LGPL source, it's not an issue either.
 * If the function/class that the patch applied to has been removed or substantially rewritten, then we will probably have to rewrite the patch from scratch. But, the patch wouldn't have worked anyway, so no loss.
 * Other special cases will need to be resolved individually.

Agenda Items

 * Structure for the Kokua main menu (Boroondas)
 * Armin already changed it away from V2's structure
 * I think some aspects of V2 menu structure are good and worth keeping
 * Branching / Merging strategy for Kokua repos (Boroondas)