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1113 points Bluestein | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.394s | source
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lairv ◴[] No.41278203[source]
I use it to inspect video frames by frames, particularly being able to go back one frame. VLC doesn't support it, this thread about the feature is hilarious https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=120627
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justin66 ◴[] No.41279364[source]
The developer responds to a comment:

But many players are able to do it for years.

with:

If it's so easy, why are you not doing it?

He's not just a butthole, he's a stereotypical open source developer butthole. On the other hand, if he worked for Microsoft, he'd be claiming that it takes a PhD to do it...

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The_Colonel ◴[] No.41279913[source]
The dev said they are happy to accept patch for this feature. Remember that you're not entitled to demand new features, as a (non-paying) user, you can't allocate dev's time to work on what you want.
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imiric ◴[] No.41280386[source]
This card is played too often by developers who only want to work on features they personally find interesting or worthwhile.

Yes, you realistically cannot implement everything every user wants, but at the same time your software is meant to solve problems. Keeping direct communication with your users, and understanding what they find useful or not, should be the driving force of the design and features of your app.

FWIW, I've been on both sides of this discussion, as an OSS maintainer and user, and have experience with demanding users and arrogant and, yes, _lazy_ developers alike. Let's stop the narrative that users don't have the right to request features because they're not paying customers, and that this is driving developers to burn out. Communication is key to producing useful software regardless of its license. OSS development in particular is not just about throwing some code online and forgetting about it.

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zem ◴[] No.41280821[source]
> developers who only want to work on features they personally find interesting or worthwhile.

you say that like it's a bad or even a surprising thing. for a lot of people that's the entire point of open source development - in their day jobs they do what they are required to do for the company that pays them, and then in their own open source projects they can do what genuinely interests them.

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imiric ◴[] No.41282312[source]
Why bother releasing OSS at all then? What do developers who don't want to listen to their users honestly gain from this? Padding on their résumé?

If you just wish to solve your own problems, build things for yourself and keep it private. If, on the other hand, you want to help others and make your software public, then do right by the people who decided to try your software and listen to what they have to say.

How anyone can defend the attitude of the VLC developer in the thread linked above is beyond me.

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1. commodoreboxer ◴[] No.41282687[source]
Imagine finding a piece of art you like, but finding a minor anatomy flaw. When you point it out, the artist says they aren't going to fix it, because the piece is finished, and it would be impossible for them to do it, you point out that other artists have touched up their finished pieces, and they tell you to do it yourself, then.

Why is the artist obligated to do the work you think they should do? Why, if they don't do this work, should they be obligated to not release their work publicly?

FOSS is not an obligation to do everything that every user wants you to do. It's not an obligation to even communicate with those users. In fact, it comes explicitly with no warranty, even for fitness for any purpose.

The developer is a poor communicator, but how anybody can be defending those annoying, entitled, lazy users is beyond me.