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diff --git a/common/README b/common/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83a1b88 --- /dev/null +++ b/common/README @@ -0,0 +1,255 @@ +GStreamer @SERIES_VERSION@ + +WHAT IT IS +---------- + +This is GStreamer, a framework for streaming media. + +WHERE TO START +-------------- + +We have a website at +http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/ + +You should start by going through our FAQ at +http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/faq/html/ + +There is more documentation; go to +http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation + +You can subscribe to our mailing lists; see the website for details. + +We track bugs in GNOME's bugzilla; see the website for details. + +You can join us on IRC - #gstreamer on irc.freenode.org + +GStreamer 1.0 series +-------------------- + +Starring + + GSTREAMER + +The core around which all other modules revolve. Base functionality and +libraries, some essential elements, documentation, and testing. + + BASE + +A well-groomed and well-maintained collection of GStreamer plug-ins and +elements, spanning the range of possible types of elements one would want +to write for GStreamer. + +And introducing, for the first time ever, on the development screen ... + + THE GOOD + + --- "Such ingratitude. After all the times I've saved your life." + +A collection of plug-ins you'd want to have right next to you on the +battlefield. Shooting sharp and making no mistakes, these plug-ins have it +all: good looks, good code, and good licensing. Documented and dressed up +in tests. If you're looking for a role model to base your own plug-in on, +here it is. + +If you find a plot hole or a badly lip-synced line of code in them, +let us know - it is a matter of honour for us to ensure Blondie doesn't look +like he's been walking 100 miles through the desert without water. + + THE UGLY + + --- "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." + +There are times when the world needs a color between black and white. +Quality code to match the good's, but two-timing, backstabbing and ready to +sell your freedom down the river. These plug-ins might have a patent noose +around their neck, or a lock-up license, or any other problem that makes you +think twice about shipping them. + +We don't call them ugly because we like them less. Does a mother love her +son less because he's not as pretty as the other ones ? No - she commends +him on his great personality. These plug-ins are the life of the party. +And we'll still step in and set them straight if you report any unacceptable +behaviour - because there are two kinds of people in the world, my friend: +those with a rope around their neck and the people who do the cutting. + + THE BAD + + --- "That an accusation?" + +No perfectly groomed moustache or any amount of fine clothing is going to +cover up the truth - these plug-ins are Bad with a capital B. +They look fine on the outside, and might even appear to get the job done, but +at the end of the day they're a black sheep. Without a golden-haired angel +to watch over them, they'll probably land in an unmarked grave at the final +showdown. + +Don't bug us about their quality - exercise your Free Software rights, +patch up the offender and send us the patch on the fastest steed you can +steal from the Confederates. Because you see, in this world, there's two +kinds of people, my friend: those with loaded guns and those who dig. +You dig. + +The Lowdown +----------- + + --- "I've never seen so many plug-ins wasted so badly." + +GStreamer Plug-ins has grown so big that it's hard to separate the wheat from +the chaff. Also, distributors have brought up issues about the legal status +of some of the plug-ins we ship. To remedy this, we've divided the previous +set of available plug-ins into four modules: + +- gst-plugins-base: a small and fixed set of plug-ins, covering a wide range + of possible types of elements; these are continuously kept up-to-date + with any core changes during the development series. + + - We believe distributors can safely ship these plug-ins. + - People writing elements should base their code on these elements. + - These elements come with examples, documentation, and regression tests. + +- gst-plugins-good: a set of plug-ins that we consider to have good quality + code, correct functionality, our preferred license (LGPL for the plug-in + code, LGPL or LGPL-compatible for the supporting library). + + - We believe distributors can safely ship these plug-ins. + - People writing elements should base their code on these elements. + +- gst-plugins-ugly: a set of plug-ins that have good quality and correct + functionality, but distributing them might pose problems. The license + on either the plug-ins or the supporting libraries might not be how we'd + like. The code might be widely known to present patent problems. + + - Distributors should check if they want/can ship these plug-ins. + - People writing elements should base their code on these elements. + +- gst-plugins-bad: a set of plug-ins that aren't up to par compared to the + rest. They might be close to being good quality, but they're missing + something - be it a good code review, some documentation, a set of tests, + a real live maintainer, or some actual wide use. + If the blanks are filled in they might be upgraded to become part of + either gst-plugins-good or gst-plugins-ugly, depending on the other factors. + + - If the plug-ins break, you can't complain - instead, you can fix the + problem and send us a patch, or bribe someone into fixing them for you. + - New contributors can start here for things to work on. + +PLATFORMS +--------- + +- Linux is of course fully supported +- FreeBSD is reported to work; other BSDs should work too +- Solaris is reported to work; a specific sunaudiosink plugin has been written +- MacOSX works, binary 1.x packages can be built using the cerbero build tool +- Windows works; binary 1.x packages can be built using the cerbero build tool + - MSys/MinGW builds + - Microsoft Visual Studio builds are not yet available or supported +- Android works, binary 1.x packages can be built using the cerbero build tool +- iOS works + +INSTALLING FROM PACKAGES +------------------------ + +You should always prefer installing from packages first. GStreamer is +well-maintained for a number of distributions, including Fedora, Debian, +Ubuntu, Mandrake, Gentoo, ... + +Only in cases where you: +- want to hack on GStreamer +- want to verify that a bug has been fixed +- do not have a sane distribution +should you choose to build from source tarballs or git. + +Find more information about the various packages at +http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/download/ + +COMPILING FROM SOURCE TARBALLS +------------------------------ + +- again, make sure that you really need to install from source ! + If GStreamer is one of your first projects ever that you build from source, + consider taking on an easier project. + +- check output of ./configure --help to see if any options apply to you +- run + ./configure + make + + to build GStreamer. +- if you want to install it (not required, but what you usually want to do), run + make install + +- try out a simple test: + gst-launch -v fakesrc num_buffers=5 ! fakesink + (If you didn't install GStreamer, prefix gst-launch with tools/) + + If it outputs a bunch of messages from fakesrc and fakesink, everything is + ok. + + If it did not work, keep in mind that you might need to adjust the + PATH and/or LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variables to make the system + find GStreamer in the prefix where you installed (by default that is /usr/local). + +- After this, you're ready to install gst-plugins, which will provide the + functionality you're probably looking for by now, so go on and read + that README. + +COMPILING FROM GIT +------------------ + +When building from git sources, you will need to run autogen.sh to generate +the build system files. + +You will need a set of additional tools typical for building from git, +including: +- autoconf +- automake +- libtool + +autogen.sh will check for recent enough versions and complain if you don't have +them. You can also specify specific versions of automake and autoconf with +--with-automake and --with-autoconf + +Check autogen.sh options by running autogen.sh --help + +autogen.sh can pass on arguments to configure + +When you have done this once, you can use autoregen.sh to re-autogen with +the last passed options as a handy shortcut. Use it. + +After the autogen.sh stage, you can follow the directions listed in +"COMPILING FROM SOURCE" + +You can also run your whole git stack uninstalled in your home directory, +so that you can quickly test changes without affecting your system setup or +interfering with GStreamer installed from packages. Many GStreamer developers +use an uninstalled setup for their work. + +There is a 'create-uninstalled-setup.sh' script in + + http://cgit.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/tree/scripts/ + +to easily create an uninstalled setup from scratch. + + +PLUG-IN DEPENDENCIES AND LICENSES +--------------------------------- + +GStreamer is developed under the terms of the LGPL (see LICENSE file for +details). Some of our plug-ins however rely on libraries which are available +under other licenses. This means that if you are distributing an application +which has a non-GPL compatible license (for instance a closed-source +application) with GStreamer, you have to make sure not to distribute GPL-linked +plug-ins. + +When using GPL-linked plug-ins, GStreamer is for all practical reasons +under the GPL itself. + +HISTORY +------- + +The fundamental design comes from the video pipeline at Oregon Graduate +Institute, as well as some ideas from DirectMedia. It's based on plug-ins that +will provide the various codec and other functionality. The interface +hopefully is generic enough for various companies (ahem, Apple) to release +binary codecs for Linux, until such time as they get a clue and release the +source. |