[Matroska-general] Re: Guide change for matroska going 1.0 ?

[Christian HJ Wiesner]

Liisachan wrote:

> Well, I might edit that page and add newer info at a proper time.
> You are right, needless to say we couldnt say "OGM is beter" anymore and
> I'm not going to recommend OGM because of that reason anymore
> as it hasn't changed much while Matroska has been surprisingly improved.
> That page says "As of 7 June 2003" very explicitly, with links to 
> newer infos,
> so technically it's not that wrong, but yes, I think I have to report 
> about the new features now usable.

Thanks. It might interest you that we are now capable of finding 
reffered links in every hit we get on matroska.org. And ld-anime ranks 
2nd after google,with about 150 hits /  day to the matroska homepage :-) 
( google : about 500 ) !! Needless to say, we are very extremely happy 
and thankful about your Guides :-) ....

> on the other hand, atm I think Matroska and things around it are still 
> beta or beta-ish too

Any changes we make to the container specs themselves were always done 
with backwards compatibility in mind. We know there are a lot of 
matroska files out there already, and we will make sure these will 
always be spec compliant. But of course, i fully agree with respect to 
the tools for matroska creation/editing/playback .

> for one thing---IMHO, you 'll need a handy, safe, well-tested, 
> minimalist installer for DirectShow filters just really needed,
> in order to say that Matroska is now ready to use for everyone 
> including newbies.
> Matroska Pack 1.0.x comes with many files by default, like mmswitch 
> and matrix mixer and even alpha-ish CoreFLAC:
> This pack is causing quite a few problems, I know someone who had to 
> restore his OS because of this,
> I myself had to re-install OS because of CoreFLAC trouble.
> Personally I'm OK with that as beta is like that by nature. I even 
> like to try newest unstable versions

Of course, you could untick all these extra options and install only the 
basic stuff, but i am well aware nobody does that. Your idea is great, i 
will talk to Nibor about this as soon as possible.

> However, it would be great if Minimalist Install Pack would be 
> available _for ordinary ppl_
> which would install only STABLE versions of MatroskaSplitter, 
> CoreVorbis, VSFilter--only these 3.
> Generally, bloated codec packs like nimo are hated and labeled as 
> dangerous,
> ( the true reason should be that DirectShow system is too delicate and 
> not very reliable,
> what is bad is not codec packs but OS.)
> Ordinary ppl wouldn't do custom-install: they don't know what to do 
> when filters are messed up either (Graphedit / Chage merit etc)

Yes, consider it done ;-) ....

> My page is not dev's but independent users'--practical memos for users 
> by users--not for devs nor by devs--
> so I might say "Test this carefully. The official page says its stable 
> now but it's still beta-ish"
> I'd say feely something like "Matroska is great: it can do this and 
> this this and even this now!
> But its not omnipotent: it has this problem and you ll have to be 
> careful about it"
> I assume that such info from the 3rd party will be useful. 

As mentioned above, your independant reports are extremely helpful for 
us. Please continue reporting about our project, and if you feel 
matroska has problems about this or another feature, we wont mind you 
telling your readers.

> After all, our pages exist not to evangelize with Matroska,

:O ....... i would never expect this from you .....

> but just  to explain how to watch our fansubs ^^; (Or to explain why 
> we should use this new format)
> For instance, according to our tests, Matroska Pack 0.5 is safer than 
> 1.0.0-- i know this result is not what you want,
> but users have different views

Hmmm ..... you are aware you cant use the new mkvmerge then, as the 
filter in the old pack wont support the new lacing sheme .. but i guess 
you know how to deactivate the new lacing in mkvmerge.

> Christian, I'll update my site when I have time, but I hope you'll 
> understand the nature of our pages.
> Liisachan 

Thanks again Liisachan :-) !!

Christian