[mythtv] should mythtv be forked?

[andrew burke]

> The one burning question I have is simple: WHERE IS THE BUG TRACKER?

These kinds of issues shouldn't exist with a project that has such
potential to really turn a lot of people on to linux in a growing area.

For the third time, I will offer to help convert mythtv over to subversion
w/ trac for bug/issue tracking.  I will also help develop a strategy that
would result in more end-user-friendly branches, etc.

If, on the other hand, the devs on this list are absolutely not interested
in the user experience with myth, there is the possibility of forking off
a different tree that's less dev-centric and more user-centric.

Obviously a fork wouldn't be in everyone's best interest, but it might not
be so bad.  Isaac and his people could continue to work on myth as they
see fit, while the new project could cherry-pick the pieces that really
improve the end-user experience.

If you'd be interested in working on a more user-friendly mythtv fork,
please email me privately so that I can guage the kind of numbers we'd be
looking at.  Realize that the focus of any fork would be:

1) Improved user experience.
     - Stable branch, gets critical bugfixes
     - RPMs generated off stable branch
     - Renewed focus on core elements of myth: television
2) Better project management.
     - Better branch management
     - Better bug/issue tracking
     - Better documentation
3) Better community experience.
     - A commitment to be about the users and developers interested in
contributing
     - Making sure that people feel their requests are being seen,
understood and handled properly

I don't have a huge amount of time to devote to this, but I do think this
is an important project.  I would be willing to devote some time helping
to set up a development framework (version control, appropriate branching,
wiki, bug/issue tracking, etc.).  I would also be willing to help
coordinate everyone at first.  However, someone with a strong knowledge of
the internal workings of myth would be necessary to act as a technical
lead, and someone who is very committed to the user experience would need
to step forward and take responsibility for creating packages, managing
the stable branch, etc.

If you'd be interested in managing this project, I'd be interested in
hearing from you as well.

It may also end up just being a fork where critical patches are integrated
and point releases are created so that people aren't left in the cold when
they don't understand CVS, etc.

I don't throw this idea out there lightly.  But a continued apathy on the
part of the current mythtv apparatus towards the user makes me feel as
though this project really isn't living up to its huge potential.  I think
all of the devs are very talented and capable people, but mythtv simply
cannot continue to be a 'homebrew project' where the users are viewed as
second class citizens, told to use CVS, told to apply patches, etc. 
MythTV could be a real option for people looking to do home media PCs, its
potential is huge.  It's time to realize that potential and make the
changes that have to be made to realize it.

andy