I haven't had good luck with GStreamer either, and found it laggy and far less reliable than xinelib (back when amarok implemented both backends directly).
It's possible that it has improved, and I don't doubt that it is a decent piece of engineering that does what it advertises. But it's a set of codecs, and it's still a GOOD THING that we have a choice here. It's GOOD to be able to switch between the backends in case one of them starts sucking. The KDE guys have learned from the aRts experience (which was hardcoded everywhere) and learned to design their software in a way that they don't rely on specific solutions, but can provide stable APIs and still change backends. It's a good thing.
All the people who insist that everyone MUST use PulseAudio, and MUST use GStreamer and MUST use GTK and MUST use GNOME and MUST use Ubuntu can stick it up their ass.
Linux/GNU/BSD are an ecosystem developed from below, not a product designed in a meeting room. It evolves, offers options, and technologies come and go. KDE guys are clever enough to see this and embrace this (by providing an abstraction layer), instead of forcing software on you out of religious conviction.
It's possible that it has improved, and I don't doubt that it is a decent piece of engineering that does what it advertises. But it's a set of codecs, and it's still a GOOD THING that we have a choice here. It's GOOD to be able to switch between the backends in case one of them starts sucking. The KDE guys have learned from the aRts experience (which was hardcoded everywhere) and learned to design their software in a way that they don't rely on specific solutions, but can provide stable APIs and still change backends. It's a good thing.
All the people who insist that everyone MUST use PulseAudio, and MUST use GStreamer and MUST use GTK and MUST use GNOME and MUST use Ubuntu can stick it up their ass.
Linux/GNU/BSD are an ecosystem developed from below, not a product designed in a meeting room. It evolves, offers options, and technologies come and go. KDE guys are clever enough to see this and embrace this (by providing an abstraction layer), instead of forcing software on you out of religious conviction.
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