from the What-was-wrong-with-the-old-one? dept.
Open source video player VLC will get a new UI this year with 4.0 launch:
News website Protocol ran an extensive piece on the history and status of the popular open source video player VLC, and the story includes new details about the next major version of the software. Among other things, VLC 4.0 will bring a complete user interface overhaul.
"We modified the interface to be a bit more modern," VideoLAN foundation President Jean-Baptiste Kempf told the publication. Kempf had previously shown some version of a new interface about two years ago, but it's unclear at this point how much that one resembles the one the team plans to introduce with VLC 4.0.
While the article doesn't list every change coming, it does outline a couple other possible directions and priorities for VLC.
Read the article for more details.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by lentilla on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:09PM (6 children)
Oh crap, here we go... Hamburgers and hieroglyphics instead of menus and a button clearly marked "Play".
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:52PM (1 child)
... in all races and genders.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @11:40PM
You just violated VLC Code of Conduct. No video player for you...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @05:07PM
Yes - and no way to disable, revert or modify it. Perfection.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:07PM
The presentation from 2019 mentions porting the Android UI to the desktop version.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Sunday February 14 2021, @11:35AM (1 child)
We should be so lucky. More likely, the "play" functionality will be hidden in some part of the UI, where most people would never think to look for it, and easily miss, if they do.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday February 15 2021, @03:10PM
Err, no. The player will determine all by itself if and when to play the content. No need for any user interface for that functionality. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:23PM (13 children)
from the article:
Kiss a good piece of software goodbye. "Integrate more content" = fuck everything up in a vain attempt to get some money.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:42PM
So you're saying it's gonna be well and truly forked up?
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:44PM (9 children)
For fuck's sake people have to eat. Not everyone is a fucking nerd living in his mother's basement, content of feeding himself on pizza and coke for the rest of his miserable, irrelevant, worthless life.
It looks like those always bitching about not having everything for free, from people working for free, are those who contribute very little, if anything, to open source software.
Don't like the decisions VideoLAN are making ? Fork VLC. It's open source. For once in your miserable life, try putting actual work into something you use, you ungrateful, entitled little prick.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:47PM (6 children)
So you're only relevant if you're a cog in the corporate machine? Interesting theory...
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:10PM (5 children)
For those of us who don't have trust funds to live on, the corporate machine is how we have food, clothing and shelter, and enough time to do a little hobby work of our own.
If you check the wealth distribution stats, the vast majority of the world does indeed have to work for a living - those Boomer's children living in their basements aren't going to have a free ride much longer.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 5, Touché) by Arik on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:13PM
If you're doing that, you're doing it out of greed, not to survive.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by acid andy on Saturday February 13 2021, @08:03PM (3 children)
Yes, so selling out to corporatism is very often a necessary evil. That doesn't mean we should applaud bad business practices and decisions, nor should anyone be considered "miserable, irrelevant, worthless" merely for opting out of it all--note that doesn't necessarily mean relying on the support of parents although historically many, many people have had to do so.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday February 14 2021, @07:35PM (2 children)
Of course not, but from the "in the belly of the beast" perspective, no matter how well one cog in the machine does their job, it has little effect on the overall result.
When I worked in the smaller, scrappier startup environments we often perpetrated worse software and development practices on our customers / the world, simply due to the lack of manpower funding and time - ship it fast, or run out of runway.
Of course not, if you have that option and have taken it: kudos, and I hope you can do better things from that perspective. Personally, I provide the sole source of income for a family of four so me opting out doesn't mean adopting a low cost lifestyle, it means wife and kids on food stamps.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday February 15 2021, @02:17PM (1 child)
You're right Joe. It's easy for me to spout ideology on here but we all do what we've got to do to survive, particularly when you add responsibility for the wellbeing of your offspring into the mix.
I really resent how the pursuit of the profit motive to the detriment of all else is screwing up the planet and even eroding democracy and civil liberties, but without the structures that developed around it I'd have very probably missed out on some things in life I'm passionate about--computer software particularly. I have to recognize that. I guess without industry and modern technology I'd have found satisfaction crafting inventions from raw materials.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 15 2021, @05:36PM
So, my answer here would be: UBI. Not "everyone gets to kick back and live in luxury UBI," but enough to ensure basic food and shelter and let people who don't lust for more than that live a simple, low energy lifestyle instead of having to search for and commute to jobs they hate just to make enough money to not starve or suffer exposure, or worse have to jump through the government/philanthropic hoops necessary to get temporary food and shelter, or worse still: actually suffer exposure and hunger and all the expense that that ultimately brings on all of society.
With basic food and shelter security, people could really pursue dreams, the things they love, and make a little extra money doing it - and if they don't, oh well, they can still live the low cost (low energy) lifestyle while doing things they love - and when they quit loving one thing, they are free to try another and another, and maybe eventually one of those does make them significant money.
End minimum wage, no need. Scale back disability by the amount that people get in UBI. End subsidies for food, fuel and these other "necessities" that people have trouble affording - although I might classify communication as a basic human need to be provided for free to everyone. If energy for winter heating costs too much in a far North state and you can't pay for that with UBI, well maybe those living mostly on UBI should be moving to lower energy, lower cost climates to live, or building their own energy efficient homes in the cold climates.
It's not about killing the big corporations, it's about killing their stranglehold on people's options for employment and survival.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @05:09PM
Adverts on the video player that plays ad-supported content in between advertisements. People HAVE to EAT, you bastards!
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday February 15 2021, @03:19PM
Making people use a competing product is not a good strategy if making money is your goal. Unless you are the provider of that competing product, of course. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:27PM
Let's wait for 4.0 to actually come out before throwing it directly into the wood chipper.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday February 13 2021, @08:30PM
This always seems to happen, from Slashdot all the way to Zerohedge's recent UI makeover. The second I saw the latter I thought, "Oh fuck, they're either totally compromised and/or gonna completely shit the site up in the pursuit of profit." They launched "premium" tiers of paid service where you have to pay to comment (with Zerohedge justifying it saying that comment sections will now be paid but uncensored), but it seems that either they will still implement some kind of censorship or serve as a honeypot for malcontents, now that punching up to the big hedge fund boys is considered "financial terrorism or insurrection." Of course I don't have any insider information and still like the site because I don't comment there, but I predict that more and more articles will need a paid Premium membership just to even read. Soon they'll be like any big newspaper, with an annoying full-screen paywall and being totally useless to read behind a proxy.
UI makeovers are better than early-warning radar when it comes to fuckery afoot. Even moreso when the makeover is toward the CIA/Mossad color scheme of Black and White used by the Washington Post and, more recently, BLM and Infowars.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:39PM
* TPTB want you to forget about TempleOS and the idea of "do it yourself" software, unless of course it's software THEY control! And the idea of "no networking" is peace of mind in the times of Internet of Things and everything connecting to the beast, I mean internet. Men in high and low places harassed this man and may have intentionally led to his death, in my opinion.
--------
T e r r y * D a v i s, The Movie:
His body was recovered following a brutal attack by a clandestine intelligence agency involving a train. Refitted with cyborg like electronics, his new organs grant him a new life and a new friendship. No longer pounding the streets in homelessness, Terry Davis now works with the underground vigilante group AGT (Anti Glow Team). Through it all Terry erects an electronic temple, but can he control the power he has programmed into existence?
Rated MA for mature (brief nudity, alcohol, drugs, extreme violence and language)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by acid andy on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:41PM
Fuck Beta!
It is ontopic.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday February 13 2021, @04:53PM (2 children)
to a UI with flat featureless colored squares with cryptic icons in the middle, assembled in a haphazard, low-density collection of randomly colored squares with cryptic icons in the middle. That has been shown to be so much better than traditional menus and 3D-ish button configuration items lists time and time again.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Saturday February 13 2021, @05:46PM
Looks like you are referring to MMN (Mystery Meat Navigation web page UI).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation [wikipedia.org]
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 5, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:14PM
I bought a pair of bluetooth speakers, whose UI was aptly predicted by Douglas Adams decades ago:
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @05:25PM
Have fun with your nigger cause I sure as hell ain't gonna fucking suck your jew nigger cock. Fuck yourself you think i'm gonna fucking enjoy nigger cattle after I had a fucking space alien are you fucking crazy? I got a fucking space alien of course I'm not gonna fuck, fuck with nigger cattle fuck yourself. You fucking think i... enjoy your FUCKING NIGGER CATTLE
- Terry A. Davis
(Score: 2, Informative) by isocelated on Saturday February 13 2021, @05:54PM
Here we go. Brace yourselves.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:23PM
Technically it's fine, but the UI is a total mess, I'm not sure if it's just buggy or if it's the design.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday February 13 2021, @06:28PM (1 child)
God fucking damnit. Some people are just in dire need of an ass whooping.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @07:02PM
There's always WinAMP with visualizations included! (all Microsoft formats supported)
(Score: 3, Informative) by jasassin on Saturday February 13 2021, @07:13PM
Download the latest version now,and slap it on Google drive. It works perfectly fine for every file I've played on it. Or, there's always oldversion [oldversion.com].
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0x663EB663D1E7F223
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PinkyGigglebrain on Saturday February 13 2021, @08:08PM (1 child)
Every time I have seen these words it has meant terror beyond all imagining.
Yes, I want support for more codecs and formats.
No, I don't want a UI with lots of wiz bang shiny buttons that give me a headache to look and use, and all the config options have been renamed, moved and don't do what is expected.
I hope to Gods that the new VLC will have skinning so someone can make a "Classic" theme so at least the main UI is usable.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday February 14 2021, @05:55AM
You know, we've got a fair amount of code-savvy folks around here. We should pick a project or two and either work together to work up some pull requests to unshit something good that's had stupid spewed all over it or just make a fork with only the unshitting code being different. You know, like VLC4 with a useful UI or an application you love that got shit all up when it moved to GTK3, with GTK2 code put back in.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday February 13 2021, @08:09PM (3 children)
I guess it's wait and see what kind of UI-atrocity they can come up with. I gather it will be more then just skin deep and not just a little customization tweak. I guess if it's to horrible someone will just fork to bring the old one back -- VLC Classic or something. Otherwise I guess there is always MPC.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @08:51PM (2 children)
Why were you using VLC for music? Even then, I would rather use mpv.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 14 2021, @01:43AM
VLC for music?
Here's a weird use case, it's the only thing on my phone which will *reliably* play the music collection on my NAS over smb (at home) and https (when out wandering).
Various other players work up to a point, Aimp seems to be the best of the bunch, but as it still chokes on the network stuff I've relegated it to only playing local files.
That's only for the phones though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 14 2021, @06:53PM
Since Google fucked their music player, it's been my go to on Android.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by acid andy on Saturday February 13 2021, @08:15PM (1 child)
But for how long?
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Saturday February 13 2021, @11:17PM
Probably to ver 4.5 at best, then the devs will say that no one uses it and remove the feature based on nothing but their own feelings on the subject.
This would be one time where I would not mind if an app phoned home with it's config data. Then the VLC devs would know just how many users flip back to the classic UI.
The problem is that it won't mater, most users won't care enough about it and will just use what ever they get, just like they do with Windows, GNOME, KDE, systemd, etc.. Only 5-10%, if even that, of the users will actually flip back to classic look. Unless an overwhelming majority of the users, 80+% at least, go back to the classic look AND complain in the forums the devs will think their new look is loved by all and a success, and those complaints are just from old people who don't like change.
I've seen several great web sites and software applications that I used for years be effectively destroyed simply because the majority of their user base just accepted what the got and didn't complain even when they thought the old UI/config method/etc. was better. They didn't want to rock the boat.
Devs need to remember that complaints are like cockroaches, for every one you actually see there are hundreds hidden in the walls and multiplying that you never know about until it is too late.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 3, Informative) by srobert on Saturday February 13 2021, @09:07PM (1 child)
... break it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 14 2021, @12:17AM
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by pTamok on Saturday February 13 2021, @09:58PM (6 children)
It strikes me that it would be useful if applications presented a standard UI functionality API that allowed users to apply their preferred UI style via a standardised description language. Some people like the Apple HIG style, others like Win95, and others more experimental approaches like pie-menus [wikipedia.org]. It seems that so far, no-one has been clever enough to apply an elegant and concise layer of abstraction that can separate the UI style from the functionality. This is a shame. It is what I hoped might happen 30 years ago, but applications seem to be stuck in the quagmire of tying the interface to the functionality. I'm not clever or experienced enough to attempt it, but I hope some gifted academics are working on it, somewhere.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2021, @11:17PM
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/skineditor.html [videolan.org]
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday February 14 2021, @12:21AM (4 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 14 2021, @05:16AM (1 child)
just like alternative fonts when everyone else types like this and not like this.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Sunday February 14 2021, @11:49AM
If you're trying to make a point you're failing abjectly.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday February 15 2021, @03:18AM (1 child)
Skinning done at the level of the entire system needs the kind of standardization of interface API that led to freedesktop, ready to be overpowered by the systemd-ers.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Monday February 15 2021, @03:39AM
A UI should never be equivalent to 'the entire system.'
It's important to maintain a clear distinction between the different levels of abstraction.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by corey on Monday February 15 2021, @10:39PM (1 child)
I switched to MPV a few years ago as I found VLC to be bloated and take a while to load up. Plus the update nags.
MPV is available for various platforms and just plays everything. The best part is there is no UI, well there is one that appears when you move the mouse but normally you use keyboard shortcuts. Space for pause/play and left/right arrows for skip. You can load it up and drag files onto the window to play them. It’s super fast and light on memory usage.
https://mpv.io/ [mpv.io]
(Score: 2) by corey on Tuesday February 16 2021, @12:17AM
While I’m at it, I also use muPDF for home and work. Fast as hell, light, keyboard driven only. And like Vim, to search you press / then start typing. Then press n for next instance, etc. Also ignores time limited DRM code in the PDFs. Oh and you can invert the display with a single key. Good for eyes!