[theora-dev] It's quiet. TOO quiet.

[Dan Miller]

Theora is alive and well.  However your points are valid; there's been very little update on the www.theora.org page, or relevant info at xiph.org.
 
One decision I am aware of that should have been broadcast but hasn't been yet for some reason, is that Alpha 2 is going to be merged into the initial Beta release, still scheduled for late March.  The feeling was that there simply weren't enough important changes to provide another release.
 
I know Monty is working hard on the changes necessary to get libogg+theora to work nicely (perhaps even really well).  I am working on the bitstream specification for the video compression stream ('Theora' proper, ie the video codec).  Until this work is done, we feel there is little to be gained by encouraging large-scale adoption of what is necessarily a work in progress.
 
-dan

        -----Original Message----- 
        From: emaillist+ot at dogphilosophy.net [mailto:emaillist+ot at dogphilosophy.net] 
        Sent: Mon 1/27/2003 9:34 PM 
        To: theora-dev at xiph.org 
        Cc: 
        Subject: [theora-dev] It's quiet. TOO quiet.
        
        

        Whatever became of Ogg Theora?
        
        There seems to be still almost no news from Xiph or its
        developers regarding Ogg Theora.  None at all since Mid-December,
        when the release of Alpha 2 was pushed back to a month ago...
        
        No news on plans for the second Alpha?  No news of development
        "roadmaps"?  No news on current developments or challenges that
        are stalling development?  No CVS updates related to Theora
        since the Alpha 1 release?
        
        I get the impression that Ogg Theora's been a bit of a "well, maybe,
        if we get time" sort of project for Xiph.  Even the instructions on
        the theora.org website for obtaining the current code haven't
        been updated since before the Alpha 1 release (still showing that
        one needs to check out the "vp32" module).
        
        Even since its beginning, there has been almost no official news
        from Xiph on Theora.  Alpha 1 was released without even a mention
        on the Theora mailing lists that it was coming (or even that it'd
        been released after the fact).  Theora hasn't even been mentioned in
        the last 3 issues of Ogg Traffic.
        
        I apologize if this is coming across as flamebait - it's not supposed to.
        In fairness, I recognize the Emmett Plant posted a bit of information to
        the list mid-last-month, and Monty's been posting here occasionally about
        The Great Mimetype Debate(tm), so Theora's obviously not TOTALLY forgotten.
        I also know that some technical issues have made Monty's hard work at getting
        libogg prepped for Theora have made things difficult...but that's the
        whole extent of the available information that I can find on the subject
        of Ogg Theora.
        
        So - any apparent "flamebaititude" (is that even a real word?) in here is just
        the product of frustration from watching what seems like a very promising
        project (not to mention timely, what with the first standalone 'video file'
        players starting to come out...and only support "DivX" [though the player
        in question DOES support Ogg Vorbis for sound-only playback]) languish while I
        wait for it to reach a point where I can contribute something to it myself.
        
        Some official news once in a while would be a great relief to me, and I
        imagine as well to any potential developers, testers, and documenters who
        are still watching the list and waiting for a genuinely free alternative to
        "DivX".
        
        Please?
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