info about collaboration

[Francesco Argese]

Hi all,

I'm new to the list. I have read on the main page that you are
searching volunteers in order to implement new functionalitiesin order
to obtain a tool comparable to cdrtools with GPL license.

I'd like to collaborate but i first want to know what are the main
things to know.

I know c programming and i have a little knowing (and a great
interest) in multimedia programming. Is it enough? I have done
something (as programmer) with gstreamer but it is a framework at an
higher level.

Thanks
Francesco Argese

[R. Bernstein]

Francesco Argese writes:
 > Hi all,
 >
 > I'm new to the list. I have read on the main page that you are
 > searching volunteers in order to implement new functionalitiesin order
 > to obtain a tool comparable to cdrtools with GPL license.

rms requested something be done in this area and libcdio (and possibly
vcdimager) are the closest existing GNU projects.

 >
 > I'd like to collaborate but i first want to know what are the main
 > things to know.
 >
 > I know c programming and i have a little knowing (and a great
 > interest) in multimedia programming. Is it enough?

In my opinion, interest is more important than (pre-existing)
knowledge. If you have the interest you will likely get the knowledge
you need eventually, but the converse is less true.

 > I have done
 > something (as programmer) with gstreamer but it is a framework at an
 > higher level.

I don't think folks will hold that against you. ;-) Good programming is good
programming whether it is in a framework, high, or low level.

 >
 > Thanks
 > Francesco Argese
 >
 >

[Francesco Argese]

Thanks for the answer.

Where can i begin from? Could you give me some link?

Hi
Francesco

2008/9/19 R. Bernstein <rocky@...>:

> Francesco Argese writes:
>  > Hi all,
>  >
>  > I'm new to the list. I have read on the main page that you are
>  > searching volunteers in order to implement new functionalitiesin order
>  > to obtain a tool comparable to cdrtools with GPL license.
>
> rms requested something be done in this area and libcdio (and possibly
> vcdimager) are the closest existing GNU projects.
>
>  >
>  > I'd like to collaborate but i first want to know what are the main
>  > things to know.
>  >
>  > I know c programming and i have a little knowing (and a great
>  > interest) in multimedia programming. Is it enough?
>
> In my opinion, interest is more important than (pre-existing)
> knowledge. If you have the interest you will likely get the knowledge
> you need eventually, but the converse is less true.
>
>  > I have done
>  > something (as programmer) with gstreamer but it is a framework at an
>  > higher level.
>
> I don't think folks will hold that against you. ;-) Good programming is good
> programming whether it is in a framework, high, or low level.
>
>  >
>  > Thanks
>  > Francesco Argese
>  >
>  >
>
>
>

[R. Bernstein]

Francesco Argese writes:
 > Thanks for the answer.
 >
 > Where can i begin from? Could you give me some link?

Quoting from http://www.gnu.org/software/libcdio/

   Both cdrtools and cdrkit include the mkisofs program, originally
   written for GNU by Eric Youngdale. So that is one possible starting
   point. Technically, it seems the ideal result would be enhancements
   to libcdio at the library level to support the necessary writing
   functionality (the above projects have no comparable library
   layer), and then command-line utilities to provide a shell
   interface.

And a google search of mkisofs and Eric Youngdale shows code here:
   http://www.tux.org/pub/people/eric-youngdale/mkisofs/

The libcdio link also says

    The GNU vcdimager program is a potential starting point.

vcdimager writes VCD's. The first track of a VCD is an ISO-9660
filesystem. So vcdimager has routines to write an ISO-9660 track to a
file in image format (bin/cue, or cdrdao's format). These routines are
in vcdimager/lib/image_bincue.c and vcdimager/lib/image_cdrdao.c of
the vcdimager source.

I don't believe doing work for the above will require interacting with
real hardware. However if that's of interest, I can probably think of
some things.

It's possible that you may have to work pretty much independently.

[Francesco Argese]

Ok. Those information seem enough to begin.

> I don't believe doing work for the above will require interacting with
> real hardware. However if that's of interest, I can probably think of
> some things.

If it will require some hardware interaction I'll ask you.

> It's possible that you may have to work pretty much independently.

Yes. But i prefer to have a overview of the application's design. I
haven't found any documentation describing it. Is there some generic
GNU conventions regarding application's design? Where can i find it?

Another thing: I have worked with some GNU tools (included gcc and
gdb), but i like to know what type of toolchain is suggested (build
system etc.). I need only a short introduction (or, better, some links
regarding the argument).

Thanks
Francesco

[R. Bernstein]

Francesco Argese writes:
 > Ok. Those information seem enough to begin.
 >
 > > I don't believe doing work for the above will require interacting with
 > > real hardware. However if that's of interest, I can probably think of
 > > some things.
 >
 > If it will require some hardware interaction I'll ask you.
 >
 > > It's possible that you may have to work pretty much independently.
 >
 > Yes. But i prefer to have a overview of the application's design. I
 > haven't found any documentation describing it.

  http://www.gnu.org/software/libcdio/libcdio.html, possibly section 10
  http://www.gnu.org/software/libcdio/doxygen/annotated.html

If there organization is not what you want or there's some aspect that
you feel should be described in different way, then perhaps one way to
start is to just to try to document that aspect.

 > Is there some generic
 > GNU conventions regarding application's design? Where can i find it?

http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/

 >
 > Another thing: I have worked with some GNU tools (included gcc and
 > gdb), but i like to know what type of toolchain is suggested (build
 > system etc.). I need only a short introduction (or, better, some links
 > regarding the argument).

A google search for "using gnu tools" (that's a hint) turns this up:

   http://www.seul.org/docs/autotut/

which contains the above standards link.

 >
 > Thanks
 > Francesco
 >

[Francesco Argese]

Ok. It was precisely what i'm searching. Thanks for all these useful
lynks and informations. Now i'm ready to start studying something.

When i'll have some news or others things to ask, i'll contact the list.

Hi
Francesco