Example of horrendous documentation/explanation - WorldTV

[Viipottaja]

Ok, so now under fresh you can see "WorldTV99" and all it says is "Playlist for KMPlayer".

And for KMPlayer itself "Media player front end for gstreamer, mplayer and libflashplayer."

While this may be clear for 99.99% of the old NIT users, Linux/Maemo experts etc. does anyone really think that sufficient description/explanation?

This was typical when I first got my 770 years ago - I had hoped that by now some of this would have changed... unfortunately it seems there are long ways to go in that regard too. :(

After all the hardwork a developer goes through to get an app up and running, it would be great to go the extra mile and explain what the app is actually about in plain English. :)

[Laughing Man]

Well you could always write a description and give it to the developer to put in there. :)

[Viipottaja]

I would if I knew what the heck gstreamer, mplayer, libflashplayer etc. are supposed to do and be able to do. I would gladly also write a little "help/users manual"... (also sorely lacking in most apps so far) :)

[Laughing Man]

Haha, gstreamer is a the libraries that are responsible for media playback.

MPlayer is another media player. It doesn't have a GUI to start usually (but it has a GUI for playback). Not sure if it uses the gstreamer libraries but it handles more media files than the default media player.

libflashplayer is usually for the browser.

Google would tell you more in depth about them. But the description for KMPlayer is accurate. It is a front-end for all of them. It just requires a description of what those are lol.

[joppu]

And for KMPlayer itself "Media player front end for gstreamer, mplayer and libflashplayer."

I think that's a sufficient explanation. Maybe add "media player" there to make things more clear?

[aironeous]

What does front end mean?

[Alan_Peery]

What does front end mean?
Generally it means a GUI, sometimes just a set of scripts that makes the other tool easier to use.

[Arif]

I still have no idea what WorldTV99 does :p Guess I'll just try all apps when the N900 finally arrives...:D

[Viipottaja]

No, I don't think it's sufficient (for the regular joe use of which more and more, if not most N900 users are/will be).

It would be so much better to say something like "this application enhancement allows you to watch online tv, offering a global list of tv channels. to be able to use it please first install kmplayer (kmplayer is an alternative media palyer that allows you to play a wide range of media content"

Perhaps the descriptions should stop using words like lib, gui. repository, front end, dependency etc etc. that may not be clear for everyone and don't really add to understanding of the function of the app. For example, for the user gstreamer, mplayer, libflashplayer are basically irrelevant - of course I don't mind if they are mentioned, but mentioning them does not tell me what the application does.

[wesgreen]

Well you could always write a description and give it to the developer to put in there. :)
only if you really understand how the app really works, which, after several months of playing around with world tv, wasn't the case for me. abiword is another example.