2008-07-05, 06:02 PM
Firstly, I love this program and all the plug-ins that have been developed for it.
That being said, I find it more and more frustrating about the several ways that the program has split directions. It is generally called GB-PVR although that version seems to no longer being actively developed. The version called PVRX2 seems to be the current version of the program but plugins like Slimm GB-PVR still use the GB-PVR terminology.
The above must be very confusing to newcomers but they pale in comparison to the use of the BLUE skin or the COMMUNITY skin.
I expect that a majority of users are using the COMMUNITY skin (as am I) but every time a new version of a plug-in is released it does not always have the skin files for the Community skin.
TV LISTINGS is the latest example of this. First, a new version of the plug-in is released and then we users learn the hard way that it crashes if we run GB-PVR in the COMMUNITY skin mode. Then someone has to come along and make up the appropriate Community skin files. This means that the users then have to find these new skin files and install them once they are made available.
I would like to propose that all new releases of plug-ins be issued with both BLUE and COMMUNITY skin files. At the very least, they should be released with installation programs/files that allow the plug-in to function without crashing regardless of whether the user is using BLUE or COMMUNITY skins.
A third and least desirable option is to release any new plug-ins with a warning that they crash if the user tries to run them in the Community skin. I know developers do not want to state that their application crashes when a user tries it but releasing a plug-in without Community skin files is akin to releasing defective software with known bugs in it.
That being said, I find it more and more frustrating about the several ways that the program has split directions. It is generally called GB-PVR although that version seems to no longer being actively developed. The version called PVRX2 seems to be the current version of the program but plugins like Slimm GB-PVR still use the GB-PVR terminology.
The above must be very confusing to newcomers but they pale in comparison to the use of the BLUE skin or the COMMUNITY skin.
I expect that a majority of users are using the COMMUNITY skin (as am I) but every time a new version of a plug-in is released it does not always have the skin files for the Community skin.
TV LISTINGS is the latest example of this. First, a new version of the plug-in is released and then we users learn the hard way that it crashes if we run GB-PVR in the COMMUNITY skin mode. Then someone has to come along and make up the appropriate Community skin files. This means that the users then have to find these new skin files and install them once they are made available.
I would like to propose that all new releases of plug-ins be issued with both BLUE and COMMUNITY skin files. At the very least, they should be released with installation programs/files that allow the plug-in to function without crashing regardless of whether the user is using BLUE or COMMUNITY skins.
A third and least desirable option is to release any new plug-ins with a warning that they crash if the user tries to run them in the Community skin. I know developers do not want to state that their application crashes when a user tries it but releasing a plug-in without Community skin files is akin to releasing defective software with known bugs in it.