lubuntu-desktop team mailing list archive

[Chris I-B <ve4cib@xxxxxxxxx>]

"""Keep the user interface simple and intuitive. Never design some
geek-style GUI. (the GUI of gnome-mplayer is much cleaner than the
SMplayer one IMO)."""

Gnome-MPlayer is certainly simpler, but I don't think either one falls into
the "Geek-Style" UI stereotype.  Your average user could probably sit down
at either one and figure out how to play a movie:

Gnome-MPlayer:
http://www.icewalkers.com/scr/n2887/gnome-mplayer.jpg

SMPlayer:
http://www.icewalkers.com/scr/n2997/smplayer.jpg

Personally I prefer SMPlayer.  And maybe it's just me, but I don't really
understand the fuss over a 20MB library that's a dependency for a HUGE
number of very good applications.  It's not like we're installing KDE or
anything; they're just widgets.  If SMPlayer has less pervasive tendencies
then let's suck up that 20MB and use it.  (I also find SMPlayer generally
more stable and easier-to-use than it's GTK-styled counterpart).

But if we're going to throw in Qt then we might as well go for VLC over
either one of the MPlayer options.  It would solve the problem of LAME
legalities, and it's a very well-known media player in the non-Linux world
(which is a good thing for transitioning users).  Having a media player
included on the ISO is essential from a desktop-completeness perspective.
If MPlayer and its derivatives cannot do that then I say we should look
elsewhere for a media player that can.

Maybe (and this is a very, very big maybe) someone can/will get energetic
enough to write a GTK fork of VLC that we can use.  The suggestion's been
floating around for a while, but no one's taken the initiative as far as I
know.  We could (in theory) create our "LXDE Movie Player" by "simply"
changing VLC to use GTK.  Yes, I realize that's a major undertaking, but
it's the kind of change that the VLC community would welcome, not to mention
all those Gnome and XFCE fans who want a better-integrated VLC.  Any GTK
programmers up for a challenge on behalf of us all?