ffmpeg -i example.mkv example.mp4
In almost all cases I don’t want to mess with the defaults, because I know diddly about video formats.
Free software scares normal people
251–260 of 641 posts
Re: Free software scares normal people
#252Some reasons for this: 1. Free software is developed for the developer's own needs and developers are going to be power users. 2. The cost to expose options is low so from the developer's perspective it's low effort to add high value (perceiving the options as valuable). 3. The developer doesn't know who the customer is and rather than research/refine just tries to hit all the boxes. 4. The distribution of the softwa…
> 4. The distribution of the software itself means anyone who successfully installs it themselves really is a power user and does like the options. Installing it for family and friends doesn't work.
i have seen many comments, by lay people, out of Sonobus [0] being superb on what it does and impressive by being 100% free. that's a niche case that if it was implemented on Ardour, could fit the same problem OP describes
however i can't feel where the problem of FOSS UX scaring normal people is. someone getting a .h264 and a .wav file out of a video-record isn't normal after all. there are plenty of converters on the web, i dunno if they run ffmpeg at their server but i wouldn't get surprised. the problem lies on the whole digital infrastructure running on FOSS without returning anything back. power-user software shouldn't simplify stuff. tech literacy hopefully can be a thing and by quickly learning how to import and export a file in a complex software feels better to install 5 different limited software over the years because your demands are growing
Re: Free software scares normal people
#253I'd be scared too if I see a check box for iPod support, I mean, when was this software less updated, the 80's?
Re: Free software scares normal people
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most fields just don’t have the same culture of collaborative everyone-wins that software does. Artists don’t produce CC art in anywhere close to the same influence as engineers produce software. This is probably due to some kind of compounding effect available in software that isn’t available in graphics. Software people love writing software to a degree where they’ll just give it away. You just won’t find artists d…
Isn’t there a lot more compensation available in software? Like as a developer, you can make a lot of money without having to even value money highly. I think in other fields you don’t generally get compensated well unless you are gunning/grinding for it specifically. “For the love of the art” people in visual arts are painters or something like that, probably. Whereas with software you can end up with people who don…
I think most OSS projects are started by unemployed people as hobbies. Or ego projects to get jobs.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doing a pro graphic design treatment is lot more than just "drawing a few pictures," and picking a color palette. It usually involves developing a design language for the app, or sometimes, for the whole organization (if, like the one I do a lot of work for, it's really all about one app). That's a big deal. Logo design is also a much more difficult task than people think. A good logo can be insanely valuable. The on…
> Doing a pro graphic design treatment is lot more than just "drawing a few pictures," and picking a color palette. Are you quoting someone? Yeah it's a real job, and so is programming . I don't think anyone in this conversation is being dismissive about either job.
You'd be surprised, then, to know that a lot of programmers think graphic design is easy (see the other comment, in this thread), and can often be quite dismissive of the vocation.
As a programmer, working with a good graphic designer can be very frustrating, as they can demand that I make changes that seem ridiculous, to me, but, after the product ships, makes all the difference. I've never actually gotten used to it.
That's also why it's so difficult to get a "full monty" treatment, from a designer, donating their time.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
Graphic designers and artists get ripped off, all the time ; frequently, by nerds, who tend to do so, in a manner that insults the value of the artist's work. It's difficult to get those kinds of creatives to donate their time (trust me on this, I'm always trying). I'm an ex-artist, and I'm a nerd. I can definitively say that creating good designs, is at least as difficult as creating good software, but seldom makes…
Most fields just don’t have the same culture of collaborative everyone-wins that software does. Artists don’t produce CC art in anywhere close to the same influence as engineers produce software. This is probably due to some kind of compounding effect available in software that isn’t available in graphics. Software people love writing software to a degree where they’ll just give it away. You just won’t find artists d…
There's actually a fair bit of highly influential CC-licensed artwork out there. Wikipedia made a whole free encyclopedia. The SCP Foundation wiki is it's own subculture. There's loads of Free Culture photography on Wikimedia Commons (itself mirrored from Flickr). A good chunk of your YouTube feed is probably using Kevin McCleod music - and probably fucking up the attribution strings, too. A lot of artists don't really understand copyright.
But more importantly, most of them don't really care beyond "oh copyright's the thing that lets me sue big company man[0]".
The real impediment to CC-licensed creative works is that creativity resists standardization. The reason why we have https://xkcd.com/2347/ is because software wants to be standardized; it's not really a creative work no matter what CONTU says. You can have an OS kernel project's development funded entirely off the back of people who need "this thing but a little different". You can't do the same for creativity, because the vast majority of creative works are one-and-done. You make it, you sell it, and it's done. Maybe you make sequels, or prequels, or spinoffs, but all of those are going to be entirely new stories maybe using some of the same characters or settings.
[0] Which itself is legally ignorant because the cost of maintaining a lawsuit against a legal behemoth is huge even if you're entirely in the right
Re: Free software scares normal people
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Doing a pro graphic design treatment is lot more than just "drawing a few pictures," and picking a color palette. Are you quoting someone? Yeah it's a real job, and so is programming . I don't think anyone in this conversation is being dismissive about either job.
You'd be surprised, then, to know that a lot of programmers think graphic design is easy (see the other comment, in this thread), and can often be quite dismissive of the vocation. As a programmer, working with a good graphic designer can be very frustrating, as they can demand that I make changes that seem ridiculous, to me, but, after the product ships, makes all the difference. I've never actually gotten used to i…
> see the other comment
Which other comment?
If you mean the one saying it's not harder than programming, that's not calling it easy.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
You'd be surprised, then, to know that a lot of programmers think graphic design is easy (see the other comment, in this thread), and can often be quite dismissive of the vocation. As a programmer, working with a good graphic designer can be very frustrating, as they can demand that I make changes that seem ridiculous, to me, but, after the product ships, makes all the difference. I've never actually gotten used to i…
> see the other comment Which other comment? If you mean the one saying it's not harder than programming, that's not calling it easy.
It can be a lot harder. Programming, these days, isn't always that hard.
Very different skillset. There was a comment about how ghastly a lot of software-developed graphical assets can be.
Tasteful creativity does not grow on trees.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you gain the confidence that what you choose to ignore is safe to ignore? Computer damage is one potential consequence on the extreme end. On the conservative end, the software might just not work the way you want and you waste your time. It’s a mental model you have to develop. Even as a technical power user though, I want to reduce the risk of wasting my time, or even confront the possibility that I might wa…
How do you know the software in the article will do what you want? For handbrake you can pick a preset and see what happens. Or don't even do that: when you open it it'll make you pick a video file, then you can just jam the green start button and see if it gives you what you need. Very little time spent.
i mean i don’t know that the green button does what i want either so what’s your point?
Re: Free software scares normal people
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always tell clients (or users): "If you bring your car to the mechanic because it's making a noise and tell them to replace the belt, they will replace the belt and you car will still make the noise. Ask them to fix the noise." In other words, if you need expert help, trust the expert. Ask for what you need, not how to do it.
If you tell the mechanic "my car is making a noise, fix the belt please" and then they just fix the belt, that's on the mechanic as well.
It's a hypothetical to communicate an entirely different point. The mechanic is't real or important.