SVN builds of EventGhost & the SatoriHub fork

[stottle]

For those that aren't aware, Bitmonster (the creator/guru/King of the Universe for EventGhost) decided to stop development. However, since he built such a solid and extensible program, development of fixes and plugins has continued.

Unfortunately, aside from the forums/wiki, changes to eventghost.org need to be made by Bitmonster. So the fixes and plugins are currently only available to those that seek them out on the forums or download directly from SVN. Note that downloading from SVN requires you to install and set up Python (stackless) and all of the dependent modules yourself.... (If you want the gory details, see here)

The other development is the SatoriHub program, a fork of EventGhost that I am developing (in Alpha testing as of 12/11/2010). While I'd appreciate your support of the project, the point of this post is that I've already got a website available that I can post new builds of EventGhost on. So the site now has a SatoriHub downloads page as well as an EventGhost downloads page. The source/exe for SVN revision 1482 are now available for download, and new versions will be posted as appropriate.

Now this still leaves one pretty big issue - only a few developers have permissions to commit to the SVN. I'm not one of them. I've talked to Pako, and it looks like he plans to create an SVN branch for developing new builds. I believe he will post more details as well.

Brett

[Pako]

I created a new branch "temporary" in the SVN repository.
I will try to find here in the forum all new plugins that are not yet in the SVN repository.
I will write here in this topic the list of new plugins and proclaim a poll.
According to the results of the vote, then some of them I will send into a new "temporary" branch.
Then, stottle create new build, in which should be included all confirmed plugins.

Pako

[Livin]

The Eventghost.org domain name expires in Feb 2011.

Assuming Bitmonster does not hand it off or extend it (and I'd think we'd need to know asap if he will), should we start moving all conversations of EG to the SatoriHub forum site?

[jitterjames]

This sounds good to me. I say we move as much over to satori as possible. I am not holding my breath for any kind of response from bitmonster. I think he has been extremely clear that he wants eventghost to die and does not every want to hear anything about it again. It is a shame, but if that is not the case, then he should speak up.

I am personally happy enough with the core program as it is, but would love to see plugin development continue, and new builds available that incorporate the new plugins.

As for the Satori project, I am curious about it, but I downloaded it and played with it, and I just didn't "get it". I guess I am just so used to doing things the eventGhost way. Maybe someone who is familiar with the program could put together a tutorial demo video showing satori in action, explaining the general concept, and what it has in common with eventGhost, and what is different.

I have to admit that I did not spend much time trying to figure it out because I am not motivated. EventGhost does what I need it to do, and my time is already divided among other projects. I am not asking for this video for selfish purposes, but suggesting that it might help to get a lot more people interested in moving forward and thus supporting the satori project. I know I am not the only one who doesn't like change, and is essentially lazy, or at least not interesting in throwing away my precious time, so if you can spoon feed people something that is easy to digest, you might see a big movement toward the satori hub.

[Livin]

if BM lets the domain name go maybe we buy it and do a redirect to Satorihub... Brett, what do you think?

[stottle]

This sounds good to me. I say we move as much over to satori as possible.

The problem is that a lot of the content is in SVN and the forums, and I don't know how to move all of that without Bitmonster's help. There are probably ways to "scrape" it, but I'm really not sure. Maybe we need to set a deadline, and if we don't hear anything from Bitmonster before then, we evaluate "last resort" options. If EG's domain goes away Feb. 11th, maybe Jan 11th is the deadline? Thoughts?

if BM lets the domain name go maybe we buy it and do a redirect to Satorihub... Brett, what do you think?

My preference would be to get the domain and the content (with Bitmonster's approval/help if possible). I'd rather hold off on discussions of "taking" the domain, as I think that is a last resort. Which gets back to the deadline idea.

As for the Satori project, I am curious about it, but I downloaded it and played with it, and I just didn't "get it". I guess I am just so used to doing things the eventGhost way. Maybe someone who is familiar with the program could put together a tutorial demo video showing satori in action, explaining the general concept, and what it has in common with eventGhost, and what is different.

I would love to get a demo video, especially with some of the On-Screen-Menu stuff I've been working on. I think it would help a lot, but it isn't something I have much experience with. I'm hoping to get some help with that over the holidays.

Should I sticky this thread and/or the "you might be surprised" thread?

Brett

[jitterjames]

If you can I think you should sticky both threads.

I can't for the life of me understand why BitMonster isn't willing to hand over the keys but it seems pretty clear that he is not. I suggest that we start talking about the last resort options now.

I think we should just start a new forum, and start new topics that are of interest to us now. Consider it a forced cleansing. If we do it before this forum goes down, then we can always grab the really important content by hand.

I don't know anything about the situation with the SVN, having never worked with one (one of those things on my "should do" list), but I thought it was all freely downloadable.

I have created a lot of videos using Techsmith Camtasia. It is extremely easy to use its basic features and quite powerful once you learn more. They offer a 30 day free trial. http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasia/

But really, a point and shoot camera avi video would probably do the trick as well. The hard part is actually the "performance" part of it. Scripts are a pain to write, but working without one usually means doing many takes. If you are thinking about writing a script, I recommend you do a few ad lib takes anyway and then watch them. It will help you figure out your script.

Some threads, like your MCEremote/vista/7 plugin thread should obviously be preserved since they contain important info, but I guess it is up to each user to preserve their own for now. The topics that I have been involved in (broadcaster and voxcommando) are pretty much out of date so, no big deal to lose them.

As for scraping the forum, this link looks promising, but it is not a turnkey solution and it is all unfamiliar territory to me. I don't have experience with php, perl etc.
http://search.cpan.org/~stefant/WWW-php ... W/phpBB.pm

I think this can be run on an existing blank phpBB forum and it will import the forum by scraping. Anyway, I think a fresh clean forum could be good in a way...

the domain names EventGhost.info and EventGhost.net are available, as well as some others.

[stottle]

I can't for the life of me understand why BitMonster isn't willing to hand over the keys but it seems pretty clear that he is not. I suggest that we start talking about the last resort options now.

I wouldn't say that:

I was told to be patient and that no change on status until he will make a response to the requests.

Potentially this means that he will extend the domain if he doesn't feel like helping us move to another server.

I look at it this way. If he is already displeased, then taking the content without permission will certainly make the situation worse. I believe he is still checking the forum, and while he isn't responding to PM's, he has at least read one I sent him (I don't think sending more PMs is a good idea). He is certainly aware of our interest in keeping EventGhost alive.

The idea of setting a deadline and discussing what we plan to do if we don't hear anything by that deadline makes sense to me. Doing it openly in the forum allows Bitmonster, (assuming he still occasionally reads the forum, which I believe he does) to see what we are planning, and respond by the deadline if he chooses. If he chooses not to provide any insight into his plans (by the deadline), then he knows what we plan to do and hopefully won't be offended. I'd like to hear others thoughts, though.

If you can I think you should sticky both threads.

Thought I could. I can edit/move/delete posts as a moderator, but I don't see an option to sticky a thread when I look at the edit page.

I don't know anything about the situation with the SVN, having never worked with one (one of those things on my "should do" list), but I thought it was all freely downloadable.

When you download from SVN, you get the files for a specific revision (HEAD being the current). All of the information about file modifications, the dates/modifier/comments, are not included. Ideally we could keep that history, not just a snapshot of the repository. Thanks for the link to phpBB.pm. I wonder if there is Python port.... Be aware that anything we do like this loses all user accounts, PMs, etc..

I have created a lot of videos using Techsmith Camtasia.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look. I know folks who have used Adobe Captivate, not sure how that compares.

[jitterjames]

I think I have found a way to archive a snapshot of the site and the forum. This is a non-interactive format using only html, but it should at least allow us to retrieve valuable content. If it is hosted on a site that is indexed by google then it should also be searchable.

One possible problem with this method is that it will result in about 5 to 10 thousand files... not ideal, and I don't know if that would be a problem for hosting.

While the domain name and the forum may belong to BitMonster, the content of the forum is OURS, as in EVERYBODY'S, and I see nothing wrong with backing it up.

Having the latest snapshot of the SVN is pretty good I think, if I am understanding correctly. If there are bits of code that have not been commited, then I would assume at least, that the developers of those plugins have the code and could re-commit it when a new SVN has been set up elsewhere.

This whole experience is making me rethink the concept of "open-source" or community based projects. When only one person has total control over the fate of the content that has been developed, the whole concept starts to break apart and become somewhat meaningless.

I would be surprised if the adobe screen capture software is better than camtasia. I haven't used Captivate it but I would bet that it is more expensive, and much more bloated and hard on your system. If you are going to spend a bit of dough, why not support an excellent product that is developed by a real person...

[jitterjames]

I have created a snapshot of the forum that I think contains almost everything, at least in terms of posts. I'm not sure about attachments.

it consists of 7264 files, and is 250 MB.

I have a rar of the folder that is 76 MB.

If someone wants a copy let me know where I can upload it.

[Livin]

good call... at least the text will be searchable for future usage.

[zian]

I have created a snapshot of the forum that I think contains almost everything, at least in terms of posts. I'm not sure about attachments.

it consists of 7264 files, and is 250 MB.

I have a rar of the folder that is 76 MB.

If someone wants a copy let me know where I can upload it.

Yes please.

Also add me to the THANKS very much for all you have done/created/shared Bitmonster pile.

Thank you Bitmonster.

[jitterjames]

Yes please.

Also add me to the THANKS very much for all you have done/created/shared Bitmonster pile.

Thank you Bitmonster.

yes please? I think you need to reread my post.

"If someone wants a copy let me know where I can upload it."

[midiboy]

Hi !

Mhh, too bad. Maybe one should use a commercial product like Girder ? I┬┤d rather cash out 100.- then be at the mercy of developers who do this for a hobby and can stop development any time. Reconfiguring a whole setup with a different program every few years takes quite some time too and time is money

Just my 2 cents ...

[jitterjames]

even if you dish out $100, the developers can (and do) do the same thing... The point in this case is that it is totally unnecessary. In any case, I can say with some confidence that EventGhost will not die!

It may have to go through some growing pains, but it will continue on in one form or another, and since it already works incredibly well, and is easy to develop plugins for, even if the core program doesn't change, it will continue to be a valuable tool in the htpc builders arsenal for years to come.