On 11/19/2015 11:06 PM, Be wrote:
> Also, what devices do people want supported? IMO it is a big problem
> that Mixxx lacks much support for popular brands that make quality
> hardware that is commercially available today. Where is the support
> for contemporary Native Instruments, Pioneer, Akai, and DJ Tech Tools
> controllers?
Supporting newer controllers requires either manufacturer cooperation
(many of them have their hands tied when they do bundling deals with
other DJ software,) or funds to purchase the controllers ourselves,
which we definitely don't have because we have no income stream.
> ~3/4 mappings in Mixxx are for devices that have been discontinued.
That's due to a number of things 1) the market moves so quickly that
controllers are discontinued within a year in some cases and 2) a
majority of Mixxx users are in situations where second-hand controllers
make the most sense for them, so those are what people create presets for.
(This latter point isn't a bad thing because people new to Mixxx can try
it with whatever controller they already have or can get inexpensively.)
> Write the documentation, and people step up to do the work.
While good documentation is indeed essential, our experience with many
Mixxx users who want to add support for a controller is that they are
spooked even by the idea of editing an XML file*, let alone working with
JavaScript, despite the extensive documentation on the wiki which was
available when the scripting engine was released.
*So often that one person made a lighthearted joke about it:
http://downloads.mixxx.org/mess/baddudes.gif
In short, the average Mixxx user is not a developer by any stretch and
has no interest in becoming one. While it's fine to have a
developer-friendly work flow (i.e. Github PRs) _available_ for preset
contributors, it cannot be required. There are already too many required
technical hurdles for non-developer contributors; we certainly can't
afford to add another.
Remember that Mixxx users are our customers and this (like all
user-facing items) is a customer service issue. To that end, what the
average user needs most is a GUI preset creation system that can map
everything, jog wheels included. (I have plans to make this actually
happen even for HID controllers.) They are then free to share these with
us any way they are able, be it Github PR, forum post, E-mail
attachment, SD card on a carrier pigeon, etc.
Again, thank you for your time and interest in improving Mixxx. We
appreciate the occasional whip-crack to keep the documentation up to
stuff. (It's important for fellow developers as well as users!)
Sincerely,
Sean M. Pappalardo
"D.J. Pegasus"
Mixxx Developer - Controller Specialist
smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
--
___
Get Mixxx, the #1 Free MP3 DJ Mixing software Today
http://mixxx.org
Mixxx-devel mailing list
Mixxx-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mixxx-devel
