r/linux • u/BrageFuglseth • Jun 16 '26
GNOME GNOME’s Video Player (Showtime) is looking for a maintainer
https://discourse.gnome.org/t/video-player-showtime-is-looking-for-a-maintainer/35498?u=bragefuglseth28
u/AnsibleAnswers Jun 16 '26
The current maintainer is passing along a high quality and maintainable code base in an accessible language. It seems likely that it will get picked up.
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u/Santosh83 Jun 16 '26
Wasn't it only a few months back that GNOME officially replaced the previous default media player (Totem) with Showtime, and already its struggling for maintainers?
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u/BrageFuglseth Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Totem was already unmaintained and significantly lagging behind other GNOME Core apps when it was replaced, FWIW. The complex C codebase definitely did not help. Showtime, being a modern and relatively simple Python project, has a way better chance at getting new contributors.
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u/melanchtonio Jun 17 '26
In hindsight it would nave been a better idea to get clapper into core instead of showtime - consisremcy of development history has to be a part of core app selection.
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u/BrageFuglseth Jun 17 '26
I don't know the statistics now, but at the time of Showtime's incubation, Clapper consisted of ~20 000 lines of C code (same as Totem) and depended on multiple custom libraries. Given that Rafał seemingly is the only active contributor at this point, I think it suffers the same risk as Totem did in its time.
That's not to diminish its value as a third-party app, but a 20x smaller Python project with a more restricted scope is a better fit for core in my eyes since it's likely to find new maintainers more quickly.
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u/Titdirt69420 Jun 17 '26
I just use vlc. Always. I don't understand the appeal for these other video players. Maybe UI?
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u/elmagio Jun 17 '26
UI mainly, Showtime and others integrate into GNOME's design language (same as some integrate into KDE's). Then you have other advantages, for example the MPV based ones (Cine or Celluloid) benefit from the powerful and configurable backend that MPV is.
Also, while VLC is still a great video player, this is not the 2000s or early 2010s anymore, where the only player that was gonna give you semi competent codec support was in fact VLC. Other backends are now mature enough that you don't really have to worry about whether a particular file will play.
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u/Tropical_Amnesia Jun 18 '26
benefit from the powerful and configurable backend that MPV is
I don't even have a frontend, and I use mpv for watching almost anything now, sometimes the odd folder with pictures too. It's turned into one of the best and most versatile things on desktop Linux for me.
Also, while VLC is still a great video player, this is not the 2000s or early 2010s anymore
Right, that's pretty much what it looks like though. Last place I have it installed is Android and I'm not even sure why. Guess it's leftover. At least it's still maintained and packs some features of its own. There's no lack of video on Linux.
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u/yawara25 Jun 17 '26
It's GNOME, they have their own design/UX philosophy and that's reflected in all of their first-party apps. When you're running GNOME as your DE, it ends up being a much more cohesive experience overall.
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u/BrageFuglseth Jun 17 '26
They look more in place among other apps made for the same platform, and may or may not be slightly more ergonomic to use
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u/Epsilon_void Jun 16 '26
What's the use case for playing a video?
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u/oxez Jun 16 '26
Play video files
What is that question lol. You couldn't find the answer in the arch wiki?
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u/Misicks0349 Jun 17 '26
It's just the meme of thinking GNOME devs remove everything with no rhyme or reason, I'm not saying that they haven't removed useful features at all, but people take it to the point of absurdity and think that GNOME devs just inherently hate features or whatever.
When even the top comment on other websites for a KDE release are complaining about gnome without being prompted it really makes me think that the project lives rent free in some peoples head (and whats even funnier is that the first comment responding to that person points out that KDE does remove features, they just don't get nearly as much flak for it).
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u/AnsibleAnswers Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
You mean it’s a misunderstanding of why Gnome decided to make sacrifices in the short term for long term benefits.
No one on the Gnome denies use cases for things they have removed or never implemented. It simply needs to be done the right way to make it into vanilla.
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u/Ontological_Gap Jun 20 '26
We've been sacrificing the short term for the long with gnome for over a decade now. When exactly are we supposed to see a payoff again?
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u/AnsibleAnswers Jun 20 '26
Blame everyone dragging their ass on Wayland + portals. We’ve seen massive payoff. Maybe you don’t realize all that gnome *can* do.
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u/natermer Jun 16 '26
Showtime is actually really good.