## page was renamed from Xubuntu/Specifications/Natty/DefaultMediaPlayer <><> Specifications for this cycle : <> ||<>|| = Exaile vs. gmusicbrowser = ''''' Replace Exaile with gmusicbrowser as the default music (you can also think: media) player in Xubuntu Natty ''''' * '''Launchpad entry''': Does not exist. * '''Release target''': Natty * '''Contributors''': [[LaunchpadHome:knome|Pasi Lallinaho]], [[LaunchpadHome:simon-steinbeiss|Simon Steinbeiß]] * '''Field of the spec''': 'Default Applications' & 'Desktop Experience' == Summary == The specification is written to propose changing the default media player in Xubuntu. Our current music player is Python-based [[http://exaile.org|Exaile]]. It is said that Exaile is the GTK+ equivalent for Amarok, the KDE/Qt media player. The proposal for new music player is [[http://gmusicbrowser.org/|gmusicbrowser]], a Perl-based media player suitable up to large collections (10k+). == Release Note == New default media player: gmusicbrowser (was: Exaile). == Rationale == A lot of work has been put into gmusicbrowser and making its layout/UI cleaner for the user by the Shimmer Project lately. The Shimmer Project has even set up a PPA for their improvements. The PPA can be found at [[https://launchpad.net/~shimmerproject/+archive/ppa|Shimmer Project PPA @ Launchpad]]. Exaile was partly chosen as the previous music player since Steve (SiDi) was working with it and acting as some sort of "liaison" for the app. That cooperation has now vanished. === Comparison between the two apps === ==== Non-features ==== || '''gmusicbrowser''' || '''Exaile''' || || Good contact with responsive upstream || No direct contact with development team || ==== General Features ==== || '''feature''' || '''gmusicbrowser''' || '''Exaile''' || || User interface ||Clean layout || Rather clean layout || || Different layouts ||Many layouts to choose from, easily customizable || No easy way to customize/change layout || || Streaming || Not able to stream music ''from'' internet, but ''to'' the internet (icecast) || Good streaming from the internet || || Backends || Different backends to choose from (mplayer, gstreamer, mpg321) || gstreamer only || || Devices || Basic support for external media (copy-to-mount-location) || Device support (iPod plugin) || == Use cases == * Explain which use cases your specification aims to answer to. * Add as many use cases as you think there are. * Also add use cases where the specification might have a negative impact, and try to quantify them compared to the positive impact ones. == The specification == === Design === Our target should be to have a player that is easy to use and enables the user to easily browse/manage his/her collection. As collections tend to become bigger and bigger with hdd-space becoming cheaper the player should be able to handle large libraries with grace and should help the user to organize it. The first thing the player needs to have in order to provide this is a '''good user interface''', that can be used intuitively to get to the songs/playlist you're looking for. Being able to make playlists, being able to have a queue, being able to filter your library are essential. Also: a search function that goes through all your library, different sort- and grouping modes and views. || '''feature''' || '''gmusicbrowser''' || '''exaile''' || '''screenshot''' || || playlists || static and dynamic || static and dynamic || || || queue || yes || ? || || || filters || very sophisticated and customizable filtering system || ? || || || search || global search (you can select what fields are searched) || only one-item at a time search || || || sorting || customizable hierarchical sort-modes || simple one-value sorting || || || grouping || customizable hierarchical group-modes || ? || || || views || simple list, grouped by album, mosaic || simple list || || On the '''more technical side''' features such as mass-tagging, mass-renaming and the player being able to automatically re-order your files on your harddrive are an additional plus for our audiophiles. || '''feature''' || '''gmusicbrowser''' || '''exaile''' || || mass-tagging || yes, very customizable || ? || || mass-renaming || yes, very customizable || ? || || reorganize collection on hdd || yes || ? || === Notes on the implementation === === Extra maintenance work after the spec === == Issues that need solving == === Upstream === * Streaming. This is WIP. === By the Xubuntu team === === By the developer implementing the spec === == Comments == * "Short comment" [[LaunchpadHome:commenter]]