[bobtheman]

I love the idea of having video streams as addons, but shouldn't things like youtube be enabled by default? Having it disabled, and having users enable will pose as an additional step for a fresh install, and in my opinion is a disservice. I would love to see some statistics on the most used plugins.

Also, what about things like movie on demand services. Netflix, Amazon Video.. etc etc. Then things like http://www.indiemoviesonline.com/

Also, shouldnt boxee come with some sample media. A music file, a video file, and some pictures .. all FOSS friendly ?

[bobtheman]

Shouldnt the youtube plugin be added by default, I would assume most users enable this as soon as they install xbmc. I would like to see some collected data of plugins..

[prae5]

imho No - that is the purpose of the addon browser; users pick and choose what addons they want. Just because you use addon xxx does mean that everyone does.

[gabbott]

Shouldnt the youtube plugin be added by default, I would assume most users enable this as soon as they install xbmc. I would like to see some collected data of plugins..

I disagree, the system should be barebones upon install. Then people can install the add-ons they want. I don't have youtube installed on any of the boxes I use.

[supernovus]

I prefer having a bare minimum installed by default, and let the users choose what addons to install.

The new Add-On Browser is an awesome feature, and makes picking the features you want really easy.

[vikjon0]

What we should include either in live or in the executor is a script to start firefox in fluxbox and a default config of fluxbox.

[Johnnyfive]

I do think that the initial install is a little bare but if you can install XBMC then I think you are capable of selecting the addons you want. The new add-on manager does make things much easier.

In a broader sense I think that there is problem of showing to newbies what XBMC is capable of. Perhaps xbmc.org could showcase some videos of the best set ups of XBMC or create a series of tutorial videos showing how to configure the music or video library, install additional repositories etc.

[Thurbs]

I agree that barebones is perfect, let the user decide what is necessary for their individual install.

What's the first thing you do when you get a store bought computer?
Remove the bloatware and stuff that the manufacturer thought would be useful.

How about an install of Windows? Remove all of the BS that M$ puts on there because they think it would be useful.

[topfs2]

I think it might be possible to find plugins which more than 50% of the user uses but nothing in the above 80% actually. I'd much rather see something like highlights or popular add ons in the add-on manager. That way you don't need too look far for those that are likely you want but they don't come by default (and could be considered bloat).

[mcborzu]

I think it might be possible to find plugins which more than 50% of the user uses but nothing in the above 80% actually. I'd much rather see something like highlights or popular add ons in the add-on manager. That way you don't need too look far for those that are likely you want but they don't come by default (and could be considered bloat).

Thought I seen some Devs say, after Dharma, we might be able to get some Most Downloaded and Newly added for addons...I'd love to put that type of info on Home.

[extrospection]

I'd much rather see something like highlights or popular add ons in the add-on manager.

It would be great to either create a Wiki page or some sort of federated repository for all the plugins out there. Over the last couple of days I've been looking for plugins to stream some TV channels and it has turned out really hard (the plugins were out there, but I couldnt get them through the official repository, nor any of the unofficial ones: searching the forums and downloading zips off rapidshare (whilst crossing fingers that the person posting the link was trustworthy...)

Anyone up for at least collating what's available in a "super repo" or having some sort of process to hoover up good, working plugins into the official repositories (not unlike debian/ubuntu, where a team scours what's available upstream and package code into their repositories?)

Related: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=84900

[blacklist]

Totally agree with is idea - would it be possible to rank addons by downloads? Something similar to Android Market, Itunes, etc. to show the most popular? I think this would be fantastic.

In addition, would it be possible in a first run scenario to present users with the addon area? That way for a new user they would be presented with those options up front - not discover them a month from install.... or even worse never discover the addons area at all and assume that XBMC doesn't have the functionality?

Just my .02

I think it might be possible to find plugins which more than 50% of the user uses but nothing in the above 80% actually. I'd much rather see something like highlights or popular add ons in the add-on manager. That way you don't need too look far for those that are likely you want but they don't come by default (and could be considered bloat).

[TheDuffMan]

I'd put a vote in for barebones as well, just for the reason of keeping the download size minimal and reducing bloat. Just because some plugins may seem useful to most, I'd rather not have to go through a new install and uninstall everything I don't want. That'd remind me too much of Windows

[natethomas]

imho No - that is the purpose of the addon browser; users pick and choose what addons they want. Just because you use addon xxx does mean that everyone does.

OTOH, I think we can all agree than Addon XXX is the perfect kid-friendly addon that the whole family can enjoy! Also, I too vote against common addons. Bloat is bad.

[topfs2]

It would be great to either create a Wiki page or some sort of federated repository for all the plugins out there. Over the last couple of days I've been looking for plugins to stream some TV channels and it has turned out really hard (the plugins were out there, but I couldnt get them through the official repository, nor any of the unofficial ones: searching the forums and downloading zips off rapidshare (whilst crossing fingers that the person posting the link was trustworthy...)

I would say that the official repo could perhaps be added to our homepage for listing, if it happens I don't know but it would probably be possible so if enough users wants this it may happen.

For unofficial ones it gets abit more convoluted, but thats the case for any repository based solution (android, ubuntu etc.) those not in the official will be hard to find, and most of the time they aren't in the repo for a reason (legal or just not finished). Personally I'd rather explore the debian / ubuntu way of having one official team xbmc, one community (with abit looser restrictions) etc. so its still easy to add for users but we can still maintain it properly.

Totally agree with is idea - would it be possible to rank addons by downloads? Something similar to Android Market, Itunes, etc. to show the most popular? I think this would be fantastic.

Should be, just isn't added for Dharma.

Rankings is something I personally would like to see but we will see what happens. Add on stuff is still early so lots of undecided things.

In addition, would it be possible in a first run scenario to present users with the addon area? That way for a new user they would be presented with those options up front - not discover them a month from install.... or even worse never discover the addons area at all and assume that XBMC doesn't have the functionality?

You can view this is in different ways, if the user uses xbmc for months without finding the addon I would guess that he is already rather happy with xbmc as is. Personally I think the idea of forcing exploration and self learning is the better solution. As an example apple does this by just giving you 3 steps when you buy the iPhone, plug it in the phone, the computer and how to turn it on. Everything else is up to the user to explore and learn, many says the iPhone is simple to use but its still not _that_ simple, the idea of letting the user explore and learn the more advanced features when they need them is very powerful. The addon manager should be simple to find and simple to use but I'm not sure I agree we need to feed the user how to use it since the first time the start and use xbmc they might not even need it, I'd reckon what they want is to setup their sources and play stuff, not download addons.

Cheers,
Tobias