[Memphiz]

Maybe changing my subtitle to something more obvious leads to the fact that i am judged as individual here. (in the hope that theblur20 doesn't write something bad about Team Kodi in his blog or newspaper or whatever - or even tells its friends to not use Kodi anymore because its developed by devils).

The only thing i demand is that users should try to switch on their brains before asking.

1. We bumped NDK version for a reason (not just to bump a number, but also clean things up on the build slaves and in the code).
2. Asking if we could provide a build of Isengard (which is not released) without the bump just ignores our intentions and also somehow suggests that we only flick numbers when we do changes like that (with nothing else attached on it) - and that it can't be hard to do 1000 special builds just for 1000 special users.
3. What i wanted to say with my reply is - no its not just flicking a number - the easiness goes into the direction of bringing out an Isengard build for PPC (while having PPC support dropped).

I personally find it a disgrace when we change something in the project and a user comes around and asks us to build a special version (just for him!) without that change so that he can continue using it on his hardware (which might be crap because the manufacturer doesn't provide current OS updates). Worst thing is he not even wants that special build now - no he wants an Isengard release build once it is out - specially crafted for his needs. So we should make a note on our todo list like "remember figuring out howto build isengard with NDK xyz and provide a build for user bibi - once we release isengard".

If it is true that we have 2 - 6 million users. How the fuck would i come to the idea to ask something like that in an open source project. I would get my ass up and get that build my self - and if i would need to read books or what not. And so i did for multiple projects i use (OpenWRT, linux kernel) - its not just written down here. Maybe its me and i shouldn't expect users to think like i do - but thats what makes some posts of mine so aggressive. Because it makes me aggressive

And now write an article into your blog or what not - but please name me in person if you do so. (ohh and then link me to it please - i only read major news sites).

[UncleJohnsBand]

All I can say is wow..... very disappointed in all this Jib-Jab.... sounds like a bunch of girls bickering.... get over it and lets get back to the topic already....otherwise just lock this thread and move on.

[Ned Scott]

Normally I don't follow stuff in the dev sub-forum, but someone brought this to the team's attention. I wanted to try and add some clarification and thoughts on this.

One of the reasons it was decided to bump the Android requirement was that nearly all Android hardware that runs 4.0 can also run 4.2. Maybe not all, but the majority. Even then, decisions to increase the min requirements are not made lightly for any platform. There's a tradeoff between what we can support, what's best for the program, and what's best for users. Unfortunately, we can't make everyone happy, but we can try to find a balance that is healthy for the project and for users.

This thread got heated way too fast. I think the first few people who responded probably took the question to be insulting when that wasn't intended. Maybe there was some miscommunication, or other frustrations happening at the same time? Maybe, maybe not, I can't really speak for other people. However, I've met both Memphiz and Martijn in person multiple times, and I can tell you that they're great guys.

Sometimes talking over the internet between different cultures, in plain text, where emotions and thoughts sit right at the surface, that makes it very easy for a simple question to get out of control like that. Had the same question happened in person, I think it would have turned out differently. While that doesn't change what happened or make it right, but I hope people keep that in mind when they see an exchange like this.

[RockerC]

I suggest that you install a newer Android version on your device. Even my old HTC DesireS is running 4.4 thanks to CyanogenMod - so you should also be able to get your HW a newer Android version.

I too would suggest to OP that the workaround is upgrade the OS on your device by installing CyanogenMod or other third-party firmware that is based on a newer version of Android. If there are no official firmware or CyanogenMod for your device then tip is to search http://freaktab.com and http://forum.xda-developers.com after firmwares for your device model.

The fix it not to downgrade Kodi's code to older NDK but instead fix or workaround for the root cause caused by Android manufacturer's releasing few or no OS updates. If you do not like the fact that Android manufacturers having short life-cycles then don't buy Android devices, instead buy a PC or Mac with longer life-cycle.

Regardless you can not blame Kodi developers for moving on the newer versions of the NDK which do not support older versions of Android because Google did not make it backwards compatible. Android devices have very short life-cycle that is a fact, but Android also cost less so you can make a choice to buy cheap and buy often.

Kodi/XBMC stopped supporting Windows XP a while back too, it also stopped supporting older versions of Ubuntu Linux as well, just as it stopped supporting PowerPC for OS X before and it will stop supporting older version of OS X on Intel platforms too. Some OSs and hardware platforms just have longer life-cycles than others.

I appreciate the clarification as a hobby project and not needing donations. I have a full time job myself and I'm a musician on the side, as well as write articles, blogs and reviews. Many times our band will receive requests to do a particular song that we don't, won't or would prefer not to do and we politely tell them that we can't do that for one reason or another. That's dealing with someone face to face and many times that same someone has had a bit too much alcohol or other things. Now, I understand how hard it can be to deal with the public, but this thread upset me this morning.

Many normal people who are nice and civilized people face to face in real life can sometimes act like total a*holes online in as its anonymous and they often write without thinking or caring about any social consequences because there is a very little chance of actually bumping into those people on the street, that type of behavior is a well studied fact, just google it. Brush it off and don't worry about it, the general tone here on the Kodi forums are much better than almost all other forums that I have ever visited, but there will always be a few bad apples or people who occasionally get upset sometimes, it is easy to ignore those the few times that you interact with them in the same thread.

Also note that you are right now reading and posting in the developers section of the forum and not in the end user support section, meaning this section is primarily only for developers. When asking non-developer questions then you are much more likely to get support or answers when asking for help in the end user section http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=111

And remember, Kodi is not a person. You will loose out if you'll stop using Kodi because one or a several people here made you upset, (which to be honest, to me, is a bit weird). As long as you when asking questions keep in mind that Kodi is a hobby project made up of non-paid volunteers who is only working on the software in the spare time for free you should be fine.

Here's a tip, there is guide on how most open source developers like to be asked questions or requests including prerequisites, see http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

[theblur20]

I suggest that you install a newer Android version on your device. Even my old HTC DesireS is running 4.4 thanks to CyanogenMod - so you should also be able to get your HW a newer Android version.

I too would suggest to OP that the workaround is upgrade the OS on your device by installing CyanogenMod or other third-party firmware that is based on a newer version of Android. If there are no official firmware or CyanogenMod for your device then tip is to search http://freaktab.com and http://forum.xda-developers.com after firmwares for your device model.

The fix it not to downgrade Kodi's code to older NDK but instead fix or workaround for the root cause caused by Android manufacturer's releasing few or no OS updates. If you do not like the fact that Android manufacturers having short life-cycles then don't buy Android devices, instead buy a PC or Mac with longer life-cycle.

Regardless you can not blame Kodi developers for moving on the newer versions of the NDK which do not support older versions of Android because Google did not make it backwards compatible. Android devices have very short life-cycle that is a fact, but Android also cost less so you can make a choice to buy cheap and buy often.

Kodi/XBMC stopped supporting Windows XP a while back too, it also stopped supporting older versions of Ubuntu Linux as well, just as it stopped supporting PowerPC for OS X before and it will stop supporting older version of OS X on Intel platforms too. Some OSs and hardware platforms just have longer life-cycles than others.

I appreciate the clarification as a hobby project and not needing donations. I have a full time job myself and I'm a musician on the side, as well as write articles, blogs and reviews. Many times our band will receive requests to do a particular song that we don't, won't or would prefer not to do and we politely tell them that we can't do that for one reason or another. That's dealing with someone face to face and many times that same someone has had a bit too much alcohol or other things. Now, I understand how hard it can be to deal with the public, but this thread upset me this morning.

Many normal people who are nice and civilized people face to face in real life can sometimes act like total a*holes online in as its anonymous and they often write without thinking or caring about any social consequences because there is a very little chance of actually bumping into those people on the street, that type of behavior is a well studied fact, just google it. Brush it off and don't worry about it, the general tone here on the Kodi forums are much better than almost all other forums that I have ever visited, but there will always be a few bad apples or people who occasionally get upset sometimes, it is easy to ignore those the few times that you interact with them in the same thread.

Also note that you are right now reading and posting in the developers section of the forum and not in the end user support section, meaning this section is primarily only for developers. When asking non-developer questions then you are much more likely to get support or answers when asking for help in the end user section http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=111

And remember, Kodi is not a person. You will loose out if you'll stop using Kodi because one or a several people here made you upset, (which to be honest, to me, is a bit weird). As long as you when asking questions keep in mind that Kodi is a hobby project made up of non-paid volunteers who is only working on the software in the spare time for free you should be fine.

Here's a tip, there is guide on how most open source developers like to be asked questions or requests including prerequisites, see http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Thanks, I would agree on your many points here and I appreciate the heads up on the posting section. Most of all I appreciate your friendly response. I actually googled the de-interlacing problem and came across this post initially thinking it was a support post. That being said there were things that I observed that concerned me and I still have a cultural concern at Kodi. It was something that I was going to let go, but I felt challenged at the end by Memphiz daring me to write something, to name him personally and then insult me by saying he only reads major news sites. The cherry on top of his response was his saying under his name "I hate users". Just what a newbie would need to see or anyone else that I recommended Kodi to verbally or through writing articles.

I don't consider myself a journalist, however I write for fun as a hobby for something that I love which is the HTPC among other electronic addictions. I see myself as being more of a bridging the gap type of writer from the code writers to the newbies. I wish I could write code, I really do, but it takes special people to do that.

Regardless if someone is posting in the wrong section, care should always be taken when putting things in writing. Do a canned response that is politely telling someone they are posting in the wrong section with a link they can click on to post in the right one. In todays social media world, it doesn't take much to bring things down and there aren't enough HTPC enthusiasts and options as they continue to shrink it seems. We in the HTPC community do not need too many more major blows.

[Martijn]

Start reading every single thread on the forum before you judge.
Basing your opinion on the developers on this single thread is bad journalism, even though it's a hobby.
Go to the osx/ios section and you'll see that Memphiz us surprisingly helpful to a lot of users.

[Ned Scott]

Thank you all for coming, I'm just going to close this before it spirals hopelessly out of control (again). Please drive home safely.