[danlat1415]

I really appreciate the hard work Koying has put in over the years and I think resigning is the wrong decision if it's based solely on this decision.

Yes it's disappointing that Kodi won't include this fix in final 16 release, but if we try and see it from their point of view (albeit I disagree);
They don't include changes at such a late stage in development (just before final release). They don't want to include it because it may break things for other users - which is why a full Beta program runs, whereas this is a confined test environment for one issue.
Yes it's fixed things for Shield TV, but it hasn't for others.
Kodi is being rewritten for 17, so the fix is already included in that, so this would only be to bridge the gap between 16 and 17.

I can understand their reluctance to include this just prior to final release and risk it having a bad impact on other users who have different systems and haven't been part of this small test group.
Especially when it's already being resolved in next release.

Strange that they ignored the suggestion to release a stand alone version with the fix included.
At least we have a fully working version here thanks to Koying.

[Bjur]

Damn WTF is going on. First it was aracnoz in dsplayer Windows who left, because of not being appreciated for the great work he has done and now this with Android. I love Kodi and recommend it to everyone, but what is the strategy really if not Android should be a priority then what is...

[Ned Scott]

So why the opposition to a Jarvis/Android specific branch build? The group has had to do that in the past for iOS, due to platform specific issues, so that users don't have to suffer a broken version. Both master and the normal Jarvis branch will be totally clean. All of the platforms that you care about won't be tainted. The only people who will be tainted are the v16 Android users, which is a platform you don't care for anyways. v17 Android users will be fine, everyone else will be fine. What else is there to worry about?

How does it serve the project to reject such a compromise, where everybody gets what they want? Is a technicality really worth driving more people away from this project?

[FernetMenta]

Some months ago it was me who suggested different treatments of the various platforms but it was rejected. Ned's response:

Because Kodi is a cross platform application, and it was decided a long time ago to not fragment development of core features.

I'm sure there are a ton of things we could do that are bleeding edge on Windows, but we don't because it wouldn't work on Linux. They are not "bugs" or "catching up" because one platform decided to change things.

The same question can be said in reverse: why should Windows users wait for ages because something breaks Linux? It doesn't matter how awesome a feature is if breaks all the other platforms. (It's fine if only one platform has a feature, so long as it isn't breaking other platforms).

Linux doesn't get a free pass because none of the other platforms get a free pass. It's called compromise. Maybe in the future it will be different as more of Kodi is modular, but for now all platforms need to be "in harmony". We all have to play in the same sandbox.

We can bring this discussion up again but certainly not in beta 5 stage short final to release.

Feel free to release some Android version that includes this hack but it won't be official Kodi Jarvis.

[Koying]

Feel free to release some Android version that includes this hack but it won't be official Kodi Jarvis.

Oh, so you grabbed the role of Release Manager, too, now.
Good luck for the future, I'm sure Kodi will be a decent linux media center under your rule.

[fritsch]

When the RM plays CTO ... TOs can play RM, can't they?

[Ned Scott]

Some months ago it was me who suggested different treatments of the various platforms but it was rejected. Ned's response:

For major long-term planning, yes, I didn't like your idea. It probably wasn't a bad idea, though. To be honest, I was more worried you were just attacking Android as a platform.

For a temp fix (I think it's reasonable to view this as a fix) before a release, that's different, IMO.

EDIT: and for the record, this wasn't actually rejected by the team. Rather, it was simply not necessary. You had proposed putting Android on this other "tier" or dropping support for it for the next few major releases, due to the video player changes. It looks like that was premature, and that you and Koying were able to get things working without doing that.

We can bring this discussion up again but certainly not in beta 5 stage short final to release.

I kind of agree with you, actually. I thought it was weird that a Jarvis audio passthrough thread popped up in the Android forum, because things were already in beta. If it were up to me, if I were a release manager, I probably would not have encouraged this.

However, it seems that other people in Team Kodi decided to try it anyways. So now the work is done, has been shown to be reasonably stable, and is being proposed at a time when Kodi is being released more often (both major and bug fix releases). Even if I thought it was too late in the cycle, there would be other people who felt differently. The consensus can change in a group.

It was felt that this was important enough; to bring Android in-line with other platforms, especially due to the massive user demand. Not everyone in a team has to agree, but they should respect each other enough to compromise. It means sometimes accepting flawed things so that people don't have to wait forever for the fix. You once tried to explain that to Elupus, when he objected to one of your PRs.

[Koying]

When the RM plays CTO ... TOs can play RM, can't they?

TOs ? Yeah, right...
Hail to the King !

[fritsch]

When the RM plays CTO ... TOs can play RM, can't they?

TOs ? Yeah, right...
Hail to the King !

[bry]

This is becoming increasingly difficult to find a resolution in the forum with the public chiming in. Perhaps take this to a private team forum that you guys have to discuss? After all you two are respectable adults.

[danjames92]

This is becoming increasingly difficult to find a resolution in the forum with the public chiming in. Perhaps take this to a private team forum that you guys have to discuss? After all you two are respectable adults.

I agree. It would be nice to get some kind of outcome publicly available though.

[bleze]

NUC's are fine (I have 3) but they are expensive, not an appliance and thus not really for the masses. Android TV, right now, seems like the perfect platform for Kodi (cheap, fast, silent, 4K, bitstreaming HD sound, does more than 'just' Kodi).

Beta 5? So what? I think the public can wait a few weeks more for this important feature to be included.
Instead of rejection and fighting, why not work on getting the code to an acceptable state and stability to be included in Jarvis?

Koying, I understand your frustration but I also understand the need for not including hacks in the source. I hope you will keep working on this and release an APK of final Jarvis with your changed merged, in case issues are not resolved. I sure would use it and appreciate it.

[danjames92]

NUC's are fine (I have 3) but they are expensive, not an appliance and thus not really for the masses. Android TV, right now, seems like the perfect platform for Kodi (cheap, fast, silent, 4K, bitstreaming HD sound, does more than 'just' Kodi).

Beta 5? So what? I think the public can wait a few weeks more for this important feature to be included.
Instead of rejection and fighting, why not work on getting the code to an acceptable state and stability to be included in Jarvis?

Koying, I understand your frustration but I also understand the need for not including hacks in the source. I hope you will keep working on this and release an APK of final Jarvis with your changed merged, in case issues are not resolved. I sure would use it and appreciate it.

I literally bought a SHIELD for those reasons the minute I saw the passthrough thread. I was tired of my Mac Mini's noisy fans running under Windows 10 and the SHIELD TV seemed like the best 'future-proof' machine you can get right now. Not to mention considerably cheaper than a NUC! As much as I don't like it, it's because Jarvis was a feature-freeze so they can work out bugs, not add new features. V17 is where they add features and it's a shame SHIELD users will have to wait for the development to be universal across all the platforms when Koying has already put in the work required (albeit not to the standard that's required to consider it stable and be merged obviously).

That said, I fail to understand why a separate branch is an issue when Kodi obviously has people that are willing to maintain it and consumers willing to provide logs to make it even better. If Koying goes, there doesn't seem to be much hope for the near future. It looks as if it would become a long term goal. If so, that's a damn shame.

[Nellgrove]

I've been an XMBC/Kodi user since the original Xbox and I've just replaced 2 of my openelec NUCs (a celeron and i3) with the Shield TV. I'd already bought a 16gb shield and the audio passthrough build persuaded me to finally replace the i3. The Fritsch version of openelec on the i3 is great, but integration with android apps on the Shield, including Hulu and Netflix etc is so useful (whereas previously i would have really needed a windows build to achieve that).

It feels weird that i won't be upgrading to the final Jarvis build, as i don't want to lose passthrough - but it works excellently as is so i'll stay on the experimental build until v17 is released.

Thanks Koying for the hard work you've put in (the passthrough really was a nice early xmas present) and i hope there can be some compromise that benefits Kodi community (including the needs of those using it).

[bleze]

danjames, I know all this and agree. I'm biased and therefore tend to see missing HD sound support on Android as a bug and not a missing feature
Besides refreshrate change does not work on my current equipment, so I will have to wait for Shield update and/or new receiver+TV before I retire my livingroom NUC.
Good devs are hard to come by so it's sad to see someone dedicated go. Instead I would motivate to go forward with an agreed compromise (maybe could be merged in to 16.1), instead of driving people away.