sounds scary...i believe you mentioned we will be able to run 0.8.5 alongside 0.9...hopefully that will still be the case?
A completely fair point. Although we had the desire to work on it since then, we didn't actually "break ground" on the new library until late 2009. Most of 2009 was spent stabilizing Plex and getting the plug-in framework and WebKit support solid.
Yes, the two should run side by side just fine.
I'm not trying to be alarmist, the vast majority of people will find it much better :) We may have removed one or two archaic things that we felt didn't have a place in a new library.
By the way, so that we can stop calling it "the library", why don't we refer to it by its internal codename: Alexandria (the largest and most famous of the libraries of the ancient world).
(Naysayers may point out that it was destroyed a few centuries after it was built, but hey, it lasted over 100 years!)
wow this thread has drifted way off topic, so back to developers>>plex 0.9 database, i guess i’ll actually ask something on topic instead of “elan promised me a pony!” :
is the library still gonna be stored as a big giant monolithic sqlite database?
Billy, you do get one pony with each download of Plex/Nine.
Alexandria uses a mix of XML and SQL to store its data.
I like the name Alexandria. if I’m not mistaken, all visitors were required to leave all their writings in the Alexandrian library. that’s a nice analogy for the plex library 
tks…
Top keep the topic on a roll I’ll ask another on topic question. Is the new library going to be part of the XBMC based plex code and thus open source or is it going to be part of the plex server and thus closed source?
The core code is in the Plex Media Server, and there are Python plug-in points at various spots.
Does it mean we would be able to use XBMC skins as it is ?
We are working with the talented individuals who have optimized the cream of the crop skins for Plex, and they will be integrating the changes required to work optimally with Alexandria. (As is the case right now, changes are required to enhance skins for Plex.)
So it will be closed source as you're never mentioned an intention to make PMS code available? This then puts the critical code (without which Plex client app is pointless) closed source.
I am curious as to why PMS is closed source - to me this hints at an intent, at some time in the future, to make it a commercial product. Nothing wrong with this really but I think I'd rather know soon rather than later.
Tad, Can I have a backup of your Library ;-)
Yep, curious as well.
Sign me up for a Beta test of the pony rides.
Looking forward to Alexandria...
Without putting words in Elans mouth... but he has said in a couple of posts that it is closed source because PMS code is changing so much from release to release.
Being able to make a living out of all the work we do would be awesome! I can't imagine, personally, how nice it would feel to be able to wake up in the morning and give Plex my best energy, instead of working at my "day job" and then working on Plex in the evening, night, and small hours of the morning. I'm sure the other developers feel the same way.
However, I feel that your comment has more to do with concerns you have about your data and your wallet, rather than being worried about how many hours of sleep we get :)
In that department, I can assure you that:
[list]
[*]All data stored in the Alexandria database will be stored using open formats.
[*]We will never start charging you today for something that was free yesterday (that would be uncivilized, as well as bad business).
[/list]
Is this all part of a nefarious plot? No. The truth is that we don't know exactly what the future of Plex or the Media Server will bring, and it's partly that uncertainly that keeps the source closed.
I think the best idea so far has been the premium "Pony Edition" of Plex/Nine, where you optionally pay a bit of money to get a real live pony along with every copy (care and feeding instructions included).
Interesting you mentioned my data - I hadn't given any thought to my data. As far as I am aware none of my data i sent anywhere from Plex anyway. The TV theme tune stuff makes a call to a server you host but I'd would not have thought you'd be logging that data.
The wallet thing doesn't bother me a jot. I've already donated and would happily do so again - I think I mentioned to you once before that as I own some technology related businesses which include development resources and being an ex-Hacker myself - I can't really get my head around the whole Open Source thing. (Note - I can't say I'm currently hacking as some of my team monitor this forum and they'd shoot me down in seconds).
My reason for asking is that I don't understand why you've closed PMS. Plex is only in existence because of XBMC and started off in the same open source manor. Now you are moving functionality over to a closed source application which without the open source Plex Client would, again to my knowledge, be useless. I don't understand this move unless there is some ntent at some time in the future to take the code commercial. Unfortunately as a committed business man my brain likes to get to the bottom of motives. I couldn't give a monkeys if you had that intent - and in fact I'd probably be interested in looking at the business plan!
As for the "Pony option" - no thanks, it's bad enough cleaning out the kids Hamster - the pony would be way to much up keep. Now if there's a Goldfish option at a reduced price then you might have a sale.
Simon
P.S. Developers never sleep much - it's a side effect of brains never shutting down properly! Alcohol helps - but then I've spent some time drunk coding as well. Never do that on client code as too many "// Bo***x can't be a**sed to write this the proper way" or my personal fav "// No f***ing idea why this ain't working" can easily be accidentally missed when sober again and left in forever.
I meant your data just in terms of the library data on your local machines and that we're not storing it in any weird or proprietary format :)
Elan, stop messing about mate and just bloody charge for Plex. I VERY RARELY buy shareware but would gladly pay at least £10 (gbp) or $20 (USD) or similar for Plex, probably double that. I have followed Plex for a while, and after initially trying it went with XBMC for a few months but have come back to Plex, mainly for the iTunes integration. Sure you’d have to keep the stuff you’ve gotten from XBMC open source but over time surely that would be less and less.
Mac users are some of the most honest users in computerland and I’m sure you could make a living from Plex if you could devote the time to it.
Give me Plex with Tassitassi skin and I’d be in heaven, and would probably buy a Mac mini just to run it.
My one request for a closed source/paid for Plex would be that you do to the skinning engine what you’ve done for the rest and make it “Mac Happy”. Give me a skinning tutorial worthy of Plex and let me loose!
Your devotion to this project deserves being paid for, honestly. Do you have a “Pay if you want to” option anywhere? If so I’d like to pay for Plex, and yours and the teams time.
