[vlc-devel] RFC: New python-vlc bindings - call to packagers

[Olivier Aubert]

Hello

I am the author of the python-vlc bindings. A couple of months ago, I
completely changed the approach: instead of hand-coded native bindings,
I wrote a script that automatically generates a pure-python ctypes-based
module from the VLC headers.  This brings
* a complete coverage of the APIs, thanks to autogeneration.
* less distribution hassle, since the distributed file is pure python:
no compilation, no multiple versions across platforms...

The script is located in the bindings/python-ctypes directory of the VLC
source tree, and generated bindings are for now available at
http://liris.cnrs.fr/advene/download/python-ctypes/

After a period of test, it appears that this approach is quite stable,
and much more convenient than the previous one. I am thus considering
phasing out the old version of the bindings, and only keep ctypes-based
ones.

This mail is a call to packagers (and some users) of python-vlc to get
feedback on the appropriate way of transitioning. Ideally, I would like
to remove the old bindings/python directory ASAP (since I do not plan to
support it anyway), but some time could be needed for adaptation.

Any thoughts?
Olivier