Messages

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Предложения / Suggestions / Re: Why there is no available version of AIMP for Linux and macOS?

« on: December 21, 2021, 04:23:59 »

@Artem I send you a PM a while back about my progress and I've noticed that this forum (maybe SMF in general?) doesn't have notifications for them, so I wanted to make sure you definitely knew about it. Cheers.

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Предложения / Suggestions / Re: Why there is no available version of AIMP for Linux and macOS?

« on: October 06, 2021, 09:07:20 »

I already have tried few ways some times ago:
1. Two developers contact to me and tried to port the core library to Linux, they failed, because architecture and code are optimized to Windows API platform.
2. I have tried to make my code compatible with WINE, but users don't like Wine, they want native port only. Its not a way.

Next, AIMP for Windows is written on Delphi (latest version). So, you will need to re-write it to C++ first, because FreePascal is not compatible with latest version of Delphi.

Another thing that I want to ask you: what reason to port Windows-specific player to another (too different) platform? Why Linux Community does not improve already created native players? Its easier way as I think.

Thanks for replying so quickly.

Yeah, I know AIMP is written in Delphi. I got just far enough into reversing it to figure that out. I don't remember anything else about its architecture though -- this was several years ago.

Without looking at the code, it's hard to say which option is best but I have multiple potential paths in mind for porting (maybe a combination of one or more):
(1) use my CrossVcl/Fmxlinux license and Delphi cross-compilation (depending on whether you use VCL or Firemonkey -- probably FMX)
(2) use my knowledge of Object Pascal and its related dialects to convert the Delphi code into FreePascal/LCL compatible code.
(3) swap out the graphics library for something similar and recreate the theming engine.
(4) (will have to do this regardless of any other steps) convert the WINAPI interactions into Linux/POSIX equivalents.

I'm pretty confident that there's no need for a full rewrite in a different language, but obviously I can't say for certain without seeing the source.

Why not Wine? I get why people don't like relying on Wine. It's the same reason that I'm willing to go to the effort of porting AIMP rather than using Wine. Apps through Wine are less stable, less performant, prone to regressions at a moment's notice, don't take advantage of many Linux features, and don't integrate nicely into the standard filesystem structure (i.e. they're squirrelled away in some ugly imitation of the Windows structure) or Linux standards in general. With a lot of apps on Wine, I constantly feel like I'm just waiting for some bug to appear to ruin the experience and remind me that I'm not actually running the app natively or on Windows.

I must admit that I haven't tested AIMP extensively on Wine. If the best that could be done was to make it work as well as possible on Wine, I would be happy to help with any issues that exist, but I still believe that we can do better and do it natively.

Why AIMP? Well, why is AIMP so popular in the first place? A lot of people, myself included, think it's the best music player on any desktop OS. Porting it should require far less effort than creating something similar from the ground up. In particular, the theming engine and themes are remarkable. Implementing that from scratch in Qt or whatever would be very difficult, especially while retaining compatibility with existing themes. Hell, I'm not convinced that many GUI toolkits/libraries can look as good as AIMP does, regardless of how they're used. It'd potentially require an OpenGL (or similar fundamental graphics API) wrapper rather than a GUI toolkit, and yet you've got something beautiful implemented in a relatively simple language and library combination. That's why AIMP and why I'd like to port it rather than attempt to create something else. Frankly, I have no interest in any other music player because I don't use any other music player, so I wouldn't want to waste my time and talent writing one or writing for one.

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Предложения / Suggestions / Re: Why there is no available version of AIMP for Linux and macOS?

« on: October 05, 2021, 10:05:49 »

=) Open sources will not solve it - people will not waste their time to re-write Windows-specified code to thier OS for free.

If you want to try to port it I will share sources of player's core for you.

Hello, Artem!

I understand your position on porting AIMP. While I don't necessarily agree with it, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't sympathise. On multiple occasions, I've refused to port software I've written to OS X simply because I strongly dislike Apple and OS X (and also because developing for the Apple ecosystem when you aren't involved in the Apple ecosystem in any way is very expensive in both time and money). Ultimately, it's your time and effort that people are asking for, and it's your right to decline the requests for your time and effort.

However, I'd love to create a native Linux port if you're serious about your offer of sharing the source with a dedicated developer. I have professional experience in more than 20 languages - including, crucially, C and C++ - and at least three times as many technologies (e.g. SQL and db admin). I've ported multiple applications to and from Linux and Windows both with POSIX and without.

Anyway, I can create a faithful port that will properly represent the greatness of AIMP, if you'll allow me.

Thanks for creating the best media player on Windows. Personally, I love both Windows and Linux (though not so much what Windows has become since 8/10). I think Windows is a massively over-hated, underrated OS. I've always found it intuitive, powerful, and actually very stable: I've wrecked far fewer Windows boxes than I have Linux ones in my time, and I've got consumer Windows 7 machines in my house that have been powered on for years. But that's beside the point!

Best wishes,
Elliott

ETA: At one point, a few years ago, I considered reverse engineering AIMP to try to port it, but I decided it would just be too much work to reconstruct the whole thing and I was worried about pissing you off by doing it unofficially. I've cracked my own private copies of commercial software with x86 asm for fun before, with simple or moderate levels of DRM protection, but I'm not skilled enough to recreate the entirety of AIMP that way, I don't think!