Archive: Justin Frankel to leave Nullsoft


3rd June 2003 08:51 UTC

Justin Frankel to leave Nullsoft
hoser@62.178.42.210:~/pr0n> finger deadbeef@cockos.com
Login: deadbeef Name: Justin
Directory: /home/deadbeef Shell: /bin/tcsh
Plan:
June 2 2003 @ 10:03pm
For me, coding is a form of self-expression.

It's probably the form I'm most effective at.

Everything I code is arguably owned by the company.

The company controls what I do with my code [in the past, it seemed I had
freedom, but it turns out all of that was not really the case--rather, I
was somehow avoiding the control illicitly (for 4 years)]

The company controls the most effective means of self-expression I have.

This is unacceptable to me as an individual, therefore I must leav.

I don't know when it will be, but I'm not going to last much longer.

I have nothing but respect for the company--I've just come to realize that
it is time to do something different.


3rd June 2003 09:29 UTC

Is this for real?

What about AVS? :(


3rd June 2003 10:34 UTC

it's for real, and if you ask me its the best decision. this will only lead to better.


3rd June 2003 10:50 UTC

Good luck to him(i guess:( )


3rd June 2003 11:23 UTC

:( all the best to him, and that he may think of us avs'ers and make us a new version of AVS in the free time he now has.


3rd June 2003 11:24 UTC

well, its good for him..
on the other hand, us avser who were eagerly awaiting the next release are left stranded.

Gotta hand it to the guy for all thi shit he has put up with from us. :D

We pray that the remaining nullsoft team will think about a replacement avs guru.
:(
I cant see them just forgetting about the whole thing


3rd June 2003 11:57 UTC

i'd rather expect an AVS replacement from justin than any new version from nullsoft


3rd June 2003 12:47 UTC

That would be cool, at this stage, any avs replacement would be cool :D (but not milkdrop :blah: ) It should work just like avs though... otherwise i would probably stick to avs or quit it all together.


3rd June 2003 13:38 UTC

:eek: wow didn't know that he was leaving. Maybe time to move on for him. No doubt all to do with the WASTE problems.

ON a positivee note and visualization in general I am working on a new visualation with GOrdon WIllaims R2, R2/e etc. Meet up with him yesterday and shared ideas and looked at his new r4 alpha ver nice stuff will be made when it is completed.
And we plan to make it customisable as possible. I know it is not AVS but I am sharing the info as we all know that the nullsoft visualizations are not being produce any more. :(


3rd June 2003 15:05 UTC

sounds good.. I havnt seen anything of R2 for a while.
Just how customisable is "customisable as possible"?
Not AVS customisable i assume.
(custom script?? :rolleyes: )

tugg. if he does make an AVS replacement, i dont think it could be very avs like:

Everything I code is arguably owned by the company
im quite shook up about the whole thing :(:cry:

we sure do have lives here..were all distraught because the coder of our fav computer program has retired :D

3rd June 2003 15:39 UTC

The customisable thing is still under discusssion but we both agree to really make it grow we want to let everyone else be able to do stuff.

True it may not be as much as AVS (what is though?:))but probably realistically somewhere between MilkDrop/G-force customisable to AVS.

Early days yet but we will see.


3rd June 2003 16:04 UTC

Good luck to him, hope he's happier when he does.

As for avs, well, i'm just going to wait and see, i hardly have the coding knowledge to help so i'll just be an interested bystander.


3rd June 2003 16:53 UTC

raz: i doubt anyone here has the coding knowledge to help.. we just meek preseters. :I (not you rovastar)


3rd June 2003 17:13 UTC

I just hope someone updates AVS, and atleast remove the bugs :igor:


3rd June 2003 19:17 UTC

This is probably related to WASTE..

btw

n general I am working on a new visualation with GOrdon WIllaims R2, R2/e etc. Meet up with him yesterday and shared ideas and looked at his new r4 alpha ver nice stuff will be made when it is completed.
I've been experimenting with a modular OpenGL visualiser à la AVS as well. I don't have time to develop it now (exams), and so far I've only got a framework.

Not sure if my approach will lead to anyting, because this is the first serious OpenGL app I've done, and such projects tend to need a rewrite halfway through, but we'll see ;).

3rd June 2003 19:46 UTC

Originally posted by killahbite
i'd rather expect an AVS replacement from justin than any new version from nullsoft
that is EXACTLY what I was thinking when I read this. if justin's leaving the company he can move on to better things independently. hopefully he can still use his original source code - imo quitting a company and having them steal all of your hard work would be a personal hell :hang:

justin, best of luck...asshole


;) j/k

3rd June 2003 19:59 UTC

Originally posted by Atero
<snip>having them steal all of your hard work would be a personal hell :hang:
Isn't that basically why he's leaving?

3rd June 2003 23:30 UTC

Originally posted by Atero
[B]that is EXACTLY what I was thinking when I read this. if justin's leaving the company he can move on to better things independently. hopefully he can still use his original source code - imo quitting a company and having them steal all of your hard work would be a personal hell :hang:
Well....it's not really stealing, is it? I mean, AOL did pay $80 some million for it -- assuming they paid him in cash, not AOL stock, I'd imagine Justin's doing OK. I realize, though, that you were commenting more about the attachment programmers have to the code they write, and I do understand that, but the reality is most likely that he can't legally use that code in other projects after he leaves nullsoft.

-Brian

3rd June 2003 23:36 UTC

Anything that he writes in his spare time that isn't in his job description should be his and not owned by his employers.


3rd June 2003 23:42 UTC

Originally posted by Raz
Anything that he writes in his spare time that isn't in his job description should be his and not owned by his employers.
Yes, anything done in his spare time should be (and would be) his. Anything he did for AOL (as well as anything nullsoft did pre-aol that was covered by the buyout), however, would probably be off limits. Things he did in his "spare time" for winamp, may fall into a gray area though, since if AOL wanted to be mean, I'm sure their lawyers could come up with a way to claim ownership of it. Of course, this is all speculation -- once Justin leaves AOL, he may decide to start on some totally new, amazing project to change our lives. :)

-Brian

4th June 2003 00:41 UTC

Unfortunately AVS is still (c) Nullsoft and was developed on Nullsoft hours I believe (if you look at the people who made it, they're all Nullsofters).

It's not a good sign though. Justin was the driving force behind the firsts Winamps afaik (and probably most of the other projects). If he wants to leave his brainchild, then it means something is definitely wrong. Fragmentation is never a good thing.


4th June 2003 00:46 UTC

Originally posted by UnConeD
Fragmentation is never a good thing.
neither is censorship. a positive word for fragmentation is variety.

let's assume justin creates a competing software to winamp. this not only leads to a good alternative, it also puts nullsoft in the posittion to react on the competion. in the end it's the user that benefits. i wish justin a long life, so he can fulfill all of his software-dreams :D

anyway, it seems like justin is flirting with open-source models lately. so any of his project could have wide support from the community.

4th June 2003 02:33 UTC

Hopefully everything turns out alright and something better than the current AVS does come out.


4th June 2003 03:05 UTC

ide be very interested to know if this is anything to do with the whole WASTE fuckup. Though afaik, jason has little to do with that sort of stuff.

Killahbite: well put.. no matter what he does now, he will have a huge following from any self-respecting winamper/avser/shoutcaster etc. At the very least, we can be garrenteed that his future coding wont simply slip out of all knowledge.


4th June 2003 03:42 UTC

I just wonder how we're going to keep in touch with him and him with us? Anyone know if he has/is planning to get a personal website?


4th June 2003 03:49 UTC

I bet something else might be coming from AOL since Justin was a very important coder for Winamp, I don't think AOL would be very happy with seeing him leave. I hope Justin has fun in his new free time!


4th June 2003 05:08 UTC

remember that none of this is actually confirmed.. he hasnt actually left yet.


4th June 2003 07:10 UTC

let's assume justin creates a competing software to winamp
Everyone who is already considering jumping into some other bandwagon, raise your... thumb... :up:

:D



Clouded the future is...

4th June 2003 07:35 UTC

i meant that they would be taking the source code because it is their buerocratical copyright, and not giving him access to his own blood sweat and tears....


4th June 2003 07:50 UTC

:up:

when i think about it, i only use winamp cuz i know how to use winamp.
with the prospect of a better avs, i would gladly jump onto that waggon.


4th June 2003 08:30 UTC

Originally posted by Wiser87
I just wonder how we're going to keep in touch with him and him with us? Anyone know if he has/is planning to get a personal website?
the message was taken from his personal website

4th June 2003 08:49 UTC

Someone should find a way to contact him and ask him. :D
otherwise this thread will go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.


4th June 2003 09:10 UTC

hmm, like end of wacko, i remember. i know i don't post often (if not at all) hope the replacement is understanding


4th June 2003 09:42 UTC

Well, all I can say is that AVS won't be the same without Justin. He has done great work and needs to move on. I think it would be best for him, if it's true.


5th June 2003 08:01 UTC

I hope there will be more improved versions anyway. I dont think that nullsoft can forget about avs because it's the only reason why i use winamp. Otherwise there are enough players on the market and i'm not the only person thinking this way.

Thanx to Justin for all the things in AVS so far.


5th June 2003 20:16 UTC

Anyone read http://www.1014.org today, make of that what you will..

Scammed, we have been....

(well maybe)


5th June 2003 21:31 UTC

http://www.techtv.com/news/shownotes...440835,00.html

Publicity.


6th June 2003 11:43 UTC

That's it... that guy is going... going... It's outta here! :igor:

And from the news i guess that he has 86 million reasons not to make a competive software... or worry about avs for that matter.


24th June 2003 20:54 UTC

leaving or not leaving, at least justin wants to finish winamp 5 (2+3=5).

from his weblog:
Been back for a while now, got all the work stuff sorted out. I'm at
least content now to get Winamp 5 out, we'll see how it all goes from
there.


there's nothing mentioned what his plans are after its release, but well.