[Red5] Project Update / Clearing the FUD

[Daniel Todd]

Great post Luke!

I was at both the workshop and OS Flash Panel and the difference
between the two was amazing.
The workshop incited amazement, encouragement and understanding,
probably due to the fact that you were given the opportunity to fully
explain what you were up to.
The panel on the other hand was a bit weird, I think a lot of people
turned up who had little to no idea what you, or the rest of the guys,
were actually doing. It turned into a bit of a row  and having Mike
Chambers there certainly did not help the matter. No-one was
interested in his great Javascript integration kit, everyone was
basically waiting for him to announce Macromedias position on the
whole thing. What a shame.
I think the people that didn't understand the whole concept of what
OSFlash is trying to achieve hindered what could have been a great
discussion about how to move open source flash forward and give it
direction. Unfortunately, we focused on issues that might, or might
not, hold it back and that is a greatly missed opportunity.
Like I've said on the list before, although there are overlapping
areas, Red5 is going to give me the chance to work with technologies I
have never worked with before, and never will if FMS is priced the way
it is. Basically if Red5 never makes it out there I'm not going to
have any experience with streaming media in Flash. So when my next
client asks me if I can do it, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no.
Red5 is going to help me aqquire new skills that I can apply to a
project with FMS (or FCS or whatever,) and by doing so I am helping to
move forward the Flash Platform forward. Red 5 is great for everyone,
Macromedia included, and I think they secretly know that too.