> I try not to ascibe malice to actions that could just as well be due > to ordinary foolishness. But, it was hard to find another explanation > when you were slapped down for politely requesting the technical > justification for MiG. The answer was essentially, "this is a > requirement because I say so". That is a political justification. > Formerly, this list had been a technical workgroup. Both have their > place, but it is a mistake to confuse the two. Justifications for MiG were given and rejected by the NMiG group. For example, a synth vendor <x> from Hamamatsu might have lots of MIDI-bound synth code laying around, and might want to keep MIDI around at least initially. Or, a successful plugin API like VST can talk MIDI, and have succeeded nonetheless. To me and the other MiG's these arguments are simple and obvious. To me these *are* technical reasons. But no technical reasons matter at this point, because it really seems to be a religous argument. I'm glad we have a compromise to forge ahead with. By the way, the stated objective for this group is as follows (quoting from the initial annoucement message for this list): > The objective of the GMPI working group is to create a unified cross > platform music plug-in interface. This new interface is hoped to provide an > alternative choice to the multitude of plug-in interfaces that exist today. > Among the many benefits of standardization are increased choice for > customers, lower cost for music plug-in vendors and a secure future for > valuable market-enabling technology. You'll notice that is says nothing about "build a better widget" or "fix the problems in the existing interfaces." The objective is *standardization* plain and simple. Our purpose, technically, is how to achieve standardization while still satisfying the needs of the music market. So if Steinberg or Apple or Microsoft decide to turn over their respective plugin specs to the MMA, we can pack our bags and go home. All we need is *some* standard, not a *perfect* standard. Version 1.0 can have warts, knowing that the right group of people -- this group -- will keep it moving in the right direction. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Generalized Music Plugin Interface (GMPI) public discussion list Participation in this list is contingent upon your abiding by the following rules: Please stay on topic. You are responsible for your own words. Please respect your fellow subscribers. Please do not redistribute anyone else's words without their permission. Archive: //www.freelists.org/archives/gmpi Email gmpi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx w/ subject "unsubscribe" to unsubscribe