TapeWorm
A MythTV Parasite for Windows
The TapeWorm Mailing List
The TapeWorm mailing list serves two purposes:
Please sign up for the TapeWorm mailing list. When you do, you will receive information on how to send messages to the list. (I won't go into detail here in a vain attempt to reduce the amount of spam sent to the list.)
You are also welcome to view the TapeWorm mailing list archives to see if the information you would like has already been discussed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What Media Players can I use with TapeWorm?
I have used Windows Media Player, the VideoLAN Client, and the Zoom Media Player with TapeWorm. I'm sure there are others that will work as well.
Will there be a Mac OS X or Linux version of TapeWorm?
I have tried to get TapeWorm to run on OS X but have not been successful. Applications on OS X can't take command line parameters, and I haven't found a way to pass the name of the video file to the QuickTime player (or the VideoLAN Client, for that matter,) on the Mac. If there's enough demand (read that as my hearing a commitment to donate to Capital Candlelighters) I might write an internal Media Player component for TapeWorm based on wx.MediaCtrl. Based on my experience with Transana, I'm sure it'll work. I'm just not convinved yet that it's worth the effort.
As for Linux, I might produce a Linux version some day, but I might leave that exercise to the reader.
Are you going to Open Source TapeWorm?
I'm willing to make the source code available to those who would like to play with it, learn from it, or extend it. However, for now I have decided not to license TapeWorm under the GNU-GPL. Instead, I've decided to try a license that's more restrictive but with a significant degree of Open-Sourceiness to it.
There are two main considerations. First, managing a live Open Source project is a lot of work. I manage a full-blown Open Source project (Transana) at work. Support for users and developers takes time, as does maintaining the source code's freshness and integrity. And every little upgrade causes a cascade of tasks. I don't know if I have the time to do it right, and I'm not willing to do it unless I do it right.
And second, as much as I believe in the Open Source model, I really believe in Candlelighters. I don't think I would've made TapeWorm a releasable program if I didn't think it might generate donations. I would've accepted quirks and hard-coded media player commands if I was just doing this for myself. If you saw the needs first hand that this organization tries to fulfill, like I have, you'd probably understand. I donate a lot of time to that organization. I could really have used the services this group provides when my son was diagnosed 10 years ago, but they weren't offered back then. I'm doing what I can to make sure these services continue to be offered in the future. It's deeply important to me. If you can't understand that, it is my sincere hope that you are never put through something that will make it crystal clear to you.