gstreamer/docs/faq/dependencies.xml

<sect1 id="chapter-dependencies">
  <title id="title-dependencies">Dependencies</title>
  <qandaset>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-why-so-many">
        <para>Why are there so many dependencies ?</para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
Making a full-featured media framework is a huge undertaking in itself.
By using the work done by others, we both reduce the amount of redundant work 
being done and leave ourselves free to work on the architecture itself 
instead of working on the low-level stuff.  We would be stupid not to reuse
the code others have written.
        </para>
        <para>
However, do realize that in no way you are forced to have all dependencies
installed.  None of the core developers has all of them installed.  GStreamer
has only a few obligate dependencies : GLib 2.0, popt >= 1.6.0, and very
common stuff like glibc, a C compiler, and so on.  All of the other
dependencies are optional.
        </para>
        <para>
So, in closing, let's rephrase the question to 
<quote>Why are you giving me so many choices and such a rich environment ?
</quote>
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-glib">
        <para>
Does GStreamer use GTK+ 1.2/GLib 1.2 or GLib 2.0 ?
        </para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
Since the 0.3.3 release of GStreamer, we use GLib 2.0 as the core library 
for GStreamer, which features a move of GObject from GTK+ 2.0 to GLib 2.0.
If you want to compile using GTK+ 1.2/GLib 1.2,  you need to get the 
0.3.1 or earlier release.   It is of course not supported.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-dxr">
        <para>
Does GStreamer offer support for DVD decoder cards like dxr2/3 ?
        </para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
We do have support for the dxr3, although dxr2 support is unknown. 
GStreamer can easily accomodate hardware acceleration by writing new 
device-specific elements.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-x">
        <para>Is GStreamer X independent ?</para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
Yes, we have no X dependency in any of our core modules. There are GStreamer
applications that run fine without any need for X.  However, until our Linux 
Framebuffer or libsvga plugin is ready, you will not be able to play videos 
without X. In the future, there will probably be lots of different output 
plugins for video available.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-ladspa">
        <para>What is GStreamer's position on efforts such as LADSPA ?</para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
GStreamer actively supports such efforts, and in the case of 
<ulink url="http://ladspa.org/"><citetitle>LADPSA</citetitle></ulink>,
we already have a wrapper plugin.  This wrapper plug-in detects the LADSPA
plugins present on your system at register time.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-midi">
        <para>Does GStreamer support MIDI ?</para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
Not yet. The GStreamer architecture should be able to support the needs of 
MIDI applications very well however. If you are a developer interested in 
adding MIDI support to GStreamer we are very interested in getting in touch 
with you.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="dependencies-gnome">
        <para>Does GStreamer depend on GNOME ?</para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
No. But many of the applications developed for GStreamer do, including our 
sample applications. There is nothing hindering people from developing 
applications using other toolkits however and we would happily help promote 
such efforts. A good example of an application using GStreamer, but which is 
not using GNOME is the 
<ulink url="http://mozstreamer.mozdev.org"><citetitle>
Mozstreamer</citetitle></ulink> which uses Mozilla XUL.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>
  </qandaset>
</sect1>