> That's the exact opposite of what should happen. What should be done is work on a > cross platform program agnostic frontend that can launch ANY program (native software > on the target OS, emulators, etc.). > > Screw program specific frontends.
So you prefer generic trash like Kodi?
I've used it a few times, it makes me shake my head, it's completely unsuitable for complex pieces of software like MAME.
MAME is primarily a tool, not a toy.
Eventually the MAME model will be more one where you have a 'world' / 'blank canvas' and you can drop machines in / out as you want, link connections between those emulated machines, plug in / pull out devices in realtime etc. To do that, you really need a good built in GUI, not some 'launch once and forget' thing. The 'blank canvas' model might allow listening for external commands, but even then you'd need an external gui that understood the needs of MAME, which are far beyond that of 'generic launcher app'
Things like RA might be championing the race to the bottom, trying to dumb down everything, regardless of the cost of doing so, but MAME has to hold it's ground, and keep trying to do things properly, with the real options etc.