24 ms·

I just don't get these kind of comments. This person's javascript knowledge enabled him to develop this multi-platform app, it looks and feels great and does it

I just don't get these kind of comments. This person's javascript knowledge enabled him to develop this multi-platform app, it looks and feels great and does its job. Yes, it uses a lot of memory (140mb by just opening it) but how long does this stay actually open? You download some videos and close it in a few minutes. It's not a persistent use case like a chat client. youtube-dl is a 10 year old project. Where are all the great qt gui-s for it?

pluc 5y ago
It's a CLI app, it doesn't need "an app" for it.
- fsloth 5y ago
  I think it's matter of usability and taste. As a programmer who uses CLI applications daily I still find GUI applications far superior to those tasks for which I don't have the CLI commands imprinted in my tactile memory. And I forget any CLI functions I don't use daily reaaallly fast.
  - dotancohen 5y ago
    $ man foo Now tell me where the swipe-from-the-left and swipe-from-the-right and pull-down-from-the-top and long-press and double-tap and trippple-tap and pinch vertically and pinch horizontally and triple-finger tap for "modern" apps are documented?
    - fsloth 5y ago
      I think we must be using different apps. For example - re-encoding a movie file. I'm 100% sure it's much faster for me to type "<windows> hand <enter>" to start Handbrake, click open, paste the path to the file to the file dialog, and click convert, than figure out how to use ffmpeg command line.
      - dotancohen 5y ago
        OK, you got me at ffmpeg! By bash history and search history are littered with fighting that gem. But youtube-dl, the subject of this post, is another matter. Using it is a simple matter of `$ youtube-dl <url-to-video>`, the former which is bash-completed after two characters and the latter which is a paste. Surely that's quicker than any GUI.
- poisonborz 5y ago
  A lot of people prefer 1-2 mouse clicks instead of typing in dozens of characters, needing to memorize arguments and options. Try to download a specific resolution as a novice user. Especially if you are disabled and can't type easily.
- tclancy 5y ago
  I hope you never buy premise chicken stock from the store. Everybody has things they are interested in and want to spend time on. But not everyone can do all of them.
ducktective 5y ago
> Where are all the great qt apps for it This is really a valid question (not just for youtube-dl but for chat apps as well)... I guess the answer is : Qt being LGPL and the abundance of front-end webdevs
- illegalmemory 5y ago
  It is completely possible to sell closed source applications even using QT. ( It is all about how you link your QT libraries ) I think the main reason is abundance of frontend devs and quick to start using Electron.
lpcvoid 5y ago
And I don't get how you can be so defensive about Electron. It's technically inferior to literally any native solution such as wxwidgets or Qt. RAM usage, CPU cycles, Hard drive space... it's such a disrespectful stance on computing resources.
- poisonborz 5y ago
  Because talking about it here completely misses the point. Yes, Electron has a number of problems, so what? This is an app that you open and close within 3 minutes. Open Video Downloader is a very usable software that doesn't have any direct alternatives right now to my knowledge. It's actually a good example of how a great, easily accessible UI framework can enable the creation of cross-platform apps that nobody did in those other "leaner" frameworks until now.
  - lpcvoid 5y ago
    And by normalizing Electron we get even more of the same, instead of convincing people to learn better tools for the job. It's a race to the bottom.
    - poisonborz 5y ago
      Keep missing the point. Any tool used IS the best tool for the job until it runs and someone doesn't make a better app with a better tool. The guy is probably a JS dev and he made this as a low-impact side project. It's a really hard sell to dive into C++ or picking up some obscure framework with fraction of the community just for the sake of this (see "sad state of cross-platform gui frameworks"). It's like someone posts a phone video of a new rare animal species and you comment "A DSLR camera makes infinitely better video, it's much better suited for the job, we keep normalising bad mobile phone videos, people should use the right tool and carry a DSLR around".
      - genewitch 5y ago
        The only good phone is a landline and it should be made of bakelite.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
kasabali 5y ago
> youtube-dl is a 10 year old project. Where are all the great qt gui-s for it Here: https://github.com/MrS0m30n3/youtube-dl-gui https://github.com/MrS0m30n3/youtube-dl-gui or here: https://github.com/jeanslack/Videomass https://github.com/jeanslack/Videomass

pluc 5y ago

It's a CLI app, it doesn't need "an app" for it.

fsloth 5y ago
I think it's matter of usability and taste. As a programmer who uses CLI applications daily I still find GUI applications far superior to those tasks for which I don't have the CLI commands imprinted in my tactile memory. And I forget any CLI functions I don't use daily reaaallly fast.
- dotancohen 5y ago
  $ man foo Now tell me where the swipe-from-the-left and swipe-from-the-right and pull-down-from-the-top and long-press and double-tap and trippple-tap and pinch vertically and pinch horizontally and triple-finger tap for "modern" apps are documented?
  - fsloth 5y ago
    I think we must be using different apps. For example - re-encoding a movie file. I'm 100% sure it's much faster for me to type "<windows> hand <enter>" to start Handbrake, click open, paste the path to the file to the file dialog, and click convert, than figure out how to use ffmpeg command line.
    - dotancohen 5y ago
      OK, you got me at ffmpeg! By bash history and search history are littered with fighting that gem. But youtube-dl, the subject of this post, is another matter. Using it is a simple matter of `$ youtube-dl <url-to-video>`, the former which is bash-completed after two characters and the latter which is a paste. Surely that's quicker than any GUI.
poisonborz 5y ago
A lot of people prefer 1-2 mouse clicks instead of typing in dozens of characters, needing to memorize arguments and options. Try to download a specific resolution as a novice user. Especially if you are disabled and can't type easily.
tclancy 5y ago
I hope you never buy premise chicken stock from the store. Everybody has things they are interested in and want to spend time on. But not everyone can do all of them.

ducktective 5y ago

> Where are all the great qt apps for it This is really a valid question (not just for youtube-dl but for chat apps as well)... I guess the answer is : Qt being LGPL and the abundance of front-end webdevs

illegalmemory 5y ago
It is completely possible to sell closed source applications even using QT. ( It is all about how you link your QT libraries ) I think the main reason is abundance of frontend devs and quick to start using Electron.

lpcvoid 5y ago

And I don't get how you can be so defensive about Electron. It's technically inferior to literally any native solution such as wxwidgets or Qt. RAM usage, CPU cycles, Hard drive space... it's such a disrespectful stance on computing resources.

poisonborz 5y ago
Because talking about it here completely misses the point. Yes, Electron has a number of problems, so what? This is an app that you open and close within 3 minutes. Open Video Downloader is a very usable software that doesn't have any direct alternatives right now to my knowledge. It's actually a good example of how a great, easily accessible UI framework can enable the creation of cross-platform apps that nobody did in those other "leaner" frameworks until now.
- lpcvoid 5y ago
  And by normalizing Electron we get even more of the same, instead of convincing people to learn better tools for the job. It's a race to the bottom.
  - poisonborz 5y ago
    Keep missing the point. Any tool used IS the best tool for the job until it runs and someone doesn't make a better app with a better tool. The guy is probably a JS dev and he made this as a low-impact side project. It's a really hard sell to dive into C++ or picking up some obscure framework with fraction of the community just for the sake of this (see "sad state of cross-platform gui frameworks"). It's like someone posts a phone video of a new rare animal species and you comment "A DSLR camera makes infinitely better video, it's much better suited for the job, we keep normalising bad mobile phone videos, people should use the right tool and carry a DSLR around".
    - genewitch 5y ago
      The only good phone is a landline and it should be made of bakelite.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

kasabali 5y ago

> youtube-dl is a 10 year old project. Where are all the great qt gui-s for it Here: https://github.com/MrS0m30n3/youtube-dl-gui https://github.com/MrS0m30n3/youtube-dl-gui or here: https://github.com/jeanslack/Videomass https://github.com/jeanslack/Videomass