5 ms·

VLC is by far the best media player in existence, and I'm extremely thankful for the team behind it. Gives me hope that this whole Foss thing is actually very g

VLC is by far the best media player in existence, and I'm extremely thankful for the team behind it. Gives me hope that this whole Foss thing is actually very good for the world.

aktuel 5y ago
I very much prefer mpv.
- Eelongate 5y ago
  I also greatly prefer mpv, but I wouldn't recommend it to most people for the same reason I wouldn't recommend emacs to most people. To get the most out of it, you need to be able and inclined towards extending it. But if you are, it really kicks ass.
  - random_cynic 5y ago
    Like how? What can it do that vlc can't?
    - Eelongate 5y ago
      It has the JSON-IPC interface, which is much better than vlc's telnet interface (which is barely documented at all.) The pseudo-gui is written as a lua script and can be swapped out with your own to suit your personal whims. It comes with builtin support for youtube-dl/yt-dlp (which work on a wider range of sites than vlc's equivalent feature), which can be modified to allow changing the format/quality on the fly. Relating to that, scripts can add new protocol support for things like torrent files, magnet links, etc. With the right scripts and configuration, you can turn it into a capable image viewer suitable for reading comic books (cbz files). I have a gallery view (for the playlist) and a contact sheet view (for the current file) that both have thumbnails. For the life of me I can't figure out how to get this in VLC (surely there must be a way, right? But the documentation is crap and I can't find it anywhere in the menus or preferences window. All I can find is the playlist view that doesn't have thumbnails.) But the big differences which enable everything else is better documentation, particularly for the scripting and IPC interfaces. If you can find the documentation for VLC's Lua interface please let me know, because as far as I can tell that documentation is nonexistent. It's certainly not in the manpage, nor the worthless F1 window, nor can I find it on the VLC wiki). It's difficult to figure out what VLC's Lua interface is even capable of, but if you go by the addons listed on VLC's website the sole advantage of VLC's Lua scripting seems to be the ability to create basic GUIs.
    - colordrops 5y ago
      loads instantaneously, simple config, fully-keyboard driven, vim-like bindings, great to use from the command line or terminal-based file managers like ranger.
      - random_cynic 5y ago
        > loads instantaneously I've never encountered a case where VLC did not load "instantaneously". Unless you're using a baked potato this should always be the case. If you have proper benchmarks for different video files and different hardware, cite them. "Instantaneously" doesn't mean a thing. Your other points are equally subjective and meaningless. Especially vim bindings, really? That is now considered a feature? And I don't get how directly changing the configuration from the GUI where each option is explained in detail is simpler than a error-prone process of modifying a text configuration.
        colordrops 5y ago
        My comment was not meant as a slight on VLC. If I was incorrect about load time that does not invalidate the other points. The concept of a "feature" is subjective and if someone finds them valuable, then they are valuable features by definition.
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
  Why? The GUI is simple, MPV needs learning CLI to play videos. https://www.migaku.io/tools-guides/migaku-mpv/guide/ https://www.migaku.io/tools-guides/migaku-mpv/guide/ and has drama like this. https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/commit/cdaa496314f90412963f2b3211e18df72910066d#commitcomment-40434556 https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/commit/cdaa496314f90412963... I just want to play videos, what is the benefit of MPV? I used it for a while, because it was "better" but now I wonder "better how"?
  - Eelongate 5y ago
    > MPV needs learning CLI to play videos. It certainly does not. You can launch mpv by clicking/doubleclicking on any media file in your file manager, the same as any other. You can also drag media files to your mpv icon, or drag media files to a running mpv instance. Edit: Also I don't know where you found that "migaku" guide, but it's crap. Why is guide written in english telling people to download a config file that sets Japanese as the default audio and subtitle language? Why the hell is it turning hardware decoding off by default? Also, sudo to curl into usr/local/bin/youtube-dl when you could just put yt-dlp/youtube-dl in the regular mpv configuration directory? Fucking... why? Do yourself a favor and read the official documentation if you really want to give mpv a try.
    - GhettoComputers 5y ago
      If I want to change the speed in VLC, I can find the menu easily. There is a minimal GUI on MPV that doesn't show me anything for changing speed, it changes A-V delay when I try a -/+ command with CTRL, there is no right click menu, there is accessibility to helpful shortcuts that I shouldn't need to memorize keys for. Its minimalist for no good reason, has poor accessibility, and if I can't even find the help menu, what is the benefit of the design?
      - Eelongate 5y ago
        > There is a minimal GUI on MPV that doesn't show me anything for changing speed, it changes A-V delay when I try a -/+ command with CTRL, there is no right click menu, there is accessibility to helpful shortcuts that I shouldn't need to memorize keys for. It is true that mpv usually doesn't have a GUI menu for this (I believe it does on MacOS, but lets ignore that.) However it's not true that doing so requires using a command line. Speed is changed using the [ and ] keys, which is documented in the manual. Obviously this is not friendly to novices, but it certainly does not require using the command line. > Its minimalist for no good reason It's minimal for a very good reason: because some people like it that way. Obviously it's not for everybody, and there is nothing wrong with that. I would never consider recommending it for everybody, but I object to the implicit assertion that all software must aspire to be good for everybody. > what is the benefit of the design? To you? Probably none. So I don't recommend it to you.

VLC is by far the best media player in existence, and I'm extremely thankful for the team behind it. Gives me hope that this whole Foss thing is actually very good for the world.

aktuel 5y ago

I very much prefer mpv.

Eelongate 5y ago
I also greatly prefer mpv, but I wouldn't recommend it to most people for the same reason I wouldn't recommend emacs to most people. To get the most out of it, you need to be able and inclined towards extending it. But if you are, it really kicks ass.
- random_cynic 5y ago
  Like how? What can it do that vlc can't?
  - Eelongate 5y ago
    It has the JSON-IPC interface, which is much better than vlc's telnet interface (which is barely documented at all.) The pseudo-gui is written as a lua script and can be swapped out with your own to suit your personal whims. It comes with builtin support for youtube-dl/yt-dlp (which work on a wider range of sites than vlc's equivalent feature), which can be modified to allow changing the format/quality on the fly. Relating to that, scripts can add new protocol support for things like torrent files, magnet links, etc. With the right scripts and configuration, you can turn it into a capable image viewer suitable for reading comic books (cbz files). I have a gallery view (for the playlist) and a contact sheet view (for the current file) that both have thumbnails. For the life of me I can't figure out how to get this in VLC (surely there must be a way, right? But the documentation is crap and I can't find it anywhere in the menus or preferences window. All I can find is the playlist view that doesn't have thumbnails.) But the big differences which enable everything else is better documentation, particularly for the scripting and IPC interfaces. If you can find the documentation for VLC's Lua interface please let me know, because as far as I can tell that documentation is nonexistent. It's certainly not in the manpage, nor the worthless F1 window, nor can I find it on the VLC wiki). It's difficult to figure out what VLC's Lua interface is even capable of, but if you go by the addons listed on VLC's website the sole advantage of VLC's Lua scripting seems to be the ability to create basic GUIs.
  - colordrops 5y ago
    loads instantaneously, simple config, fully-keyboard driven, vim-like bindings, great to use from the command line or terminal-based file managers like ranger.
    - random_cynic 5y ago
      > loads instantaneously I've never encountered a case where VLC did not load "instantaneously". Unless you're using a baked potato this should always be the case. If you have proper benchmarks for different video files and different hardware, cite them. "Instantaneously" doesn't mean a thing. Your other points are equally subjective and meaningless. Especially vim bindings, really? That is now considered a feature? And I don't get how directly changing the configuration from the GUI where each option is explained in detail is simpler than a error-prone process of modifying a text configuration.
      - colordrops 5y ago
        My comment was not meant as a slight on VLC. If I was incorrect about load time that does not invalidate the other points. The concept of a "feature" is subjective and if someone finds them valuable, then they are valuable features by definition.
GhettoComputers 5y ago
Why? The GUI is simple, MPV needs learning CLI to play videos. https://www.migaku.io/tools-guides/migaku-mpv/guide/ https://www.migaku.io/tools-guides/migaku-mpv/guide/ and has drama like this. https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/commit/cdaa496314f90412963f2b3211e18df72910066d#commitcomment-40434556 https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/commit/cdaa496314f90412963... I just want to play videos, what is the benefit of MPV? I used it for a while, because it was "better" but now I wonder "better how"?
- Eelongate 5y ago
  > MPV needs learning CLI to play videos. It certainly does not. You can launch mpv by clicking/doubleclicking on any media file in your file manager, the same as any other. You can also drag media files to your mpv icon, or drag media files to a running mpv instance. Edit: Also I don't know where you found that "migaku" guide, but it's crap. Why is guide written in english telling people to download a config file that sets Japanese as the default audio and subtitle language? Why the hell is it turning hardware decoding off by default? Also, sudo to curl into usr/local/bin/youtube-dl when you could just put yt-dlp/youtube-dl in the regular mpv configuration directory? Fucking... why? Do yourself a favor and read the official documentation if you really want to give mpv a try.
  - GhettoComputers 5y ago
    If I want to change the speed in VLC, I can find the menu easily. There is a minimal GUI on MPV that doesn't show me anything for changing speed, it changes A-V delay when I try a -/+ command with CTRL, there is no right click menu, there is accessibility to helpful shortcuts that I shouldn't need to memorize keys for. Its minimalist for no good reason, has poor accessibility, and if I can't even find the help menu, what is the benefit of the design?
    - Eelongate 5y ago
      > There is a minimal GUI on MPV that doesn't show me anything for changing speed, it changes A-V delay when I try a -/+ command with CTRL, there is no right click menu, there is accessibility to helpful shortcuts that I shouldn't need to memorize keys for. It is true that mpv usually doesn't have a GUI menu for this (I believe it does on MacOS, but lets ignore that.) However it's not true that doing so requires using a command line. Speed is changed using the [ and ] keys, which is documented in the manual. Obviously this is not friendly to novices, but it certainly does not require using the command line. > Its minimalist for no good reason It's minimal for a very good reason: because some people like it that way. Obviously it's not for everybody, and there is nothing wrong with that. I would never consider recommending it for everybody, but I object to the implicit assertion that all software must aspire to be good for everybody. > what is the benefit of the design? To you? Probably none. So I don't recommend it to you.