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Is VLC really "complex software" if you just want to use it as a media player? Double click your media file, it plays. Play, pause, volume controls are where yo

Is VLC really "complex software" if you just want to use it as a media player? Double click your media file, it plays. Play, pause, volume controls are where you'd guess they are. There's plenty of complexity underneath, but the happy path is simple. By contrast, "open this image and draw a single red circle in it" in GIMP is as challenging to a newbie as quitting vi. Even for an intermediate user - I use GIMP a handful of times per year and I absolutely could not tell you from memory how to do that.

noch 2y ago
> Is VLC really "complex software" The moment you criticize an app, someone on the Internet will jump in to tut-tut and insist to you that it's "complex software" and you can't possibly understand how complex it is. Case in point: Just a few years ago the Windows Terminal team chastised[^1] users by claiming that fast font rendering would literally require several PhDs of research and can't be solved otherwise[^0]. At some point we have to realize that claiming something is complex doesn't prove that it's inherently complex nor justify any complexity in how it was built. [^0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743687 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743687 [^1]: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/10362#issuecomment-862844333 https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/10362#issuecomm...
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
  You missed the updates to the text rendering story. The guy who requested the feature then went ahead and implemented the feature in a weekend. Something like a year later, Microsoft did actually improve the behavior and never credited the guy who proved it was possible.
  - noch 2y ago
    > The guy who requested the feature then went ahead and implemented the feature in a weekend. Something like a year later, Microsoft did actually improve the behavior and never credited the guy who proved it was possible. Thanks for telling me about that development. I'm … speechless.
    - satvikpendem 2y ago
      They eventually did credit "the guy," Casey Muratori, who's a very accomplished game engine developer. He has a series called Handmade Hero where he writes an engine and game from scratch and streams it live.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
venusenvy47 2y ago
I've used VLC forever and I had no idea there is anything more to it than playing media. It always seems to have the most recent codecs, so it doesn't seem crusty to me.
- lxgr 2y ago
  Even when just opening a single video file it tries to do way too much at once. Why is there a playlist by default? What are these dozens of obscure options at the first level under every main dropdown in the title/menu bar? I vaguely remember recently trying mpv and being pleasantly surprised, but I mostly use QuickTime or IINA on macOS. mpv seems to be available cross-platform though; maybe the Windows port is usable?
  - Numerlor 2y ago
    Yeah mpv is great on win; I switched from VLC because VLC had trouble with playback combined with large subtitle offsets. mpv just works and the couple things I need for UI were easily configured as hotkeys
    - 0x38B 2y ago
      I love mpv and for iPhone recommend Outplayer (1), a player built on mpv and ffmpeg. It’s been flawless, just like mpv on desktop. 1: https://outplayer.app/ https://outplayer.app/
  - jraph 2y ago
    > Why is there a playlist by default? Is there? I know the feature but I thought it was off by default and I think it's this way on my computers.
- stuaxo 2y ago
  Go poking around in the menus and GUI there's a bunch of stuff in there.
- _carbyau_ 2y ago
  Desktop recording, video format conversion, streaming server, playing from network streams(in the name...). I am no expert but these things I've done in limited amounts. Mostly I just double click a file and watch it though.
wruza 2y ago
It feels like GIMP was designed with user-hostility in mind. There’s no Paint.net for Linux, so I have to use GIMP from time to time for my gui server job needs. And gosh, I hate the damn thing. Every simple step in it is as hard as you can’t bear. (No I can’t use Krita for specific reasons and it isn’t much easier anyway)
- amlib 2y ago
  If Krita isn't easy enough, then Photoshop isn't gonna be any easier. (assuming we are talking about simple/common stuff...)
- cam_l 2y ago
  I always thought this, but used it for a while for work and found it was actually quicker work-flow-wise than Photoshop (though Photoshop was better for photo editing) or Krita (and krita is way better for painting). It was like, hidden underneath the janky gui, there was actually a lot of thought put into how things work together.
- 7speter 2y ago
  Have you tried a photopea? Its an online app.
- jraph 2y ago
  Try Kolourpaint for this use case. If you want to annotate screenshots, KDE's screenshot tool, Spectacle, has this built in too.
  - wruza 2y ago
    Thanks for the advice!
red-iron-pine 2y ago
100% agree. VLC is simple as pie. open folder, click music or video, it plays. drag files to it, it adds them to the playlist. same functionality as WinAmp, etc. I had to watch three (3) youtube tutorials to figure out how to import a pdf and copy-paste a signature to it.

noch 2y ago

> Is VLC really "complex software" The moment you criticize an app, someone on the Internet will jump in to tut-tut and insist to you that it's "complex software" and you can't possibly understand how complex it is. Case in point: Just a few years ago the Windows Terminal team chastised[^1] users by claiming that fast font rendering would literally require several PhDs of research and can't be solved otherwise[^0]. At some point we have to realize that claiming something is complex doesn't prove that it's inherently complex nor justify any complexity in how it was built. [^0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743687 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743687 [^1]: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/10362#issuecomment-862844333 https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/10362#issuecomm...

0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
You missed the updates to the text rendering story. The guy who requested the feature then went ahead and implemented the feature in a weekend. Something like a year later, Microsoft did actually improve the behavior and never credited the guy who proved it was possible.
- noch 2y ago
  > The guy who requested the feature then went ahead and implemented the feature in a weekend. Something like a year later, Microsoft did actually improve the behavior and never credited the guy who proved it was possible. Thanks for telling me about that development. I'm … speechless.
  - satvikpendem 2y ago
    They eventually did credit "the guy," Casey Muratori, who's a very accomplished game engine developer. He has a series called Handmade Hero where he writes an engine and game from scratch and streams it live.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

venusenvy47 2y ago

I've used VLC forever and I had no idea there is anything more to it than playing media. It always seems to have the most recent codecs, so it doesn't seem crusty to me.

lxgr 2y ago
Even when just opening a single video file it tries to do way too much at once. Why is there a playlist by default? What are these dozens of obscure options at the first level under every main dropdown in the title/menu bar? I vaguely remember recently trying mpv and being pleasantly surprised, but I mostly use QuickTime or IINA on macOS. mpv seems to be available cross-platform though; maybe the Windows port is usable?
- Numerlor 2y ago
  Yeah mpv is great on win; I switched from VLC because VLC had trouble with playback combined with large subtitle offsets. mpv just works and the couple things I need for UI were easily configured as hotkeys
  - 0x38B 2y ago
    I love mpv and for iPhone recommend Outplayer (1), a player built on mpv and ffmpeg. It’s been flawless, just like mpv on desktop. 1: https://outplayer.app/ https://outplayer.app/
- jraph 2y ago
  > Why is there a playlist by default? Is there? I know the feature but I thought it was off by default and I think it's this way on my computers.
stuaxo 2y ago
Go poking around in the menus and GUI there's a bunch of stuff in there.
_carbyau_ 2y ago
Desktop recording, video format conversion, streaming server, playing from network streams(in the name...). I am no expert but these things I've done in limited amounts. Mostly I just double click a file and watch it though.

wruza 2y ago

It feels like GIMP was designed with user-hostility in mind. There’s no Paint.net for Linux, so I have to use GIMP from time to time for my gui server job needs. And gosh, I hate the damn thing. Every simple step in it is as hard as you can’t bear. (No I can’t use Krita for specific reasons and it isn’t much easier anyway)

amlib 2y ago
If Krita isn't easy enough, then Photoshop isn't gonna be any easier. (assuming we are talking about simple/common stuff...)
cam_l 2y ago
I always thought this, but used it for a while for work and found it was actually quicker work-flow-wise than Photoshop (though Photoshop was better for photo editing) or Krita (and krita is way better for painting). It was like, hidden underneath the janky gui, there was actually a lot of thought put into how things work together.
7speter 2y ago
Have you tried a photopea? Its an online app.
jraph 2y ago
Try Kolourpaint for this use case. If you want to annotate screenshots, KDE's screenshot tool, Spectacle, has this built in too.
- wruza 2y ago
  Thanks for the advice!

red-iron-pine 2y ago

100% agree. VLC is simple as pie. open folder, click music or video, it plays. drag files to it, it adds them to the playlist. same functionality as WinAmp, etc. I had to watch three (3) youtube tutorials to figure out how to import a pdf and copy-paste a signature to it.