Arch Linux

fredvej

Member

Registered: 2010-08-18

Posts: 6

[SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

I find it strange that VLC has ffmpeg4.4 as a dependency when the new ffmpeg is version 2:7.0.1-2. Why is that so? What can ffmpeg4.4 do that the latest ffmpeg can not?

$ pacman --query --info vlc
Name            : vlc
Version         : 3.0.21-1
Description     : Multi-platform MPEG, VCD/DVD, and DivX player
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : [url]https://www.videolan.org/vlc/[/url]
Licenses        : GPL-2.0-or-later  LGPL-2.1-or-later
Groups          : None
Provides        : None
Depends On      : a52dec  abseil-cpp  aribb24  bash  cairo  dbus  faad2  ffmpeg4.4  fontconfig  freetype2  fribidi  gcc-libs  gdk-pixbuf2  glib2  glibc  gnutls  harfbuzz
                  hicolor-icon-theme  libarchive  libdca  libdvbpsi  libglvnd  libidn  libmad  libmatroska  libmpcdec  libmpeg2  libproxy  libsecret  libtar  libupnp
                  libixml.so=11-64  libupnp.so=17-64  libva  libx11  libxcb  libxinerama  libxml2  libxpm  lua  qt5-base  qt5-svg  qt5-x11extras  taglib  wayland  xcb-util-keysyms
                  zlib
Optional Deps   : aalib: ASCII art video output [installed]
                  alsa-lib: ALSA audio output [installed]
                  aom: AOM AV1 codec [installed]
                  aribb25: aribcam support
                  avahi: service discovery using bonjour protocol [installed]
                  dav1d: dav1d AV1 decoder [installed]
                  flac: Free Lossless Audio Codec plugin [installed]
                  fluidsynth: FluidSynth based MIDI playback plugin [installed]
                  gnu-free-fonts: subtitle font
                  gst-plugins-base-libs: for libgst plugins [installed]
                  gstreamer: for libgst plugins [installed]
                  gtk3: notification plugin [installed]
                  jack: jack audio server [installed]
                  kwallet: kwallet keystore [installed]
                  libass: Subtitle support [installed]
                  libavc1394: devices using the 1394ta AV/C [installed]
                  libbluray: Blu-Ray video input [installed]
                  libcaca: colored ASCII art video output [installed]
                  libcdio: audio CD playback [installed]
                  libdc1394: IEEE 1394 access plugin [installed]
                  libdvdcss: decoding encrypted DVDs [installed]
                  libdvdnav: DVD with navigation input module [installed]
                  libdvdread: DVD input module [installed]
                  libgme: Game Music Emu plugin [installed]
                  libgoom2: Goom visualization
                  libjpeg-turbo: JPEG support [installed]
                  libkate: Kate codec
                  libmodplug: MOD output plugin [installed]
                  libmicrodns: mDNS services discovery (chromecast etc) [installed]
                  libmtp: MTP devices discovery [installed]
                  libnfs: NFS access
                  libnotify: notification plugin [installed]
                  libogg: Ogg and OggSpots codec [installed]
                  libpng: PNG support [installed]
                  libpulse: PulseAudio audio output [installed]
                  libraw1394: IEEE 1394 access plugin [installed]
                  librsvg: SVG plugin [installed]
                  libsamplerate: audio Resampler [installed]
                  libshout: shoutcast/icecast output plugin [installed]
                  libsoxr: SoX audio Resampler [installed]
                  libssh2: sftp access [installed]
                  libtheora: theora codec [installed]
                  libtiger: Tiger rendering for Kate streams
                  libva-intel-driver: video backend intel [installed]
                  libva-vdpau-driver: vdpau backend nvidia
                  libvorbis: Vorbis decoder/encoder [installed]
                  libvpx: VP8 and VP9 codec [installed]
                  lirc: lirc control
                  live-media: streaming over RTSP
                  lua-socket: http interface
                  mpg123: mpg123 codec [installed]
                  ncurses: ncurses interface [installed]
                  opus: opus codec [installed]
                  pcsclite: aribcam support [installed]
                  projectm: ProjectM visualisation
                  protobuf: chromecast streaming [installed]
                  sdl12-compat: SDL image support
                  sdl_image: SDL image support
                  smbclient: SMB access plugin [installed]
                  speex: Speex codec [installed]
                  speexdsp: Speex codec [installed]
                  srt: SRT input/output plugin [installed]
                  systemd-libs: udev services discovery [installed]
                  ttf-dejavu: subtitle font [installed]
                  twolame: TwoLAME mpeg2 encoder plugin [installed]
                  vcdimager: navigate VCD with libvcdinfo
                  x264: H264 encoding [installed]
                  x265: HEVC/H.265 encoder [installed]
                  zvbi: VBI/Teletext/webcam/v4l2 capture/decoding [installed]
Required By     : phonon-qt6-vlc
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : vlc-plugin
Replaces        : vlc-plugin
Installed Size  : 59,82 MiB
Packager        : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : søn 16 jun 2024 22:52:10 CEST
Install Date    : tir 16 jul 2024 11:49:33 CEST
Install Reason  : Installed as a dependency for another package
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature


$ pacman --query --info ffmpeg4.4
Name            : ffmpeg4.4
Version         : 4.4.4-6
Description     : Complete solution to record, convert and stream audio and video
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : [url]https://ffmpeg.org/[/url]
Licenses        : GPL3
Groups          : None
Provides        : libavcodec.so=58-64  libavdevice.so=58-64  libavfilter.so=7-64  libavformat.so=58-64  libavutil.so=56-64  libpostproc.so=55-64  libswresample.so=3-64
                  libswscale.so=5-64
Depends On      : alsa-lib  aom  bzip2  fontconfig  fribidi  gmp  gnutls  gsm  jack  lame  libass.so=9-64  libavc1394  libbluray.so=2-64  libdav1d.so=7-64  libdrm
                  libfreetype.so=6-64  libiec61883  libmfx  libmodplug  libpulse  librav1e.so=0.7-64  libraw1394  librsvg-2.so=2-64  libsoxr  libssh  libtheora  libva.so=2-64
                  libva-drm.so=2-64  libva-x11.so=2-64  libvdpau  libvidstab.so=1.2-64  libvorbisenc.so=2-64  libvorbis.so=0-64  libvpx.so=9-64  libwebp  libx11  libx264.so=164-64
                  libx265.so=209-64  libxcb  libxext  libxml2  libxv  libxvidcore.so=4-64  libzimg.so=2-64  opencore-amr  openjpeg2  opus  sdl2  speex  srt  svt-av1  v4l-utils  xz
                  zlib
Optional Deps   : avisynthplus: AviSynthPlus support
                  intel-media-sdk: Intel QuickSync support
                  ladspa: LADSPA filters
                  nvidia-utils: Nvidia NVDEC/NVENC support
Required By     : vlc
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 23,34 MiB
Packager        : Maxime Gauduin <alucryd@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : ons 22 maj 2024 15:46:39 CEST
Install Date    : tir 16 jul 2024 11:49:33 CEST
Install Reason  : Installed as a dependency for another package
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature


$ pacman --query --info ffmpeg
Name            : ffmpeg
Version         : 2:7.0.1-2
Description     : Complete solution to record, convert and stream audio and video
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : [url]https://ffmpeg.org[/url]
Licenses        : GPL-3.0-only
Groups          : None
Provides        : libavcodec.so=61-64  libavdevice.so=61-64  libavfilter.so=10-64  libavformat.so=61-64  libavutil.so=59-64  libpostproc.so=58-64  libswresample.so=5-64
                  libswscale.so=8-64
Depends On      : alsa-lib  aom  bzip2  cairo  dav1d  fontconfig  freetype2  fribidi  glib2  glibc  gmp  gsm  harfbuzz  jack  lame  libass  libavc1394  libbluray  libbs2b  libdrm
                  libdvdnav  libdvdread  libgl  libiec61883  libjxl  libmodplug  libopenmpt  libplacebo  libpulse  libraw1394  librsvg  libsoxr  libssh  libtheora  libva  libvdpau
                  libvorbis  libvpx  libwebp  libx11  libxcb  libxext  libxml2  libxv  mbedtls2  ocl-icd  onevpl  opencore-amr  openjpeg2  opus  rav1e  rubberband  sdl2  snappy
                  speex  srt  svt-av1  v4l-utils  vapoursynth  vid.stab  vmaf  vulkan-icd-loader  x264  x265  xvidcore  xz  zimg  zlib  libass.so=9-64  libbluray.so=2-64
                  libbs2b.so=0-64  libdav1d.so=7-64  libfreetype.so=6-64  libharfbuzz.so=0-64  libjxl.so=0.10-64  libopenmpt.so=0-64  libplacebo.so=349-64  librav1e.so=0.7-64
                  librsvg-2.so=2-64  librubberband.so=2-64  libva.so=2-64  libva-drm.so=2-64  libva-x11.so=2-64  libvidstab.so=1.2-64  libvorbisenc.so=2-64  libvorbis.so=0-64
                  libvpx.so=9-64  libx264.so=164-64  libx265.so=209-64  libxvidcore.so=4-64  libzimg.so=2-64
Optional Deps   : avisynthplus: AviSynthPlus support
                  frei0r-plugins: Frei0r video effects support [installed]
                  intel-media-sdk: Intel QuickSync support (legacy)
                  ladspa: LADSPA filters
                  nvidia-utils: Nvidia NVDEC/NVENC support
                  onevpl-intel-gpu: Intel QuickSync support
Required By     : chromaprint  ffmpegthumbs  ffms2  firefox  gst-libav  kfilemetadata  kpipewire  manjaro-gstreamer  opencv  qt5-webengine  qt6-multimedia-ffmpeg  qt6-webengine
Optional For    : alsa-plugins  libde265  libheif
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 38,97 MiB
Packager        : Robin Candau <antiz@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : ons 03 jul 2024 07:49:14 CEST
Install Date    : tir 16 jul 2024 11:49:31 CEST
Install Reason  : Installed as a dependency for another package
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature

Last edited by fredvej (2024-08-02 14:10:11)

fabiscafe

Member

Registered: 2024-08-01

Posts: 1

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

The short and easy answer is, because it's currently not compatible with anything newer.

Lone_Wolf

Forum Moderator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 12,623

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

@fredvej : edit your post to use code tags , see https://bbs.archlinux.org/help.php#bbcode

ffmpeg 5 changed many things and broke compatibility with applications build against fmpeg4.x .

Applications that want to support LTS distros stayed at ffmpeg 4.x to prevent having to support 2 versions. VLC is the best known of such apps, but far from the only one.

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fredvej

Member

Registered: 2010-08-18

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

How can I search for packages that depend on ffmpeg4.4 without having those packages installed? Can pacman search for that in the repos? Searching with keyword ffmpeg4.4 on archlinux.org/packages only finds ffmpeg4.4 itself.

Funny0facer

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2022-12-03

Posts: 129

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

This information is listed on the package website: (Required By)
https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/ffmpeg4.4/

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WorMzy

Forum Moderator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 12,247

Website

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

Also accessible using two --info flags with --sync:

SYNC OPTIONS (APPLY TO -S)
[...]
       -i, --info
           Display information on a given sync database package. Passing two --info or -i flags will also display those
           packages in all repositories that depend on this package.
[...]

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mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,297

Website

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

How can I search for packages that depend on ffmpeg4.4 without having those packages installed?

And for a more comprehensive list, including the entire tree, you may install pacman-contrib and use pactree:

pactree --sync --reverse ffmpeg4.4

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fredvej

Member

Registered: 2010-08-18

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] why does VLC depend on ffmpeg4.4 instead of latest ffmpeg?

Thank you