Jun 21, 2026, 5:24 AM@mhoye VLC is, like, the platonic ideal of open source software. The low level bit-banging parts: absolutely top notch for decades, frequently updated. Human-facing parts: hasn't changed appreciably since the Nineteen Hundreds, weird, confusing, 40,000 configuration options, makes designers drop to the floor in tears. Might as well have "TBD, WRITE ME!" at the top of the window.
Jun 21, 2026, 9:41 AMJun 21, 2026, 9:50 AMJun 21, 2026, 7:05 PM@jwz @mhoye well, one of them was my colleague for nearly 10 years, and I wouldn't say he is/was that. I asked him what was his motivation - and he said he was more into "engine", but anyone is free to build on top of that anything, he will support. And he did it many times.
It's not egoism, he is just like me - can not develop for anything about human interaction. You can see it as certain "disability".
Oh, and I remember (nearly by heart) your comment on CADT, so I do understand and support your point. Yet, these folks work on aspects they can work on and support. And do not mess into what they can't. 🌻
@jwz @mhoye Also it has a terrible name: originally "VideoLAN Client", a TLA embeddeding a TLA in classic nerd form, it is now just VLC which doesn't stand for anything except possibly Very Loud Cone, after its logo, which is also a terrible placeholder but somehow so instantly recognizable that remote tribespeople who've never seen a traffic cone and toddlers who can't reliable identify the Coke logo can tell you it's the "pointy video thing".
@jwz @mhoye Also both the comical video cone and the inscrutable ffmpeg are really just superficial aspects of the vast and terrible abyss which is libavcodec so if anyone wants to replace either or both of them with something more to their taste they, like, can just have at it and godspeed to them.
Jun 21, 2026, 11:49 PMJun 21, 2026, 11:59 PM
@claudius @jwz I can’t find it in me to hate the UI. If I open something in VLC it plays. If I open up a list of things they play in order, or shuffle if I want that. I’ve never been asked to rate it or support it or get ready for new features or literally any goddamn thing. Zero drama, zero ads, zero bullshit. What else do we want?
@mhoye @jwz 95% of my use are "i double click a file, VLC opens. I double click the window, it goes fullscreen. I am happy."
3% are like "I double click a file, VLC opens, I use the timeline slider because I look for something specific"
2% are like "I need some oddbal weird feature like opening the desktop recording while streaming to some target in a format nobody else (except ffmpeg, of course. OF COURSE.) understands.
The buttons look like windows 95 buttons. That does not matter to me.
@jwz @mhoye I really thought MPV can do most things now. Atleast everyone keeps telling me so, atleast. I'm not a video guy by any means, but whenever I have an odd job, it does well? Idk, is there something VLC does that mpv doesn't? (Apart from the GUI, MPV is just a box playing the video, the CLI is the interface)
Jun 22, 2026, 6:43 PM@innocentzero @mhoye Even in testing contexts, I never got mpv or mplayer to even basically function. And then a few years ago the developer had a hissy fit and removed support for "xdg-screensaver" (the "maybe don't blank the screen while a movie is playing" module) so they are dead to me.