VLC 0.8.6 Released

h2g2bob writes "VideoLAN yesterday released a new version of VLC media player. A shout out goes to ffmpeg for many of the codec improvements." From the blurb: "Building on feedback from the 29 million downloads of VLC media player 0.8.5, we bring you version 0.8.6 with many bugfixes, as well as a couple of new features we think you will truly enjoy. Most prominent are probably Windows Media Video 9 and Flash Video. Other important changes are improved H.264 decoding, better Windows Unicode support, a Fullscreen controller, and Apple Remote support for Mac OS X."

Re:How is this news?

[DaveM753]

> "How is this news?"

When Microsoft Windows Media Player, QuickTime or Real Player release a new version, it makes the front page of CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times. So, when a free, open-source player releases a new version, is it not appropriate for a promoter of open-source software to announce it?

It's news.

[Kadin2048]

VLC is a very significant piece of software, not just for Linux users (for whom its especially significant) but for anyone who watches a lot of movies or other media files.

This version introduces a number of new and long-requested features, beyond what the point-release number upgrade would lead you to believe.

In many ways, I'd say that a new release of VLC is probably more significant than the latest "marketing department" release of Quicktime Player or Windows Media Player.

Re:How is this news?

[Jugalator]

How is a bit of numerology really relevant to this?

I'm grateful for the news myself as some of these features were pretty substantial.

Don't stare yourself blind at the version number.

Re:How about a mirror?

[maxume]

Open source is great. Running the version of windows that came with my computer is simpler than running thing open source, and damn am I lazy.

Running a binary downloaded from a random link on slashdot is a really bad idea. A link to a videolan hosted mirror list is a much better idea, then you only have to trust videolan.org, not some random guy on slashdot.

Version Number Deflation...

[7Prime]

Is it just me, or does it make NO SENSE that this is a point.point upgrade? I don't care who you are, 0.0.1 upgrades are for things like bug fixes, small new implimentations, slight library recompiles... fuck: a new ICON. NOT major format additions, a UI overhaul, and a boatload of additional features!

I can understand the concern for version number inflation (Netscape 4 -> Netscape 6 was idiotic, same with Winamp 3 -> Winamp 5), but let's not be overly humble to the point of confusing users. Version Number Deflation looks just as silly.

I remember a time in which anything under 1.0 meant that a program was practically unusable and ONLY for elite users. But I've started to see a trend in the OSS community towards NEVER releasing a 1.0, as if 1.0 means that you're now an evil commercial entity that must be punished. No, 1.0 means "finished to the point of usability and beta tested to a certain level of solidity". Obviously, the finer points of this can be debated and are up to the descresion of the developer, but at a certain point, COME ON! When you've been working on a reasonably small audio player for over 4 years, and haven't even reached your 1.0, this tells me one of two things 1) You don't know how to code, and probably should find a new line of work, or 2) you're using numbers under 1.0 as a symbol of you're elitist OSS community status.

Seriously, I've tried VLC... it crashes sometimes... not as often as Windows... not as often as MPlayer... it's been above a 1.0 for YEARS now, just fucking call it what it is, and cut with the ritualistic, elitist, OSS symbolism bullshit.

Re:It's news.

[gordgekko]

If it's that significant then Slashdot should have covered the release when it actually happened...yesterday.

Thank you VideoLAN for VLC from a Mac user

[theurge14]

I use VLC here at home to play the videos Quicktime won't, and I have a copy on my USB drive so I can also play videos and listen to AAC files on the Windows 2000 machines at work that I don't have admin permissions to install anything else on. Thanks for making a great player, a cross platform player, and a portable player. Software the way it ought to be.

Re:VLC is a packet-based player

[kisielk]

Well it's been the behavior on any widget set I've tried recently. The car brakes analogy doesn't really work for many reasons. First off you can have different strengths of braking depending on how hard you push the pedal down, and also you're not likely to get hurt or killed if your media player GUI doesn't respond instantly.

Offtopic Rant

[k33l0r]

This might be offtopic but could we get a separate Open Source section on /.?

It seems that everything related to OSS is filed under Linux these days...

A great video player

[GauteL]

.. although I wish there was some care being taken about the interface. Most of my comments are about the Mac version, but some of them should be relevant to other versions as well.

1. The OS X version shows the video with controls in the same window as the video, but ALSO shows a separate controller window. This is redundant. All the necessary options should be able to fit into the video window.

2. There is a stop button that afaics just closes the video window. Why the need for this redundant option?

3. Skip buttons have been combined with the fast forward button in almost any interface by now. Just do that in VLC as well.

2. and 3. gets rid of three redundant buttons in the interface.

4. The equaliser is not important enough to warrant a button of it's own. The menu is fine.

5. There is an awful lot of so-called "unbreak me" options. Options to make things work if your system is somehow weird. Just check this automatically. I know this can be a lot of effort from the programmer, so I can understand a Free Software project not doing to much about it. Nevertheless, there are too many weird options that clutter up the interface.

6. The preferences window has a "Reset All", "Cancel" and "Save" button. These are completely out of place in a program in OS X. Instant apply and a reset button would be better.