this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Amberol is probably one of the biggest hidden gems in GNOME apps. It's a simple easy music player whose background color changes based on the song's artwork.
Parabolic is another GNOME app for downloading videos from youtube using yt-dlp. It's super easy to use and even allows for multiple concurrent downloads.
mpv is one of those rare moments where using a proprietary implementation is objectively worse. Must install on any personal computer/mobile device.
Excuse my silly question, but what does mpv do that vlc doesn't?
MPV has automatic native wayland support, VLC doesn’t (yet, see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/VLC_media_player#Wayland_support)
I haven’t found any other large differences in functionality when it comes to simply playing video (only thing I use either one for).
VLC is also less accurate to the source than mpv is.
See the notice on this wiki that contains some comparisons.
I don't know the full details but this is a quote I have seen from reddit about VLC:
It is probably possible to get things in order by digging into the settings in VLC, but mpv prioritizes accuracy by default.
For me I got mad at VLC cause it was opening video track in separate window for some reason.
MPV handles decoding much better than VLC, in my experience trying to watch fansubs
Both are comparable in terms of video playback (both use hardware acceleration and ffmpeg) but mpv's appeal is that it's ultimately a minimal (as in lack of apparent GUI) command line tool rather than a fully featured application like VLC. I like mpv because of it's non-features which is why it's the backend for a lot of Desktop environment video players.
If you want minimalism I advise you to use a tiling window manager instead of Gnome. If you want Wayland absolutely, use Hyprland.
I use POP!_OS right now so I'm waiting for System76 to release their
cosmic-epochto have the definitive non-GNOME/KDE wayland desktop environment.