RFS: smplayer (updated package)

[Reinhard Tartler]

Maia Kozheva <inetperson at gmail.com> writes:

> Actually, we could follow the ffmpeg precedent here.
>
> To elaborate: before intrepid, the ffmpeg package was in universe (later main)
> and had restricted codecs disabled, which forced users of restricted-codec
> versions to install them from medibuntu. In intrepid, ffmpeg was moved to
> multiverse with extra codecs enabled, but at the same time it introduced a new
> package: ffmpeg-debian, based on the Debian version without restricted
> codecs.

This is not exactly right, the ffmpeg package in ubuntu never had codecs
disabled completely. What *is* right however is that some *encoders*
(and ONLY encoders) are disabled, all ffmpeg *decoders* have ever been
in place.

What makes things more interesting is that ffmpeg is able to use some
external libraries to decode even more stuff. Most notably was AAC in
the past, nowadays it is libmp3lame and amr (the latter not in ubuntu
because of unredistributable legal status).

> We could do something similar here and add an mplayer-debian package.

Please don't. Instead please help me in the pkg-multimedia team to
maintain the package properly. I already do that for ffmpeg and vlc
rather successfully (at least I'd say so), so why not mplayer as well.

> In general, the handling of restricted codecs in Ubuntu has been inconsistent.
> Another example of parallel packages is gtkpod, where the version without AAC
> support is named simply gtkpod (and autosynced from Debian) but the more
> functional version is named gtkpod-aac and has to be merged manually.

No idea what's going on with gtkpod, but duplicating functionality like
that doesn't seem pretty clever to me. Do you happen to know if
gtkpod-aac uses ffmpeg or libfaac? It seems to depend on neither,
though, so I'm confused whats going on in that package.

-- 
Gruesse/greetings,
Reinhard Tartler, KeyID 945348A4