Re: Subject: Digest of [email protected] issue 306 (2354-2357)

Andrew Peter <[email protected]> Mon, 23 Feb 2015 17:10:10 -0800
Newsgroups gmane.linux.gentoo.desktop
Message-ID <CAJ8RDp38g2QiCcRz32f4xOPU5tsroPm3SscZW-E0ECaSR_YJwQ@mail.gmail.com>
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On Feb 23, 2015 5:02 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:

> Topics (messages 2354 through 2357):
>
> [gentoo-desktop] ffmpeg versions in portage
>       2354 - Brent Busby <[email protected]>
>
> [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage
>       2355 - Duncan <[email protected]>
>
> [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage
>       2356 - Brent Busby <[email protected]>
>
> [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage
>       2357 - Duncan <[email protected]>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Brent Busby <[email protected]>
> To: Gentoo Desktop Listserv <[email protected]>
> Cc:
> Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 22:19:37 -0600 (CST)
> Subject: [gentoo-desktop] ffmpeg versions in portage
> With all the arguing I see in the forums lately about libav versus ffmpeg,
> I thought I'd ask an ffmpeg question of a different nature:
>
> Upstream, the ffmpeg people are releasing 2.5 as "stable."  Some people
> (who I'm not going to argue with, since I don't really have a position on
> it myself) say the ffmpeg developers are reckless.  However, I notice that
> most other distros are at least shipping 2.2 (perhaps with lots of distro
> patches to fix problems?).
>
> Gentoo's stable ffmpeg is currently 1.2.6, a fully maintained (i.e., not
> defunct or deprecated) branch with ffmpeg upstream, apparently maintained
> for really conservative users.
>
> All of this has me wondering...should I unmask?  Both 2.2 and 2.5 are
> available in Portage as ~amd64 ebuilds.  Is anyone here doing this? Does it
> unleash the hounds of hell (or the UNIX equivalent, lots of unpleasant
> segfaults and codec problems)?  I'm mostly wanting better Bluray/WMV3/VC-1
> support, but I don't know how that stands between the various 1.2/2.2/2.5
> branches.
>
> From talking to people who don't run Gentoo, I've found that it has a
> reputation for being bleeding-edge, but at times, I've found to the
> contraty that it can actually sometimes be overcautious, making it hard to
> tell if you're missing out on things other distros are enjoying because
> your upgrades are masked.  Sometimes, package versions will stay masked for
> months or years just because nobody got around to marking them stable for
> amd64 and not because of any actual bugs.
>
> Anybody running ffmpeg 2.x without issues?  If so, which one...2.2 or 2.5?
>
> --
> + Brent A. Busby         + "We've all heard that a million monkeys
> + Sr. UNIX Systems Admin +  banging on a million typewriters will
> + University of Chicago  +  eventually reproduce the entire works of
> + James Franck Institute +  Shakespeare.  Now, thanks to the Internet,
> + Materials Research Ctr +  we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Duncan <[email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Cc:
> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 06:47:23 +0000 (UTC)
> Subject: [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage
> Brent Busby posted on Wed, 18 Feb 2015 22:19:37 -0600 as excerpted:
>
> > With all the arguing I see in the forums lately about libav versus
> > ffmpeg, I thought I'd ask an ffmpeg question of a different nature:
> >
> > Upstream, the ffmpeg people are releasing 2.5 as "stable."  Some people
> > (who I'm not going to argue with, since I don't really have a position
> > on it myself) say the ffmpeg developers are reckless.  However, I notice
> > that most other distros are at least shipping 2.2 (perhaps with lots of
> > distro patches to fix problems?).
> >
> > Gentoo's stable ffmpeg is currently 1.2.6, a fully maintained (i.e., not
> > defunct or deprecated) branch with ffmpeg upstream, apparently
> > maintained for really conservative users.
> >
> > All of this has me wondering...should I unmask?  Both 2.2 and 2.5 are
> > available in Portage as ~amd64 ebuilds.  Is anyone here doing this? Does
> > it unleash the hounds of hell (or the UNIX equivalent, lots of
> > unpleasant segfaults and codec problems)?  I'm mostly wanting better
> > Bluray/WMV3/VC-1 support, but I don't know how that stands between the
> > various 1.2/2.2/2.5 branches.
> >
> > From talking to people who don't run Gentoo, I've found that it has a
> > reputation for being bleeding-edge, but at times, I've found to the
> > contraty that it can actually sometimes be overcautious, making it hard
> > to tell if you're missing out on things other distros are enjoying
> > because your upgrades are masked.  Sometimes, package versions will stay
> > masked for months or years just because nobody got around to marking
> > them stable for amd64 and not because of any actual bugs.
> >
> > Anybody running ffmpeg 2.x without issues?  If so, which one...2.2 or
> > 2.5?
>
> [Adding this note after I wrote the below.  I think it ended up reading
> harsher than I intended.  I know people choose stable for a reason and I
> really do respect that.  Those people simply aren't me, nor that reason
> mine... and that certainly comes out in the below.  But no personal, or
> even whole-group, offense intended.  It's just not me.  But it's your
> machine, not mine, and gentoo wouldn't be gentoo if it didn't respect
> your ultimate control of your machine, neither would I be me in the same
> case.  So, umm... Read the below with that in mind. =:^) ]
>
> I think what you actually want to know (which isn't what you asked), is
> if anyone running _sta(b)le_ amd64, is running ffmpeg 2.x without issues.
>
> Because people running ~amd64, including me, if they're current (I am),
> are running ffmpeg-2.5.4.
>
> And in general, I've not seen issues.
>
> However, that's because the various other apps also in ~amd64 have in
> general already been updated to work with the newer ffmpeg.
>
> Which is the problem with stale^h^hble amd64, and sta(b)le gentoo in
> general.  The newer ffmpeg can't be unmasked to sta(b)le until pretty
> much everything else in sta(b)le has been updated to work with it as well.
>
> And in fact, whenever there's something that has gotten as far behind on
> stable as ffmpeg has, in particular, for stuff like gcc, it's very likely
> the same general problem.  On gentoo, for packages like gcc in
> particular, even ~amd64 (and ~arch in general) is generally quite behind,
> because before it's unmasked to ~arch, they want to ensure that all other
> packages (at the same ~arch) level have been patched to build with it.
> Which means it takes "forever" to unmask even to ~arch, because of all
> those other packages that have to be either updated first, or patched to
> build with the new gcc.  Then when all that is done and it hits ~arch,
> the process starts over for sta(b)le; all those patched packages have to
> be sta(b)le keyworded before gcc itself can be sta(b)le keyworded.
>
> And yes, sometimes that does mean "stable" is "stale", no two ways about
> it.  But it's a choice you make...
>
> But at least gentoo does make it real easy to package.keyword specific
> packages if you like, so you can be sta(b)le on most things while
> choosing to try arch or even masked versions if you dare.
>
> If you like you can do an equery depends ffmpeg, and see which packages
> that you actually have installed depend on it.  You can then research
> each one to see if the version you currently have merged can function
> with the newer ffmpeg, and if not, you can of course package.keyword it
> ~arch at the same time.
>
> With a bit of luck all the packages you have installed are already
> updated and it'll "just work" (perhaps with a rebuild of some of them)
> for you.  If you're not that lucky, but still somewhat lucky, they've at
> least been updated with blockers or version ranges, so if you go to
> install the newer ffmpeg, portage will tell you which packages you have
> to keyword-unmask in ordered to proceed.
>
> Of course you also risk that they've not been updated yet, and simply
> quit working with no explanation, until you figure it out and unmask them
> so you get the newer version of them too.
>
> But at least with an equery depends ffmpeg, you can see how many packages
> you are risking, and decide whether it's worth the hassle from there, or
> if it's too much to risk/hassle and you prefer to wait for the full
> stable update after all.
>
> Of course another alternative is to "Dear Interwebs" the solution.  You
> can post your equery results here and see if there's enough other people
> on sta(b)le but running a newer/package.keyworded ffmpeg with those
> packages as well, to compare notes. =:^)
>
> --
> Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
> "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
> and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Brent Busby <[email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Cc:
> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 01:38:12 -0600 (CST)
> Subject: Re: [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage
> On Thu, 19 Feb 2015, Duncan wrote:
>
>  [Adding this note after I wrote the below.  I think it ended up reading
>> harsher than I intended.  I know people choose stable for a reason and I
>> really do respect that.  Those people simply aren't me, nor that reason
>> mine... and that certainly comes out in the below. But no personal, or even
>> whole-group, offense intended.  It's just not me.  But it's your machine,
>> not mine, and gentoo wouldn't be gentoo if it didn't respect your ultimate
>> control of your machine, neither would I be me in the same case.  So,
>> umm... Read the below with that in mind. =:^) ]
>>
>
> Well, it's mostly stable.  I have a rather long package.keywords file full
> of things I've allowed ~amd64 on, and I've been careful about which
> packages those are.  Some are even live ebuilds pulled from GIT.
>
> The main reason I'm running stable is because this machine is used for
> audio recording and music production, and I need it to work.  I have quite
> a bit of experience in chasing down problems, but I'd like to keep that to
> a minimum.
>
> And no, I don't want a binary distro.  Those have their own problems.
>
>  I think what you actually want to know (which isn't what you asked), is
>> if anyone running _sta(b)le_ amd64, is running ffmpeg 2.x without issues.
>>
>> Because people running ~amd64, including me, if they're current (I am),
>> are running ffmpeg-2.5.4.
>>
>> And in general, I've not seen issues.
>>
>
> Ok, well that's basically what I was wanting to know, since it was the
> stability of ffmpeg 2.5 itself I was wondering about.
>
>  However, that's because the various other apps also in ~amd64 have in
>> general already been updated to work with the newer ffmpeg.
>>
>> Which is the problem with stale^h^hble amd64, and sta(b)le gentoo in
>> general.  The newer ffmpeg can't be unmasked to sta(b)le until pretty
>> much everything else in sta(b)le has been updated to work with it as well.
>>
>
> Yes, for that reason, I will very likely end up keeping 1.2 for awhile. I
> only unmask when it's possible to do so without a lot of complication.
>
>  And in fact, whenever there's something that has gotten as far behind on
>> stable as ffmpeg has, in particular, for stuff like gcc, it's very likely
>> the same general problem.  On gentoo, for packages like gcc in
>> particular, even ~amd64 (and ~arch in general) is generally quite behind,
>> because before it's unmasked to ~arch, they want to ensure that all other
>> packages (at the same ~arch) level have been patched to build with it.
>> Which means it takes "forever" to unmask even to ~arch, because of all
>> those other packages that have to be either updated first, or patched to
>> build with the new gcc.  Then when all that is done and it hits ~arch,
>> the process starts over for sta(b)le; all those patched packages have to
>> be sta(b)le keyworded before gcc itself can be sta(b)le keyworded.
>>
>> And yes, sometimes that does mean "stable" is "stale", no two ways about
>> it.  But it's a choice you make...
>>
>
> I know...and I can wait, if it's going to cause a lot of interdependency
> problems with other packages.  I've found that stuff does usually make it
> to stable eventually, so I don't really have a cow about it.
>
>  But at least gentoo does make it real easy to package.keyword specific
>> packages if you like, so you can be sta(b)le on most things while
>> choosing to try arch or even masked versions if you dare.
>>
>
> This is one of the biggest reasons I run Gentoo instead of a binary
> distro.  Debian-based distros have APT-pinning, but it doesn't work nearly
> as well, because binary packages have already been compiled against the
> libraries they were meant for.  You can do your own backports, but that's
> even more special treatment to hassle you with. Most of the time, if you
> unmask a package on Gentoo, it just compiles against what you have, and it
> just works, now, and after future system upgrades.
>
>  If you like you can do an equery depends ffmpeg, and see which packages
>> that you actually have installed depend on it.  You can then research
>> each one to see if the version you currently have merged can function
>> with the newer ffmpeg, and if not, you can of course package.keyword it
>> ~arch at the same time.
>>
>
> Mostly I just wondered if anyone could tell me if ffmpeg 2.5 itself is
> fundamentally broken in some way.  Sounds like it's fine...
>
> --
> + Brent A. Busby         + "We've all heard that a million monkeys
> + Sr. UNIX Systems Admin +  banging on a million typewriters will
> + University of Chicago  +  eventually reproduce the entire works of
> + James Franck Institute +  Shakespeare.  Now, thanks to the Internet,
> + Materials Research Ctr +  we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Duncan <[email protected]>
> To: [email protected]
> Cc:
> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 23:37:50 +0000 (UTC)
> Subject: [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage
> Brent Busby posted on Thu, 19 Feb 2015 01:38:12 -0600 as excerpted:
>
> > Mostly I just wondered if anyone could tell me if ffmpeg 2.5 itself is
> > fundamentally broken in some way.  Sounds like it's fine...
>
> Yes.  What's broken, for both ffmpeg and libav, is that they don't keep
> the same API around very long.  New versions thus break everything that
> depends on them for awhile, until those package in turn are upgraded to
> deal with the new API.
>
> Which wouldn't be a big deal if it were only a handful of packages
> depending on ffmpeg/libav.  But when pretty much every audio/visual
> application out there does... it's not just a big deal, it's a *HUGE*
> deal.
>
> FWIW, while I'm an ffmpeg user myself, the libav upstream has at least
> realized the problem to some extent, and has slowed down the dropping of
> older APIs a bit, leaving them around for a version or two even as they
> continue to move on with new ones.   But I believe that's a fairly new
> policy, only the last couple of release series, and it's limited to only
> a release series or two in "backward compatibility mode" at once, so it's
> still a problem for the slower moving packages depending on it, both
> because it's new enough that the slower moving packages haven't had a
> chance to absorb it yet, and because it's limited to only a release or
> two on a fast-moving base, such that the problem will still exist for the
> packages depending on it that are moving slow enough.
>
> This all came out in the gentoo-dev list ffmpeg/libav default
> discussion.  Truth is, ffmpeg may well be best for ~arch users for
> several reasons including more flexibility and best of both worlds
> leading edge development policies, but sta(b)le users may actually be
> better with libav, at least as this upstream libav policy takes hold,
> given that they're at least making /some/ efforts toward API stability
> now, which can only help newer versions reach sta(b)le faster.
>
> Which means libav may actually be the better gentoo profile default after
> all, despite apparent user preference to ffmpeg, because leading edge
> users are more likely to be willing to change the profile default, while
> sta(b)le users in general prefer that it "just work" with the least
> disturbance, at least after they've done their basic setup.
>
> --
> Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
> "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
> and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman
>
>
>

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<p dir=3D"ltr">Unsubscribe</p>
<div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Feb 23, 2015 5:02 PM,  &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:=
gentoo-desktop%[email protected]">[email protected]=
g</a>&gt; wrote:<br type=3D"attribution"><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" =
style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Top=
ics (messages 2354 through 2357):<br>
<br>
[gentoo-desktop] ffmpeg versions in portage<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 2354 - Brent Busby &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:brent@keycorn=
er.org">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>
<br>
[gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 2355 - Duncan &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]=
et">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>
<br>
[gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 2356 - Brent Busby &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:brent@keycorn=
er.org">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>
<br>
[gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 2357 - Duncan &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]=
et">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>
<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From:=C2=A0Brent Busby &=
lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>To=
:=C2=A0Gentoo Desktop Listserv &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]=
entoo.org">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>Cc:=C2=A0<br>Date:=C2=
=A0Wed, 18 Feb 2015 22:19:37 -0600 (CST)<br>Subject:=C2=A0[gentoo-desktop] =
ffmpeg versions in portage<br>With all the arguing I see in the forums late=
ly about libav versus ffmpeg, I thought I&#39;d ask an ffmpeg question of a=
 different nature:<br>
<br>
Upstream, the ffmpeg people are releasing 2.5 as &quot;stable.&quot;=C2=A0 =
Some people (who I&#39;m not going to argue with, since I don&#39;t really =
have a position on it myself) say the ffmpeg developers are reckless.=C2=A0=
 However, I notice that most other distros are at least shipping 2.2 (perha=
ps with lots of distro patches to fix problems?).<br>
<br>
Gentoo&#39;s stable ffmpeg is currently 1.2.6, a fully maintained (i.e., no=
t defunct or deprecated) branch with ffmpeg upstream, apparently maintained=
 for really conservative users.<br>
<br>
All of this has me wondering...should I unmask?=C2=A0 Both 2.2 and 2.5 are =
available in Portage as ~amd64 ebuilds.=C2=A0 Is anyone here doing this? Do=
es it unleash the hounds of hell (or the UNIX equivalent, lots of unpleasan=
t segfaults and codec problems)?=C2=A0 I&#39;m mostly wanting better Bluray=
/WMV3/VC-1 support, but I don&#39;t know how that stands between the variou=
s 1.2/2.2/2.5 branches.<br>
<br>
From talking to people who don&#39;t run Gentoo, I&#39;ve found that it has=
 a reputation for being bleeding-edge, but at times, I&#39;ve found to the =
contraty that it can actually sometimes be overcautious, making it hard to =
tell if you&#39;re missing out on things other distros are enjoying because=
 your upgrades are masked.=C2=A0 Sometimes, package versions will stay mask=
ed for months or years just because nobody got around to marking them stabl=
e for amd64 and not because of any actual bugs.<br>
<br>
Anybody running ffmpeg 2.x without issues?=C2=A0 If so, which one...2.2 or =
2.5?<br>
<br>
-- <br>
+ Brent A. Busby=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0+ &quot;We&#39;ve all hea=
rd that a million monkeys<br>
+ Sr. UNIX Systems Admin +=C2=A0 banging on a million typewriters will<br>
+ University of Chicago=C2=A0 +=C2=A0 eventually reproduce the entire works=
 of<br>
+ James Franck Institute +=C2=A0 Shakespeare.=C2=A0 Now, thanks to the Inte=
rnet,<br>
+ Materials Research Ctr +=C2=A0 we know this is not true.&quot; -Robert Wi=
lensky<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From:=C2=A0Duncan &lt;<a=
 href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>To:=
=C2=A0<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">gentoo-desktop@lis=
ts.gentoo.org</a><br>Cc:=C2=A0<br>Date:=C2=A0Thu, 19 Feb 2015 06:47:23 +000=
0 (UTC)<br>Subject:=C2=A0[gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage<br=
>Brent Busby posted on Wed, 18 Feb 2015 22:19:37 -0600 as excerpted:<br>
<br>
&gt; With all the arguing I see in the forums lately about libav versus<br>
&gt; ffmpeg, I thought I&#39;d ask an ffmpeg question of a different nature=
:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Upstream, the ffmpeg people are releasing 2.5 as &quot;stable.&quot;=
=C2=A0 Some people<br>
&gt; (who I&#39;m not going to argue with, since I don&#39;t really have a =
position<br>
&gt; on it myself) say the ffmpeg developers are reckless.=C2=A0 However, I=
 notice<br>
&gt; that most other distros are at least shipping 2.2 (perhaps with lots o=
f<br>
&gt; distro patches to fix problems?).<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Gentoo&#39;s stable ffmpeg is currently 1.2.6, a fully maintained (i.e=
., not<br>
&gt; defunct or deprecated) branch with ffmpeg upstream, apparently<br>
&gt; maintained for really conservative users.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; All of this has me wondering...should I unmask?=C2=A0 Both 2.2 and 2.5=
 are<br>
&gt; available in Portage as ~amd64 ebuilds.=C2=A0 Is anyone here doing thi=
s? Does<br>
&gt; it unleash the hounds of hell (or the UNIX equivalent, lots of<br>
&gt; unpleasant segfaults and codec problems)?=C2=A0 I&#39;m mostly wanting=
 better<br>
&gt; Bluray/WMV3/VC-1 support, but I don&#39;t know how that stands between=
 the<br>
&gt; various 1.2/2.2/2.5 branches.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; From talking to people who don&#39;t run Gentoo, I&#39;ve found that i=
t has a<br>
&gt; reputation for being bleeding-edge, but at times, I&#39;ve found to th=
e<br>
&gt; contraty that it can actually sometimes be overcautious, making it har=
d<br>
&gt; to tell if you&#39;re missing out on things other distros are enjoying=
<br>
&gt; because your upgrades are masked.=C2=A0 Sometimes, package versions wi=
ll stay<br>
&gt; masked for months or years just because nobody got around to marking<b=
r>
&gt; them stable for amd64 and not because of any actual bugs.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Anybody running ffmpeg 2.x without issues?=C2=A0 If so, which one...2.=
2 or<br>
&gt; 2.5?<br>
<br>
[Adding this note after I wrote the below.=C2=A0 I think it ended up readin=
g<br>
harsher than I intended.=C2=A0 I know people choose stable for a reason and=
 I<br>
really do respect that.=C2=A0 Those people simply aren&#39;t me, nor that r=
eason<br>
mine... and that certainly comes out in the below.=C2=A0 But no personal, o=
r<br>
even whole-group, offense intended.=C2=A0 It&#39;s just not me.=C2=A0 But i=
t&#39;s your<br>
machine, not mine, and gentoo wouldn&#39;t be gentoo if it didn&#39;t respe=
ct<br>
your ultimate control of your machine, neither would I be me in the same<br=
>
case.=C2=A0 So, umm... Read the below with that in mind. =3D:^) ]<br>
<br>
I think what you actually want to know (which isn&#39;t what you asked), is=
<br>
if anyone running _sta(b)le_ amd64, is running ffmpeg 2.x without issues.<b=
r>
<br>
Because people running ~amd64, including me, if they&#39;re current (I am),=
<br>
are running ffmpeg-2.5.4.<br>
<br>
And in general, I&#39;ve not seen issues.<br>
<br>
However, that&#39;s because the various other apps also in ~amd64 have in<b=
r>
general already been updated to work with the newer ffmpeg.<br>
<br>
Which is the problem with stale^h^hble amd64, and sta(b)le gentoo in<br>
general.=C2=A0 The newer ffmpeg can&#39;t be unmasked to sta(b)le until pre=
tty<br>
much everything else in sta(b)le has been updated to work with it as well.<=
br>
<br>
And in fact, whenever there&#39;s something that has gotten as far behind o=
n<br>
stable as ffmpeg has, in particular, for stuff like gcc, it&#39;s very like=
ly<br>
the same general problem.=C2=A0 On gentoo, for packages like gcc in<br>
particular, even ~amd64 (and ~arch in general) is generally quite behind,<b=
r>
because before it&#39;s unmasked to ~arch, they want to ensure that all oth=
er<br>
packages (at the same ~arch) level have been patched to build with it.<br>
Which means it takes &quot;forever&quot; to unmask even to ~arch, because o=
f all<br>
those other packages that have to be either updated first, or patched to<br=
>
build with the new gcc.=C2=A0 Then when all that is done and it hits ~arch,=
<br>
the process starts over for sta(b)le; all those patched packages have to<br=
>
be sta(b)le keyworded before gcc itself can be sta(b)le keyworded.<br>
<br>
And yes, sometimes that does mean &quot;stable&quot; is &quot;stale&quot;, =
no two ways about<br>
it.=C2=A0 But it&#39;s a choice you make...<br>
<br>
But at least gentoo does make it real easy to package.keyword specific<br>
packages if you like, so you can be sta(b)le on most things while<br>
choosing to try arch or even masked versions if you dare.<br>
<br>
If you like you can do an equery depends ffmpeg, and see which packages<br>
that you actually have installed depend on it.=C2=A0 You can then research<=
br>
each one to see if the version you currently have merged can function<br>
with the newer ffmpeg, and if not, you can of course package.keyword it<br>
~arch at the same time.<br>
<br>
With a bit of luck all the packages you have installed are already<br>
updated and it&#39;ll &quot;just work&quot; (perhaps with a rebuild of some=
 of them)<br>
for you.=C2=A0 If you&#39;re not that lucky, but still somewhat lucky, they=
&#39;ve at<br>
least been updated with blockers or version ranges, so if you go to<br>
install the newer ffmpeg, portage will tell you which packages you have<br>
to keyword-unmask in ordered to proceed.<br>
<br>
Of course you also risk that they&#39;ve not been updated yet, and simply<b=
r>
quit working with no explanation, until you figure it out and unmask them<b=
r>
so you get the newer version of them too.<br>
<br>
But at least with an equery depends ffmpeg, you can see how many packages<b=
r>
you are risking, and decide whether it&#39;s worth the hassle from there, o=
r<br>
if it&#39;s too much to risk/hassle and you prefer to wait for the full<br>
stable update after all.<br>
<br>
Of course another alternative is to &quot;Dear Interwebs&quot; the solution=
.=C2=A0 You<br>
can post your equery results here and see if there&#39;s enough other peopl=
e<br>
on sta(b)le but running a newer/package.keyworded ffmpeg with those<br>
packages as well, to compare notes. =3D:^)<br>
<br>
--<br>
Duncan - List replies preferred.=C2=A0 =C2=A0No HTML msgs.<br>
&quot;Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --<br>
and if you use the program, he is your master.&quot;=C2=A0 Richard Stallman=
<br>
<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From:=C2=A0Brent Busby &=
lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>To=
:=C2=A0<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">gentoo-desktop@li=
sts.gentoo.org</a><br>Cc:=C2=A0<br>Date:=C2=A0Thu, 19 Feb 2015 01:38:12 -06=
00 (CST)<br>Subject:=C2=A0Re: [gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in porta=
ge<br>On Thu, 19 Feb 2015, Duncan wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
[Adding this note after I wrote the below.=C2=A0 I think it ended up readin=
g harsher than I intended.=C2=A0 I know people choose stable for a reason a=
nd I really do respect that.=C2=A0 Those people simply aren&#39;t me, nor t=
hat reason mine... and that certainly comes out in the below. But no person=
al, or even whole-group, offense intended.=C2=A0 It&#39;s just not me.=C2=
=A0 But it&#39;s your machine, not mine, and gentoo wouldn&#39;t be gentoo =
if it didn&#39;t respect your ultimate control of your machine, neither wou=
ld I be me in the same case.=C2=A0 So, umm... Read the below with that in m=
ind. =3D:^) ]<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Well, it&#39;s mostly stable.=C2=A0 I have a rather long package.keywords f=
ile full of things I&#39;ve allowed ~amd64 on, and I&#39;ve been careful ab=
out which packages those are.=C2=A0 Some are even live ebuilds pulled from =
GIT.<br>
<br>
The main reason I&#39;m running stable is because this machine is used for =
audio recording and music production, and I need it to work.=C2=A0 I have q=
uite a bit of experience in chasing down problems, but I&#39;d like to keep=
 that to a minimum.<br>
<br>
And no, I don&#39;t want a binary distro.=C2=A0 Those have their own proble=
ms.<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
I think what you actually want to know (which isn&#39;t what you asked), is=
<br>
if anyone running _sta(b)le_ amd64, is running ffmpeg 2.x without issues.<b=
r>
<br>
Because people running ~amd64, including me, if they&#39;re current (I am),=
<br>
are running ffmpeg-2.5.4.<br>
<br>
And in general, I&#39;ve not seen issues.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Ok, well that&#39;s basically what I was wanting to know, since it was the =
stability of ffmpeg 2.5 itself I was wondering about.<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
However, that&#39;s because the various other apps also in ~amd64 have in g=
eneral already been updated to work with the newer ffmpeg.<br>
<br>
Which is the problem with stale^h^hble amd64, and sta(b)le gentoo in<br>
general.=C2=A0 The newer ffmpeg can&#39;t be unmasked to sta(b)le until pre=
tty<br>
much everything else in sta(b)le has been updated to work with it as well.<=
br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Yes, for that reason, I will very likely end up keeping 1.2 for awhile. I o=
nly unmask when it&#39;s possible to do so without a lot of complication.<b=
r>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
And in fact, whenever there&#39;s something that has gotten as far behind o=
n<br>
stable as ffmpeg has, in particular, for stuff like gcc, it&#39;s very like=
ly<br>
the same general problem.=C2=A0 On gentoo, for packages like gcc in<br>
particular, even ~amd64 (and ~arch in general) is generally quite behind,<b=
r>
because before it&#39;s unmasked to ~arch, they want to ensure that all oth=
er<br>
packages (at the same ~arch) level have been patched to build with it.<br>
Which means it takes &quot;forever&quot; to unmask even to ~arch, because o=
f all<br>
those other packages that have to be either updated first, or patched to<br=
>
build with the new gcc.=C2=A0 Then when all that is done and it hits ~arch,=
<br>
the process starts over for sta(b)le; all those patched packages have to<br=
>
be sta(b)le keyworded before gcc itself can be sta(b)le keyworded.<br>
<br>
And yes, sometimes that does mean &quot;stable&quot; is &quot;stale&quot;, =
no two ways about<br>
it.=C2=A0 But it&#39;s a choice you make...<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I know...and I can wait, if it&#39;s going to cause a lot of interdependenc=
y problems with other packages.=C2=A0 I&#39;ve found that stuff does usuall=
y make it to stable eventually, so I don&#39;t really have a cow about it.<=
br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
But at least gentoo does make it real easy to package.keyword specific<br>
packages if you like, so you can be sta(b)le on most things while<br>
choosing to try arch or even masked versions if you dare.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
This is one of the biggest reasons I run Gentoo instead of a binary distro.=
=C2=A0 Debian-based distros have APT-pinning, but it doesn&#39;t work nearl=
y as well, because binary packages have already been compiled against the l=
ibraries they were meant for.=C2=A0 You can do your own backports, but that=
&#39;s even more special treatment to hassle you with. Most of the time, if=
 you unmask a package on Gentoo, it just compiles against what you have, an=
d it just works, now, and after future system upgrades.<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
If you like you can do an equery depends ffmpeg, and see which packages<br>
that you actually have installed depend on it.=C2=A0 You can then research<=
br>
each one to see if the version you currently have merged can function<br>
with the newer ffmpeg, and if not, you can of course package.keyword it<br>
~arch at the same time.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Mostly I just wondered if anyone could tell me if ffmpeg 2.5 itself is fund=
amentally broken in some way.=C2=A0 Sounds like it&#39;s fine...<br>
<br>
-- <br>
+ Brent A. Busby=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0+ &quot;We&#39;ve all hea=
rd that a million monkeys<br>
+ Sr. UNIX Systems Admin +=C2=A0 banging on a million typewriters will<br>
+ University of Chicago=C2=A0 +=C2=A0 eventually reproduce the entire works=
 of<br>
+ James Franck Institute +=C2=A0 Shakespeare.=C2=A0 Now, thanks to the Inte=
rnet,<br>
+ Materials Research Ctr +=C2=A0 we know this is not true.&quot; -Robert Wi=
lensky<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From:=C2=A0Duncan &lt;<a=
 href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt;<br>To:=
=C2=A0<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">gentoo-desktop@lis=
ts.gentoo.org</a><br>Cc:=C2=A0<br>Date:=C2=A0Thu, 19 Feb 2015 23:37:50 +000=
0 (UTC)<br>Subject:=C2=A0[gentoo-desktop] Re: ffmpeg versions in portage<br=
>Brent Busby posted on Thu, 19 Feb 2015 01:38:12 -0600 as excerpted:<br>
<br>
&gt; Mostly I just wondered if anyone could tell me if ffmpeg 2.5 itself is=
<br>
&gt; fundamentally broken in some way.=C2=A0 Sounds like it&#39;s fine...<b=
r>
<br>
Yes.=C2=A0 What&#39;s broken, for both ffmpeg and libav, is that they don&#=
39;t keep<br>
the same API around very long.=C2=A0 New versions thus break everything tha=
t<br>
depends on them for awhile, until those package in turn are upgraded to<br>
deal with the new API.<br>
<br>
Which wouldn&#39;t be a big deal if it were only a handful of packages<br>
depending on ffmpeg/libav.=C2=A0 But when pretty much every audio/visual<br=
>
application out there does... it&#39;s not just a big deal, it&#39;s a *HUG=
E*<br>
deal.<br>
<br>
FWIW, while I&#39;m an ffmpeg user myself, the libav upstream has at least<=
br>
realized the problem to some extent, and has slowed down the dropping of<br=
>
older APIs a bit, leaving them around for a version or two even as they<br>
continue to move on with new ones.=C2=A0 =C2=A0But I believe that&#39;s a f=
airly new<br>
policy, only the last couple of release series, and it&#39;s limited to onl=
y<br>
a release series or two in &quot;backward compatibility mode&quot; at once,=
 so it&#39;s<br>
still a problem for the slower moving packages depending on it, both<br>
because it&#39;s new enough that the slower moving packages haven&#39;t had=
 a<br>
chance to absorb it yet, and because it&#39;s limited to only a release or<=
br>
two on a fast-moving base, such that the problem will still exist for the<b=
r>
packages depending on it that are moving slow enough.<br>
<br>
This all came out in the gentoo-dev list ffmpeg/libav default<br>
discussion.=C2=A0 Truth is, ffmpeg may well be best for ~arch users for<br>
several reasons including more flexibility and best of both worlds<br>
leading edge development policies, but sta(b)le users may actually be<br>
better with libav, at least as this upstream libav policy takes hold,<br>
given that they&#39;re at least making /some/ efforts toward API stability<=
br>
now, which can only help newer versions reach sta(b)le faster.<br>
<br>
Which means libav may actually be the better gentoo profile default after<b=
r>
all, despite apparent user preference to ffmpeg, because leading edge<br>
users are more likely to be willing to change the profile default, while<br=
>
sta(b)le users in general prefer that it &quot;just work&quot; with the lea=
st<br>
disturbance, at least after they&#39;ve done their basic setup.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Duncan - List replies preferred.=C2=A0 =C2=A0No HTML msgs.<br>
&quot;Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --<br>
and if you use the program, he is your master.&quot;=C2=A0 Richard Stallman=
<br>
<br>
<br></blockquote></div>

--14dae9cc97c81f8a36050fcb2ece--