[FFmpeg-devel] Load FDK AAC at run-time

[Reimar Döffinger]

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 01:15:17AM -0500, Kyle Schwarz wrote:
> On 2/17/2013 11:40 AM, Carl Eugen Hoyos wrote:
> >Kyle Schwarz <zeranoe <at> gmail.com> writes:
> >
> >>There is a demand for FDK AAC, but FDK AAC cannot
> >>be compiled into a FFmpeg binary and remain
> >>compatible with the GPL. FDK AAC can however be
> >>redistributed as a binary alongside a FFmpeg copy
> >>that is GPL.
> >
> >Ianal, but imo, that would (exactly) contradict the
> >(essence of the) GPL and we should therefore not
> >support it.
> >
> >Whoever needs a better GPL-compatible AAC encoder
> >should consider to either improve or support
> >improving FFmpeg's native AAC encoder.
> 
> I don't want to start any arguments, but are there any other people
> with an opinion?

Well, I see advantages in dynamic loading (for example distributions
can make it an optional dependency, thus reducing bloat).
However I am strongly against doing it in any way that might
make people believe this changes anything with concern to
licensing, I find it likely that these kind of "tricks"
will at best work in a select few jurisdictions if at all.
There is also the point that dynamic loading in a way that
works across operating systems without opening security holes
is very tricky to do from a library.
For example, Windows by default loads libraries from the
current working directory, which is a security concern.
The solution to that is to disable that behaviour,
however doing that inside libavcodec seems inappropriate
since libraries should avoid changing global program state.

Regards,
Reimar