[FFmpeg-user] Uninstalling ffmpeg

[Chris Angelico]

On Thu, Dec 3, 2020 at 6:33 AM Andy Sheimo <asheimo at gmail.com> wrote:
> Actually having a static binary is not a no brainer. I know that I use a
> static binary and I can make said static binary jump through hoops, but I
> can't tell you why I use a static binary or the difference between that and
> a shared binary. Someday I should probably learn but as of today I don't
> know. if that makes me "a little child" with "a slow brain" then said
> person is brilliant.

Advantages of static linking:
1) Self-contained - convenient
2) Locks in its dependencies - consistent

Advantages of dynamic linking:
1) Deduplication. Many executables can link to the same library and
they'll use the same one - on disk, in memory, etc. Reduces load times
for commonly-used libraries. Can be taken even further by putting the
libraries on fast storage, and then even an executable on slow storage
will be able to load the library at high speed.
2) Dependencies can be updated independently, allowing bug fixes and
security patches.

It's most definitely not a no-brainer, and there are good reasons to
use both (even within the same binary - statically link some libraries
and dynamically link others).

ChrisA