[FFmpeg-user] What is the best way to keep ffmpeg up to date on ubuntu 18.04 (current LTS)?

[Dennis Mungai]

On Tue, 10 Mar 2020 at 19:52, Reindl Harald <h.reindl at thelounge.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> Am 10.03.20 um 17:10 schrieb bbb:
> > I was using ffmpeg from official ubuntu-xenial repositories and was
> > unable to convert a bunch of files with subtitles ("invalid, non
> > monotonically increasing dts").
> >
> > Then I realised, that my ffmpeg was so very old, it did not include
> > those two fixes:
> > https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/4450
> > https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/6248
> >
> > When I checked out from git and build it myself everything worked fine.
> >
> > So I wonder: What is the best practice to keep ffmpeg up to date on an
> > ubuntu 18.04 system? Is there another repo?
>
> i build ffmpeg from source for 12 years now on Fedora
>
> /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg has a static linked up-to-date libx264 and so
> ffmpeg-libs in whatever version rpmfusion ships and lins other packages
> with are untouched
>
> just learn to build packages and you are done

Depending on your use case:

(a). If you want a build with mostly free components, such as nvenc,
etc, grab a snap installer from here: https://snapcraft.io/ffmpeg

(b). If you need extras, its' always best to build from source. It can
be tedious and even frustrating especially if you're not familiar with
build systems, but the reward and return on investment is totally
worth it.

(c). For simple, static builds, you may also grab a copy from John Van
Sickle: https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/

On other platforms, your mileage will vary. For Windows, I've found
great success with this build helper (needs a Linux VM or host to
generate working builds):
https://github.com/rdp/ffmpeg-windows-build-helpers

Warm regards,

Dennis.