[FFmpeg-user] Next Release

[Carl Zwanzig]

On 1/29/2021 11:00 AM, Reindl Harald wrote:
> most open source projects don't provide binaries

Maybe yes, maybe no. Most of the FOSS software I use* comes as compiled 
executables, often with an install process. And there is a fair difference 
logically between libraries and executables; the former are more often 
distributed as source and the latter more often as compiled (and I'm sure 
there are exceptions both ways). Without a strong survey, it's probably 
impossibly to quantify.

*(On the machine I'm using right now- firefox, thunderbird, putty, 
handbrake, openshell, greenshot, freefilesync, _vlc_, ImageMagick, PSpad, 
etc etc; all installed from pre-compiled packages from that project.)


> why should they?

Convenience to the user? Not everyone wants to (or can) build-from-source.
Control over the build process- it's usually easier to "support" when you 
know when and how something was built and that it passes at least a smoke test.
(That's a start.)

In the end, some projects want to put the effort into it, some don't. 
Probably not worth arguing over.

Later,

z!