[FFmpeg-user] What is the difference between versions of ffmpeg?

[Phil Rhodes]

> ...the process of compiling from source. I know there are Linux users that do that, but I can only do it if there are very clear, explicit, line by line instructions...
You aren't alone. I've mentioned this problem, on this list, many times. Most open source software uses a combination of commandline tools, with scripts and code in various formats and languages required to build it. This is emphatically not simple - at least not as simple as loading a Visual Studio project in Windows. It is not reasonable to expect everyone to be able to do it.

The open source community deals with this situation by denying that it exists and is often inexcusably impolite:
> only because you refuse to learn
...like that. There is often a complete lack of respect for any form of skill or ability other than software engineering, to the point that some projects (ffmpeg included) have suffered some quite egregious technical omissions because they simply won't take anyone's input.

Don't feel bad. The technical problems we're discussing here, and the attitude problem underlying them, are one of the main things holding back open source software from what could be its full potential.

P