Latest VLC Update (08/26/2025)

The recent split of plugins from VLC has made VLC updates massive, not in size, but in the number of VLC components to be updated.

And update used to be just vlc. Now it looks like this…


❯ up
[sudo] password for wombat: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 endeavouros                                15.9 KiB   105 KiB/s 00:00 [---------------------------------------] 100%
 core                                      122.2 KiB   260 KiB/s 00:00 [---------------------------------------] 100%
 extra                                       7.9 MiB  9.99 MiB/s 00:01 [---------------------------------------] 100%
 multilib                                  131.8 KiB   273 KiB/s 00:00 [---------------------------------------] 100%
 chaotic-aur                               643.5 KiB  1041 KiB/s 00:01 [---------------------------------------] 100%
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: 104 packages to upgrade/install.
104  endeavouros/eos-rankmirrors        25.7.1-1        -> 25.8-1
103  extra/abseil-cpp                   20250512.1-1    -> 20250814.0-1
102  extra/discord                      1:0.0.106-1     -> 1:0.0.107-1
101  extra/fd                           10.2.0-1        -> 10.3.0-1
100  extra/libvlc                       3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 99  extra/networkmanager-openconnect   1.2.10-3        -> 1.2.10-4
 98  extra/networkmanager-openvpn       1.12.2-1        -> 1.12.3-1
 97  extra/node-gyp                     11.4.1-1        -> 11.4.2-1
 96  extra/opencv                       4.12.0-2        -> 4.12.0-3
 95  extra/ostree                       2025.4-1        -> 2025.5-1
 94  extra/pacman-contrib               1.12.0-1        -> 1.13.0-1
 93  extra/protobuf                     31.1-2          -> 32.0-1
 92  extra/protobuf-c                   1.5.2-4         -> 1.5.2-5
 91  extra/python-platformdirs          4.3.8-1         -> 4.4.0-1
 90  extra/python-protobuf              31.1-2          -> 32.0-1
 89  extra/re2                          1:20240702-5    -> 1:20240702-7
 88  extra/vlc                          3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 87  extra/vlc-cli                      3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 86  extra/vlc-gui-ncurses              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 85  extra/vlc-gui-qt                   3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 84  extra/vlc-gui-skins2               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 83  extra/vlc-plugin-a52dec            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 82  extra/vlc-plugin-aalib             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 81  extra/vlc-plugin-alsa              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 80  extra/vlc-plugin-aom               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 79  extra/vlc-plugin-archive           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 78  extra/vlc-plugin-aribb24           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 77  extra/vlc-plugin-aribb25           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 76  extra/vlc-plugin-ass               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 75  extra/vlc-plugin-avahi             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 74  extra/vlc-plugin-bluray            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 73  extra/vlc-plugin-caca              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 72  extra/vlc-plugin-cddb              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 71  extra/vlc-plugin-chromecast        3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 70  extra/vlc-plugin-dav1d             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 69  extra/vlc-plugin-dbus              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 68  extra/vlc-plugin-dbus-screensaver  3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 67  extra/vlc-plugin-dca               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 66  extra/vlc-plugin-dvb               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 65  extra/vlc-plugin-dvd               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 64  extra/vlc-plugin-faad2             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 63  extra/vlc-plugin-ffmpeg            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 62  extra/vlc-plugin-firewire          3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 61  extra/vlc-plugin-flac              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 60  extra/vlc-plugin-fluidsynth        3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 59  extra/vlc-plugin-freetype          3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 58  extra/vlc-plugin-gme               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 57  extra/vlc-plugin-gnutls            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 56  extra/vlc-plugin-gstreamer         3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 55  extra/vlc-plugin-inflate           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 54  extra/vlc-plugin-jack              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 53  extra/vlc-plugin-journal           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 52  extra/vlc-plugin-jpeg              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 51  extra/vlc-plugin-kate              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 50  extra/vlc-plugin-kwallet           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 49  extra/vlc-plugin-libsecret         3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 48  extra/vlc-plugin-lirc              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 47  extra/vlc-plugin-live555           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 46  extra/vlc-plugin-lua               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 45  extra/vlc-plugin-mad               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 44  extra/vlc-plugin-matroska          3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 43  extra/vlc-plugin-mdns              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 42  extra/vlc-plugin-modplug           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 41  extra/vlc-plugin-mpeg2             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 40  extra/vlc-plugin-mpg123            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 39  extra/vlc-plugin-mtp               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 38  extra/vlc-plugin-musepack          3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 37  extra/vlc-plugin-nfs               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 36  extra/vlc-plugin-notify            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 35  extra/vlc-plugin-ogg               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 34  extra/vlc-plugin-opus              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 33  extra/vlc-plugin-png               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 32  extra/vlc-plugin-pulse             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 31  extra/vlc-plugin-quicksync         3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 30  extra/vlc-plugin-samplerate        3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 29  extra/vlc-plugin-sdl               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 28  extra/vlc-plugin-sftp              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 27  extra/vlc-plugin-shout             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 26  extra/vlc-plugin-smb               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 25  extra/vlc-plugin-soxr              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 24  extra/vlc-plugin-speex             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 23  extra/vlc-plugin-srt               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 22  extra/vlc-plugin-svg               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 21  extra/vlc-plugin-tag               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 20  extra/vlc-plugin-theora            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 19  extra/vlc-plugin-twolame           3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 18  extra/vlc-plugin-udev              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 17  extra/vlc-plugin-upnp              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 16  extra/vlc-plugin-vorbis            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 15  extra/vlc-plugin-vpx               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 14  extra/vlc-plugin-x264              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 13  extra/vlc-plugin-x265              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 12  extra/vlc-plugin-xml               3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 11  extra/vlc-plugin-zvbi              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
 10  extra/vlc-plugins-all              3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
  9  extra/vlc-plugins-base             3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
  8  extra/vlc-plugins-extra            3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
  7  extra/vlc-plugins-video-output     3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
  6  extra/vlc-plugins-visualization    3.0.21-27       -> 3.0.21-28
  5  extra/xapp                         2.8.9-1         -> 2.8.12-1
  4  extra/xed                          3.8.2-2         -> 3.8.4-1
  3  multilib/lib32-libgcrypt           1.11.1-1        -> 1.11.2-1
  2  chaotic-aur/webapp-manager         1.4.2-1         -> 1.4.3-1
  1  aur/freeimage-vpinball-git         r1928.6a2958b-1 -> r1926.b161345-1
==> Packages to exclude: (eg: "1 2 3", "1-3", "^4" or repo name)
 -> Excluding packages may cause partial upgrades and break systems
==>
1 Like

I’ve been using MPV for a little bit now and It does everything I need that VLC use to do. Since this split I just removed VLC since I wasn’t using it anyways. While I do have it on my laptop for radio play I am looking for alternatives for that as well. my drawback are the playlist I have made with VLC which I would need to convert to another format.

3 Likes

Hee hee, reminds me of the almost 200 file updates for Haskell I receive twice or thrice a day… just because I need pandoc-cli and pandoc-crossref. Oh well, at least the prof. is active

Thats arch following what other distros also start doing.. splitting packages, allowing better fingrading on installes but bloating the output indeed.

But modularity is basically a good thing.
But it does not simplify things :wink:

4 Likes

…considering even experienced users at some point won’t know which of the sub-features to install, and what sub-dependencies those might have. And finally wonder why something doesn’t work. Then ending up by simply installing all of them. Again. Effectively doing the same as before with just one package.

It all has its pros and cons…

2 Likes

I just now uninstalled VLC as well. Not sure why I still install it anymore. I’ve been using MPV itself or Haruna with MPV backend for a long time now.. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

2 Likes

My thoughts EXACTLY!

You could check what kind of playlists VLC makes. I bet those are pretty standard *.m3u, *.m3u8 or *.pls files, which almost everything else can play as well. Like Audacious, which I use as a simple player (radio, too).

I do try using mplayer all the time if i try open video files over terminal :wink:

Yes we only need to get used to changes again .. again and again …:

[16:59:36] joekamprad :: sway-prvt  ➜  ~ » yay -Ss vlc-plugins
extra/vlc-plugins-visualization 3.0.21-28 (42.6 KiB 111.6 KiB) 
    Free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework - visualization plugins
extra/vlc-plugins-video-output 3.0.21-28 (158.2 KiB 654.8 KiB) 
    Free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework - video output plugins
extra/vlc-plugins-extra 3.0.21-28 (22.7 KiB 51.8 KiB) 
    Free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework - extra plugins
extra/vlc-plugins-base 3.0.21-28 (1.9 MiB 7.5 MiB) 
    Free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework - base plugins
extra/vlc-plugins-all 3.0.21-28 (4.7 KiB 0.0 B) 
    Free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework - all plugins

side from vlc-plugins-all we have also base and extra meta packages now

1 Like

its the xspf file type

That’s also a well-known, XML-type, playlist format. VLC used this to store some VLC-specific extra information, like:

		<track>
			<location>http://wdr-1live-live.icecast.wdr.de/wdr/1live/live/mp3/128/stream.mp3</location>
			<title>1Live</title>
			<image>http://static.radio.de/images/broadcasts/4e/0d/1382/1/c175.png</image>
			<extension application="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/0">
				<vlc:id>1</vlc:id>
				<vlc:option>network-caching=500</vlc:option>
			</extension>
		</track>

For experimentation, I downloaded an arbitrary Internetradio.xspf from the VLC forum and played it using Audacious. All good. (Must rename Internetradio.xspf.txt to Internetradio.xspf before using.)

1 Like

I saw that and thought “When did VLC become the new Firefox ESR ?”

Regardless, I just updated it and figured I’d get to it later. EOS forums already on the case I see. LOL

1 Like

I no longer use it. Just uninstalled few minutes ago.