FAQ
Why are ffmpeg or other tools not bundled?
One of the common questions is why rust-srec does not come bundled with ffmpeg, streamlink, yt-dlp, or other similar tools. There are several reasons for this:
1. Licensing and Legal Compliance
ffmpeg and many other multimedia tools are often licensed under the GPL (GNU General Public License). Bundling these binaries directly within our distribution could impose certain licensing obligations on rust-srec itself or complicate the legal aspects of redistribution. By requiring users to provide their own binaries, we avoid these complexities and respect the licensing of these external projects.
2. Binary Size
Tools like ffmpeg and yt-dlp are quite large. Bundling them would increase the download size of rust-srec by tens or even hundreds of megabytes. We prefer to keep our application lightweight and let you manage your own installations of these tools.
3. Update Frequency and Independence
External tools, especially yt-dlp and streamlink, receive frequent updates to maintain compatibility with various streaming platforms. If we bundled them, you would have to wait for a new release of rust-srec just to get the latest fixes for your favorite platform. Keeping them separate allows you to update them independently as soon as new versions are available.
4. Platform-Specific Customization
Different platforms and hardware configurations may benefit from different builds of ffmpeg. For example, some users might need specific hardware acceleration support (like NVENC, QSV, or VAAPI). By having you install your own ffmpeg, you can choose the build that best fits your specific needs and environment.
5. Separation of Concerns
rust-srec is designed to be an orchestrator and manager for stream recording. We focus on providing a robust scheduling and pipeline system, while leveraging well-established, specialized tools for the actual media handling when the built-in Rust engine is not used.
How do I install these tools?
Please refer to our Installation Guide for instructions on how to install the necessary dependencies for your platform.