mirror of https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc
141 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
141 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
# VLC media player
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**VLC** is a libre and open source **media player** and **multimedia engine**,
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focused on **playing everything**, and **running everywhere**.
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**VLC** can play most multimedia files, discs, streams, devices and is also able to
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convert, encode, **stream** and manipulate streams into numerous formats.
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VLC is used by many over the world, on numerous platforms, for very different use cases.
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The **engine of VLC** can be embedded into 3rd party applications, and is called *libVLC*.
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**VLC** is part of the [VideoLAN project](https://videolan.org) and
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is developed and supported by a community of volunteers.
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The VideoLAN project was started at the university [École Centrale Paris](https://www.centralesupelec.fr/) who
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relicensed VLC under the GPLv2 license in February 2001. Since then, VLC has
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been downloaded **billions** of times.
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## License
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**VLC** is released under the GPLv2 *(or later)* license.
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*On some platforms, it is de facto GPLv3, because of the licenses of dependencies*.
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**libVLC**, the engine is released under the LGPLv2 *(or later)* license. \
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This allows embedding the engine in 3rd party applications, while letting them to be licensed under other licenses.
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# Platforms
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VLC is available for the following platforms:
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- [Windows] *(from 7 and later, including UWP platforms and all versions of Windows 10)*
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- [macOS] *(10.10 and later)*
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- [GNU/Linux] and affiliated
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- [BSD] and affiliated
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- [Android] *(4.2 and later)*, including Android TV and Android Auto
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- [iOS] *(9 and later)*, including AppleTV and iPadOS
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- Haiku, OS/2 and a few others.
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[Windows]: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html
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[macOS]: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
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[GNU/Linux]: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/#download
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[BSD]: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-freebsd.html
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[Android]: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-android.html
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[iOS]: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ios.html
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Not all platforms receive the same amount of care, due to our limited resources.
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**Nota Bene**: The [Android app](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-android/) and
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the [iOS app](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-ios/) are located in different repositories
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than the main one.
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# Contributing & Community
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**VLC** is maintained by a community of people, and VideoLAN is not paying any of them.\
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The community is composed of developers, helpers, maintainers, designers and writers that want
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this open source project to thrive.
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The main development of VLC is done in the C language, but this repository also contains
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plenty of C++, Obj-C, asm and Rust.
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Other repositories linked to vlc are done in languages including Kotlin/Java [(Android)](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-android/),
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Swift [(iOS)](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-ios/), and C# [(libVLCSharp)](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/libvlcsharp/).
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We need help with the following tasks:
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- Coding
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- Packaging for Windows, macOS and Linux distributions
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- Technical writing for the documentation
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- Design
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- Support
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- Community management and communication.
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Please contribute :)
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We are on IRC. You can find us on the **#videolan** channel on *[Libera.chat]*.
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[Libera.chat]: https://libera.chat
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## Contributions
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Contributions are now done through Merge Requests on our [GitLab repository](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/).
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CI and discussions should be resolved before a Merge Request can be merged.
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# libVLC
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**libVLC** is an embeddable engine for 3rd party applications and frameworks.
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It runs on the same platforms as VLC *(and sometimes on more)* and can provide playback,
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streaming and conversion of multimedia files and streams.
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**libVLC** has numerous bindings for other languages, such as C++, Python and C#.
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# Support
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## Links
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Some useful links that might help you:
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- [VLC web site](https://www.videolan.org/vlc/)
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- [Support](https://www.videolan.org/support/)
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- [Forums](https://forum.videolan.org/)
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- [Wiki](https://wiki.videolan.org/)
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- [Developer's Corner](https://wiki.videolan.org/Developers_Corner)
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- [VLC hacking guide](https://wiki.videolan.org/Hacker_Guide)
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- [Bugtracker](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues)
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- [VideoLAN web site](https://www.videolan.org/)
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## Source Code sitemap
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```
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ABOUT-NLS - Notes on the Free Translation Project.
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AUTHORS - VLC authors.
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COPYING - The GPL license.
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COPYING.LIB - The LGPL license.
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INSTALL - Installation and building instructions.
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NEWS - Important modifications between the releases.
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README - Project summary.
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THANKS - VLC contributors.
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bin/ - VLC binaries.
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bindings/ - libVLC bindings to other languages.
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compat/ - compatibility library for operating systems missing
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essential functionalities.
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contrib/ - Facilities for retrieving external libraries and building
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them for systems that don't have the right versions.
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doc/ - Miscellaneous documentation.
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extras/analyser - Code analyser and editor specific files.
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extras/buildsystem - Different build system specific files.
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extras/misc - Files that don't fit in the other extras/ categories.
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extras/package - VLC packaging specific files such as spec files.
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extras/tools/ - Facilities for retrieving external building tools needed
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for systems that don't have the right versions.
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include/ - Header files.
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lib/ - libVLC source code.
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modules/ - VLC plugins and modules. Most of the code is here.
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po/ - VLC translations.
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share/ - Common resource files.
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src/ - libvlccore source code.
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test/ - Testing system.
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```
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