VLC's Jean-Baptiste Kempf Receives the European SFS Award 2025

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Recognition and legacy of VLC

  • Many commenters see the award as well deserved, citing VLC’s long history of “just working” with any codec, rescuing people from painful codec-pack days and making them the family “computer expert” as kids.
  • Several stress that VLC never added spyware or bloat, and that its refusal to be sold for big money is viewed as protecting users from “enshittification.”
  • VLC is especially appreciated on Windows, Android, iOS, and tvOS where default players are seen as weak; it’s widely used for network playback (NAS, Jellyfin, casting) and niche formats (e.g. Opus, gapless albums).

User experience and technical merits

  • Experiences diverge sharply:
    • Fans praise its clean-enough UI, rich controls, and low CPU usage, especially on older hardware where it can outperform mpv.
    • Critics describe the UI as clunky/dated, with odd defaults, over‑granular controls, and hostile responses to UX feedback (e.g. forced playlist/miniplayer removal, lack of backward frame-step).
    • One developer noted constant ~0.5% GPU usage even when idle, calling it a “detrimental flaw.”
  • There’s debate over whether VLC is “just a thin wrapper around ffmpeg/libavcodec”; others point to its extensive module ecosystem as evidence it does much more.

Alternatives and changing landscape

  • Many Linux users now prefer mpv (often via GUIs like Celluloid, IINA, Haruna), MPC-HC, SMPlayer, or K‑Lite + Media Player Classic, citing better UX or features.
  • Some say operating systems now ship solid players and that the real “video world” has moved to platforms like YouTube, though others still routinely hit playback issues with default players.

Perceptions of the maintainer

  • Personal encounters are mixed: some found him inspirational or “chill,” others describe him as condescending, aggressive to critical users, and dismissive on forums.
  • He is praised as an “honorable” figure who didn’t sell VLC, but also criticized as abrasive.

Kyber project and commercialization debate

  • Commenters are curious about the status of his low‑latency streaming system Kyber.
  • There is a heated argument over whether pursuing dual-licensed, money-making Kyber—amid claims that “meaningfully zero” source has been released—constitutes “selling out.” Views are strongly split.

FSFE / award context

  • One commenter briefly links to a critical blog post about the awarding organization; implications are raised but not discussed in depth, and the broader context is unclear.