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For my app i need FFmpeg, so i went to official website, for windows builds it said go here :- https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases/tag/autobuild-2021-01-20-13-01

But now i have a problem. Which version of ffmpeg is newer ?

ffmpeg-N-100679 or ffmpeg-n4.3.1-29 ?

Is that "N" version unstable and "n4" version stable ?

Any help would be appreciated

0xB00B
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2 Answers2

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Which is newer?

ffmpeg-N-100679-g24dc6d386c is newer. It is from the git master branch, and is a snapshot of the current, up-to-date FFmpeg code for the date it was released. It corresponds to commit 24dc6d386c (note I omitted the g prefix) which is from 2021-01-20.

4.3.1 is from 2020-07-11. Since new features are not backported to release versions (only certain bug fixes) it is just an extension of 4.3 which was released on 2020-06-08. The FFmpeg Download page contains the dates for releases.

So ffmpeg-N-100679-g24dc6d386c is about 7 months newer than 4.3.1.

Which do I use?

  • ffmpeg-N-* for general users. If you want the latest code and features. Required for anyone who wants to submit a bug report. If you experience a problem with the newest release. It is stable ~98% of the time I'd guess from using it over many years.

  • Release version: if you are required to stay within a certain API version. For distros, distributors, users of the FFmpeg libraries, etc.

llogan
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  • Ok thanks, one more question, Why is the statically linked version about 90mb but shared version 35mb ? Is the shared version incomplete ? Which one is preferred for distributing with my program ? – 0xB00B Feb 03 '21 at 02:55
  • @TanishqBanyal Despite the size difference both offer the same features in `ffmpeg`. See [Difference between static and shared libraries?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2649334/difference-between-static-and-shared-libraries) – llogan Feb 03 '21 at 18:04
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Versions with N-xxxxx are nightly builds / snapshots and are unstable (but newer). Use them only for testing or if the last release has a bug that is already fixed and only available in the nightly.

Otherwise I recommend to use the latest release (currently 4.3.1). This is typically more stable.

martinr92
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    Please don't do this. Always use git unless you have a specific reason to use a release. git builds are not "unstable". Statistically, they can be expected to have fewer bugs and leaks than releases. – Gyan Feb 02 '21 at 18:50