WingNews

probably_wrong|2 years ago

For the sake of testing, I just downloaded youtube-dl from Github [1]. I then tried to run the program, but it failed with:

   /usr/bin/env: ‘python’: No such file or directory

Okay, the script can't deal with "python" vs "python3", whatever - I'll change the script's first line and move on. Next attempt:

   $ youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pV8WFvSNYE
   [youtube] 5pV8WFvSNYE: Downloading webpage
   ERROR: Unable to extract uploader id; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug. Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.

I knew I would get this error because I got it two weeks ago already. And considering that the version number is `2021.12.17` that looks suspiciously close to a dead project, or at least for a project whose very description is "download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms".

Edit: I went through the repo and found that this bug has been reported two months ago [2]. I understand that the project is not dead in the sense that they are still looking at bugs, but if a major feature is not working for two months now then I think it's reasonable for people's faith in the project's future to be shaken.

[1] https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#installation

[2] https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/31530

ProAm|2 years ago

> /usr/bin/env: ‘python’: No such file or directory

Your install is not configured properly. This is a googleable fix. (One example is to use `which python3` as part of your command https://stackoverflow.com/a/73610228)

> ERROR: Unable to extract uploader id;

This is a known bug and already has a fix but has not been packaged or released for youtube-dl but you can fix it yourself or use a different pacakge. https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/31530

blueflow|2 years ago

I think if you have python installed but no 'python' executable in PATH, your install is broken.

defrost|2 years ago

The last official release was 2021.12.17.

The I can't believe it's not youtube-dl quasi unofficial fork yt-dlp has a most recent stable release 2023.03.04 (last month).

Of the two one is keeping up with the month by month twists and turns of websites altering their video embed methodologies to defeat CLI rippers .. and the other one isn't.

bharathyes|2 years ago

both their release cycles and what they consider as stable might differ and not necessarily mean one is better.

yt-dlp still claims to keep track with the parent project. Most would use it for the additional functionalities it provides over youtube-dl.

thaumasiotes|2 years ago

A while ago youtube-dl broke and wasn't fixed. yt-dlp fixed the problem.

Granted, I haven't kept up on whether original youtube-dl eventually got around to getting its primary functionality to work. The several-month interregnum that definitely occurred seems like a good reason to consider it "dead".

noirscape|2 years ago

It's been fixed but the new maintainer refuses to release a new version until someone manages to help him figure out how to get automated builds running (which seems to have been the problem for the past year and he refuses to just do a manual build so that youtube-dl at least works with YouTube).

yt-dlp is a better maintained fork.

bharathyes|2 years ago

Not sure which problem you refer to but it is an active repo that has worked well for the past few months atleast.

anenefan|2 years ago

youtube-dl only works for some people around the globe, as youtube is apparently running A/B testing. Yeah there's a sort of fix ... that's been tucked away at github by way of go nowhere link, but there's the given idea it's time to ditch the cheap computer or online server and try and get something else to run instead. I read that sort of sentiment as that yup it's probably dead and maybe time to move onto more expensive toys that programmers really give a fuck, well that year ... or just ignore youtube for the time being. It's sad because what I generally viewed on youtube was of no interest to the music industry.

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