# Dependencies
-## Why are there so many dependencies ?
+> Why are there so many dependencies ?
Making a full-featured media framework is a huge undertaking in
itself. By using the work done by others, we both reduce the amount of
So, in closing, let's rephrase the question to “Why are you giving me so
many choices and such a rich environment ?”
-## Is GStreamer X11 independent? Can it be used headless?
+> Is GStreamer X11 independent? Can it be used headless?
Yes, we have no hard dependency on X11 or any other windowing system in
any of our modules. There are many GStreamer applications that run fine
applications that don't output any video. Other applications output
video to a framebuffer, custom-made hardware sinks, or via wayland.
-## What is GStreamer's position on efforts such as LADSPA or LV2?
+> What is GStreamer's position on efforts such as LADSPA or LV2?
GStreamer actively supports such efforts, and in the case of [LADSPA][ladspa]
or [LV2][lv2] we already have wrapper plugins. These wrapper plug-ins detect
[ladspa]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LADSPA
[lv2]: http://lv2plug.in/
-## Does GStreamer support MIDI ?
+> Does GStreamer support MIDI ?
There is some rudimentary MIDI support in GStreamer, but it's not complete yet.
[alsamidisrc]: https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/gst-plugins-base-plugins/html/gst-plugins-base-plugins-alsamidisrc.html
-## Does GStreamer depend on GNOME or GTK+ ?
+> Does GStreamer depend on GNOME or GTK+ ?
No, it's just that many of the applications developed for GStreamer happen to
be GNOME or GTK+ applications, including some of our sample applications. There
# Developing applications with GStreamer
-## How do I compile programs that use GStreamer ?
+> How do I compile programs that use GStreamer ?
<!-- FIXME: update for windows, macOS, and meson build, get rid of libtool things -->
Makefile, or integrate with autoconf using the pkg.m4 macro (providing
`PKG_CONFIG_CHECK`).
-## How do I develop against an uninstalled GStreamer copy ?
+> How do I develop against an uninstalled GStreamer copy ?
It is possible to develop and compile against an uninstalled copy
of gstreamer and gst-plugins-\* (for example, against git checkouts).
[gst-uninstalled]: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/tree/scripts/gst-uninstalled
[create-uninstalled]: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/tree/scripts/create-uninstalled-setup.sh
-## How can I use GConf to get the system-wide defaults ?
+> How can I use GConf to get the system-wide defaults ?
For GNOME applications it's a good idea to use GConf to find the
default ways of outputting audio and video. You can do this by using the
automatically use the outputs that the user configured. If you are using
gconfaudiosink, your application should set the 'profile' property.
-## How do I debug these funny shell scripts that libtool makes ?
+> How do I debug these funny shell scripts that libtool makes ?
When you link a program against uninstalled GStreamer using
libtool, funny shell scripts are made to modify your shared object
libtool --mode=execute gdb /path/to/gst-launch
-. If this does not work, you're probably using a broken version of
+If this does not work, you're probably using a broken version of
libtool.
If you build GStreamer using the Meson build system, libtool will not
debugging tools directly on the binaries Meson creates in the build
directory.
-## Why is mail traffic so low on gstreamer-devel ?
+> Why is mail traffic so low on gstreamer-devel ?
Our main arena for coordination and discussion are IRC and bugzilla, not
mailing lists. Join us in [`#gstreamer`][irc-gstreamer] on irc.freenode.net.
[irc-gstreamer]: irc://irc.freenode.net/#gstreamer
[webchat-gstreamer]: https://webchat.freenode.net
-## What kind of versioning scheme does GStreamer use ?
+> What kind of versioning scheme does GStreamer use ?
For public releases, GStreamer uses a standard MAJOR.MINOR.MICRO
version scheme. If the release consists of mostly bug fixes or
from the GStreamer team, don't have high hopes on it doing whatever you
want it to do.
-## What is the coding style for GStreamer code?
+> What is the coding style for GStreamer code?
The core and almost all plugin modules are basically coded in
K\&R with 2-space indenting. Just follow what's already there and you'll
[submit-patches]: contribute/index.md#how-to-submit-patches
-## I have translated one of the module .po files into a new language. How do I get it included?
+> I have translated one of the module .po files into a new language. How do I get it included?
GStreamer translations are uniformly managed through the
[Translation Project](http://translationproject.org). There are some
# General
-## Is GStreamer a media player ?
+> Is GStreamer a media player ?
No, GStreamer is a development framework for creating applications like
media players, video editors, streaming media broadcasters and so on.
especially when using the high-level APIs we provide such as `GstPlayer` or
the `playbin` and `playbin3` elements.
-## Why is GStreamer written in C ? Why not C++/Objective-C/... ?
+> Why is GStreamer written in C ? Why not C++/Objective-C/... ?
We like C. Aside from "personal preference", there are a number
of technical reasons why C is nice in this project:
to help out on GStreamer, we always need more language binding people.
And if not, don't bother us; we're working :-)
-## What kind of applications have been written in GStreamer?
+> What kind of applications have been written in GStreamer?
GStreamer has been designed from the start to be a general-purpose multimedia
framework that can be used to write all kinds of multimedia applications.
list](http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/apps/) on the GStreamer project
website.
-## Does GStreamer support the format of my media files?
+> Does GStreamer support the format of my media files?
GStreamer is plugin based and was designed to be extensible from the start,
so it can pretty much support any media format provided suitable plugins
- ways to obtain mediafiles in that format to test.
-## What are the exact licensing terms for GStreamer and its plugins?
+> What are the exact licensing terms for GStreamer and its plugins?
All of GStreamer, including our own plugin code, is licensed
under the [GNU LGPL 2.1](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html)
`gst-inspect-1.0`. In the future we might have the application enforce a
stricter policy (much like tainting in the kernel).
-## Is GStreamer a sound server ?
+> Is GStreamer a sound server ?
No, GStreamer is not a soundserver. GStreamer does however have
plugins supporting most of the major soundservers available today,
including pulseaudio, Jack and others.
-## Is GStreamer available for platforms other than Linux?
+> Is GStreamer available for platforms other than Linux?
Yes, GStreamer is a cross-platform multimedia framework that
works on all major operating systems, including but not limited to
SDK binary packages for Android, iOS, macOS and Windows made available
with every GStreamer release.
-## What is GStreamer's relationship with the GNOME community ?
+> What is GStreamer's relationship with the GNOME community ?
GStreamer is an independent project, but we do traditionally have
a close relationship with the GNOME community. Many of our hackers
are using it. This does not exclude use of GStreamer by other communities
at all, of course.
-## What is GStreamer's relationship with the KDE community ?
+> What is GStreamer's relationship with the KDE community ?
The GStreamer community wants to have as good a relationship as
possible with KDE, and we hope that someday KDE decides to adopt
some of the KDE hackers have created Qt bindings of GStreamer, made a
simple video player and using it in some audio players (JuK and AmaroK).
-## I'm considering adding GStreamer output to my application...
+> I'm considering adding GStreamer output to my application...
That doesn't really make sense. GStreamer is not a sound server,
so you don't output directly to GStreamer, and it's not an intermediate
# Getting GStreamer
-## How do I get GStreamer ?
+> How do I get GStreamer ?
Generally speaking, you have three options, ranging from easy to hard :
- [git](#getting-gstreamer-packages)
-## There seem to be different GStreamer versions, like 0.10 and 1.0? What's up with that?
+> There seem to be different GStreamer versions, like 0.10 and 1.0? What's up with that?
GStreamer-0.10 and GStreamer-1.0 are the main version 'series'
currently in use. For all practical purposes you should think of them as
Odd-numbered versions such as 0.9.x, 0.11.x, 1.3.x, 1.5.x, 1.7.x etc. are
unstable developer releases that should generally not be used.
-## So which GStreamer version should I get?
+> So which GStreamer version should I get?
You should download GStreamer 1.x. GStreamer-0.10 is no longer maintained.
-## How can I install GStreamer from source ?
+> How can I install GStreamer from source ?
We provide tarballs of our releases on our own site, at
<http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/>
it's not done right, and it is very difficult for anyone to provide help with
such a setup.
-## Are there premade binaries available ?
+> Are there premade binaries available ?
Yes, we currently provide [precompiled packages for Windows, OS/X,
Android and iOS](http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/pkg/).
rely on the distributions for that. GStreamer packages should be
available for all major (and minor) distributions.
-## Why don't you provide premade binaries for distribution XY ?
+> Why don't you provide premade binaries for distribution XY ?
GStreamer is run on a volunteer basis. The package that are
provided are made by non-paid people who do this on their own time. The
Unices we would be happy to hear from you. Contact us through the
GStreamer-devel mailing list.
-## I am having trouble compiling GStreamer on my LFS installation, why ?
+> I am having trouble compiling GStreamer on my LFS installation, why ?
If you are running LFS our basic opinion is that you should be
knowledgeable enough to solve any build issues you get on your own.
channel on irc.openprojects.net we might of course be able to give you
some general hints and pointers.
-## How do I get GStreamer through git ?
+> How do I get GStreamer through git ?
See this page : <http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/dev/> for git
access (anonymous and developer).
# Building GStreamer from git
-## Is there a way to test or develop against GStreamer from git without interfering with my system GStreamer installed from packages?
+> Is there a way to test or develop against GStreamer from git without interfering with my system GStreamer installed from packages?
Yes! You have two options: you can either run GStreamer in an
uninstalled setup (see [How do I develop against an uninstalled
GStreamer copy ?](#developing-uninstalled-gstreamer)), or you can use
GNOME's jhbuild.
-## How do I check out GStreamer from git ?
+> How do I check out GStreamer from git ?
GStreamer is hosted on Freedesktop.org. GStreamer consists of
various parts. In the beginning, you will be interested in the
This will create three directories in your current directory:
"gstreamer", "gst-plugins-base", and "gst-plugins-good". If you want to
get another module, use the above git clone command line and replace
-$module with the name of the module. Once you have checked out these
+`$module` with the name of the module. Once you have checked out these
modules, you will need to change into each directory and run
-./autogen.sh, which will among other things checkout the common module
+`./autogen.sh`, which will among other things checkout the common module
underneath each module checkout.
The [modules page](http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/modules/) has a list
of active ones together with a short description.
-## How do I get developer access to GStreamer git ?
+> How do I get developer access to GStreamer git ?
If you want to gain developer access to GStreamer git, you should
ask for it on the development lists, or ask one of the maintainers
Once you have all these items, see
<http://freedesktop.org/wiki/AccountRequests> for what to do with them.
-## I ran autogen.sh, but it fails with aclocal errors. What's wrong ?
+> I ran autogen.sh, but it fails with aclocal errors. What's wrong ?
+ running aclocal -I m4 -I common/m4 ...
aclocal: configure.ac: 8: macro `AM_DISABLE_STATIC' not found in library
+---
+render-subpages: false
+...
+
# Frequently Asked Questions
## Getting Started
answers. These answers were certified by the FSF lawyer team and
verified by FSF lawyer and law professor Eben Moglen.
-## Can someone distribute the combination of ...
-
- - GStreamer, the LGPL library
-
- - MyPlayer, a GPL playback application
-
- - The binary-only Sorenson decoder
-
-together in one distribution/operating system ? If not, what needs to be
-changed to make this possible ?
+> Can someone distribute the combination of:
+> - GStreamer, the LGPL library
+> - MyPlayer, a GPL playback application
+> - The binary-only Sorenson decoder
+>
+> together in one distribution/operating system ? If not, what needs to be
+> changed to make this possible ?
This would be a problem, because the GStreamer and MyPlayer
licenses would forbid it. In order to link GStreamer to MyPlayer, you
Note: MyPlayer is a completely fictituous application at the time of
writing.
-## Suppose Apple wants to write a binary-only proprietary plugin for GStreamer ..
-
-.. to decode Sorenson video, which will be shipped stand-alone,
-not part of a package like in the question above. Can Apple distribute
-this binary-only plugin ?
+> Suppose Apple wants to write a binary-only proprietary plugin for GStreamer
+>
+> .. to decode Sorenson video, which will be shipped stand-alone,
+> not part of a package like in the question above. Can Apple distribute
+> this binary-only plugin ?
Yes, modulo certain reverse engineering requirements in section 6
of the LGPL.
-## If a program released under the GPL uses a library that is LGPL, and this library can dlopen plug-ins at runtime, what are the requirements for the license of the plug-in ?
+> If a program released under the GPL uses a library that is LGPL, and
+> this library can dlopen plug-ins at runtime, what are the requirements
+> for the license of the plug-in ?
You may not distribute the plug-in with the GPL application.
Distributing the plug-in alone, with the knowledge that it will be used
you that it would be safe to do so, but we also will not advise you that
it would be absolutely forbidden.
-## Can someone in a country that does not have software patents distribute code covered by US patents under the GPL to people in, for example, Norway ? If he/she visits the US, can he/she be arrested ?
+> Can someone in a country that does not have software patents
+> distribute code covered by US patents under the GPL to people in, for
+> example, Norway ? If he/she visits the US, can he/she be arrested ?
Yes, he can. No, there are no criminal penalties for patent
infringement in the US.
-## Can someone from the US distribute software covered by US patents under the GPL to people in Norway ? To people in the US ?
+> Can someone from the US distribute software covered by US patents
+> under the GPL to people in Norway ? To people in the US ?
This might infringe some patents, but the GPL would not forbid it
absent some actual restriction, such as a court judgement or agreement.
The US government is empowered to refuse importation of patent
infringing devices, including software.
-## There are a lot of GPL- or LGPL-licensed libraries that handle media codecs which have patents. Take mad, an mp3 decoding library, as an example. It is licensed under the GPL. In countries where patents are valid, does this invalidate the GPL license for this project ?
+> There are a lot of GPL- or LGPL-licensed libraries that handle media
+> codecs which have patents. Take mad, an mp3 decoding library, as an
+> example. It is licensed under the GPL. In countries where patents are
+> valid, does this invalidate the GPL license for this project ?
The mere existence of a patent which might read on the program
does not change anything. However, if a court judgement or other
other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not
distribute the Library at all.”
-## So let's say there is a court judgement. Does this mean that the GPL license is invalid for the project everywhere, or only in the countries where it conflicts with the applicable patents ?
+> So let's say there is a court judgement. Does this mean that the GPL
+> license is invalid for the project everywhere, or only in the
+> countries where it conflicts with the applicable patents ?
The GPL operates on a per-action, not per-program basis. That is,
if you are in a country which has software patents, and a court tells
you that you cannot distribute (say) libmad in source code form, then
you cannot distribute libmad at all. This doesn't affect anyone else.
-## Patented decoding can be implemented in GStreamer either by having a binary-only plugin do the decoding, or by writing a plugin (with any applicable license) that links to a binary-only library. Does this affect the licensing issues involved in regards to GPL/LGPL?
+> Patented decoding can be implemented in GStreamer either by having a
+> binary-only plugin do the decoding, or by writing a plugin (with any
+> applicable license) that links to a binary-only library. Does this
+> affect the licensing issues involved in regards to GPL/LGPL?
No.
-## Is it correct that you cannot distribute the GPL mad library to decode mp3's, *even* in the case where you have obtained a valid license for decoding mp3 ?
+> Is it correct that you cannot distribute the GPL mad library to decode
+> mp3's, *even* in the case where you have obtained a valid license for
+> decoding mp3 ?
The only GPL-compatible patent licenses are those which are open
to all parties posessing copies of GPL software which practices the
# Troubleshooting GStreamer
-## Some application is telling me that I am missing a plug-in. What do I do ?
+> Some application is telling me that I am missing a plug-in. What do I do ?
Well, start by checking if you really are missing the plug-in.
-```
+```
gst-inspect-1.0 (plug-in)
-
```
and replace (plug-in) with the plug-in you think is missing. If this
why it doesn't get built if you're sure you have the library needed
installed in a sane place.
-## The GStreamer application I used stops with a segmentation fault. What can I do ?
+> The GStreamer application I used stops with a segmentation fault. What can I do ?
The first point of contact for any problems with a GStreamer application
should be the developers of that application. They will be able to investigate
To provide a backtrace, you should
1. run the application in gdb by starting it with
-
- ```
- gdb (gst-application)
-
- ```
-
- (If the application is in a source tree instead of installed on the
- system, you might want to put "libtool" before "gdb")
+
+```
+gdb (gst-application)
+```
+
+(If the application is in a source tree instead of installed on the
+system, you might want to put "libtool" before "gdb")
2. Pass on the command line arguments to the application by typing
-
- ```
- set args (the arguments to the application)
-
- ```
-
- at the (gdb) prompt
+
+```
+set args (the arguments to the application)
+```
+
+at the (gdb) prompt
3. Type "run" at the (gdb) prompt and wait for the application to
segfault. The application will run a lot slower, however.
5. If the application you're trying to debug contains threads, it is
also useful to do
-
- ```
- info threads
-
- ```
-
- and get backtraces of all of the threads involved, by switching to a
- different thread using "thread (number)" and then again requesting a
- backtrace using "bt".
+
+```
+info threads
+```
+
+and get backtraces of all of the threads involved, by switching to a
+different thread using "thread (number)" and then again requesting a
+backtrace using "bt".
6. If you can't or don't want to work out the problem yourself, a copy
and paste of all this information should be included in your [bug
report](#using-bugs-where).
-
projects / platform / upstream / gstreamer.git / commitdiff