And if you’re a developer listening: don’t let the future erase the present. Keep libvpx alive. Keep her in the build. Keep her in the pipeline.
Bring her back, libvpx.
There’s a quiet but growing cry echoing through issue trackers, forum threads, and late-night Slack channels: “Bring her back, libvpx.”
For the uninitiated, libvpx is the open-source VP8 and VP9 video codec library developed by Google and the open-source community. It has powered everything from WebRTC video calls to high-efficiency streaming on YouTube and millions of self-hosted video platforms. But recently, some projects — especially lightweight browsers, media frameworks, and custom FFmpeg builds — have started dropping or sidelining libvpx. The reasons vary: build complexity, binary size, or a misguided belief that “everyone has moved to AV1.”
Because when she’s gone, you’ll notice. The video won’t play. The call won’t connect. And all you’ll have is an error message and a wish:
Developers who cut libvpx often do so without a deprecation notice, without a migration path, and without asking the community. Then one day, users try to play an old VP9 home video or a conference recording, and they’re met with:
Check out these helpful resources:
And if you’re a developer listening: don’t let the future erase the present. Keep libvpx alive. Keep her in the build. Keep her in the pipeline.
Bring her back, libvpx.
There’s a quiet but growing cry echoing through issue trackers, forum threads, and late-night Slack channels: “Bring her back, libvpx.”
For the uninitiated, libvpx is the open-source VP8 and VP9 video codec library developed by Google and the open-source community. It has powered everything from WebRTC video calls to high-efficiency streaming on YouTube and millions of self-hosted video platforms. But recently, some projects — especially lightweight browsers, media frameworks, and custom FFmpeg builds — have started dropping or sidelining libvpx. The reasons vary: build complexity, binary size, or a misguided belief that “everyone has moved to AV1.”
Because when she’s gone, you’ll notice. The video won’t play. The call won’t connect. And all you’ll have is an error message and a wish:
Developers who cut libvpx often do so without a deprecation notice, without a migration path, and without asking the community. Then one day, users try to play an old VP9 home video or a conference recording, and they’re met with:
