Re: [GNU-linux-libre] youtube-dl might be running non-free software from

[Gpast_panama]

>If the youtube parts of youtube-dl are non-free, wouldn"t that make this part of VLC non-free?

Portions of VLC are indeed non-free: https://github.com/videolan/vlc/blob/694399e23000232708b2d514a6a265cfc023ddde/share/lua/playlist/youtube.lua#LC101 looks like almost a mirror image of youtube-dl's parse_sig_js() function.

Also, it's worth noting that not all YouTube videos require JS to be executed. I've written about it before at https://trisquel.info/en/forum/liberated-version-youtube-dl-almost-here#comment-116286- I should have transferred the information here earlier, and am extremely sorry for not having done so- but basically, the requirement to use JS is a form of DRM on some videos. Many videos on the site can still be obtained without running the code at all. Indeed, a number of downloaders (the Unplug browser extension comes to mind, as well as JadedCtrl's ShellTube) don't, instead throwing an error/crashing/doing nothing when asked to source a 'DRMed' video.

By the way, if anybody's interested, I'm working on a no-JS/SWF/SDK version of YouTube-DL (https://notabug.org/GPast/avideo). It's not perfect, but it removes close to a bear minimum of functionality.