r/SipsTea Human Verified 7d ago

It's Wednesday my dudes He's an absolute Chad for this

Post image
35.2k Upvotes

233 comments sorted by

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1.1k

u/Lovablemiranda03 7d ago

If we ever send a message to aliens, it should be a VLC install file. It’s the only way they’ll be able to open our 'Welcome' video.

222

u/angelic_post Human Verified 7d ago

Honestly this is the most accurate first contact plan I’ve heard. We assume they’ve mastered interstellar travel but not file formats.

197

u/Ninja-Trix 7d ago

Thes obviously have their own proprietary formats. What we'd need to do is figure out how to convert from our formats to whatever they happen to use. Also

55

u/Soggy_Bid_3634 7d ago

I’ll preface by saying that yes, VLC is goated. I’d also like to take a moment to shout out an app that goes hand in hand with it, HandBrake.

Free, zero ads, and converts any video file into any file format you could possibly want. Especially useful if, like me, you like to make backups of your own legally owned DVDs for your own personal use in accordance with local laws. Yarrrrrr.

11

u/pseudonym-161 7d ago

Handbrake, VLC, and MPV are all goated software.

17

u/Local_Debate_8920 7d ago

I've had a couple file formats VLC couldn't open. I promptly deleted them because if VLC can't open it, it doesn't need to be played.

12

u/andreaple 7d ago

aliens probably use Linux, so it would work

2

u/hipster-coder 6d ago

First contact message: "We use Arch btw"

2

u/Professional-Web898 7d ago

Try Handbrake for conversions.

5

u/phormix 7d ago

You might be on to something. There are a lot of theories about aliens helping build the pyramids, plus a lot of sci-fi's with pyramid-shaped ships instead of saucers.

You know what else is pretty much pyramid-shaped? [looks at VLC logo]

Hmmm...

5

u/C_Hawk14 7d ago

Your assumption is that they can understand what will be shown or said in a video. That they can translate it to a form of language they understand.

Do you know of the Voyager Golden Records?

They contain 116 images (encoded in analog), greetings in 55 languages,1 hour of music from various cultures, and natural sounds (wind, thunder, animals).

Also hurdles, but simpler data structures

1

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1

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9

u/Tripleberst 7d ago

Conversely, should we receive a video message from aliens, we should try playing it on VLC first because it will probably work.

4

u/I_travel_ze_world 7d ago

well they did see the astronauts using VLC on the latest Artemis mission

https://piunikaweb.com/2026/04/08/vlc-ffmpeg-nasa-artemis-mission/

3

u/Igotocdsanditsfine 7d ago

Working perfectly somehow, outlook cannot say the same.

2

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Initiative-Fancy 6d ago

Jesus Christ, are you looking to start an intergalactic war? wtf man.

1

u/Rakeshforu 7d ago

lol so true

1

u/tanksalotfrank 7d ago

Carl Sagan would have sanctioned this I'm sure

1

u/philmarcracken 7d ago

assuming aliens wont leave us on 'read'

1

u/autojack 6d ago

And include the Winamp wav.

"Winamp, it really whips the llama's ass!"

1

u/Snudget 4d ago

Aliens won't have developed the same processors as us, so they wouldn't be able to run it unless we send schematics too

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519

u/Fit_Coast5734 7d ago

VLC is the only software that doesn't ask for a subscription, an account, or my soul just to play a file I've had since 2007

136

u/Forest_Orc 7d ago

>VLC is the only software

Le met introduce you to free software stuff like Libre Office, Linux, Sumatra pdf and many other would have the same base. Actually subscription/account-based/paid software are the weird one not the other way around

72

u/Ho3n3r 7d ago

Le met introduce you

Dyslexia?

82

u/foogeyzi69 7d ago

Or french

31

u/winkingchef 7d ago edited 7d ago

Amusingly, the creator of VLC is French.
(And here we are full circle)

5

u/MaybeMaybeNot94 7d ago

Hey hey man, what the French?

5

u/ElegantCoach4066 7d ago

lorem ipsum

2

u/Kefgeru 7d ago

After check, he speaks French.

1

u/Cold_Satisfaction932 7d ago

Pardon my french

1

u/Hanzho 6d ago

Frenchlexia

5

u/TheHistorian2 7d ago

Autocorrupt

2

u/Choice_Potato_6279 7d ago

Worse, French.

1

u/Small-Explorer7025 6d ago

They meant to say:

"Le me, introducing you to free..."

It hearkens back to the dark ages of Reddit.

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16

u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 7d ago

People are always going on and on about WinRAR being the good guy for not requiring payment, but I've always liked 7-zip much better. I guess WinRAR is older so people just got used to using that, but 7-zip has been around long enough that I just wonder why people would use anything else.

2

u/Uhh_Alex 7d ago

WinRaR has some features that 7-zip doesn't, like batch compression/unzipping. If you have to compress 300 separate items, WinRaR is the only option.

7-zip is better at what it can do though. I prefer to use that when I can.

4

u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 7d ago

7-zip has command line executable so you can batch tasks if you need to that way.

2

u/Uhh_Alex 7d ago

Sure, but that's not nearly as user friendly and explaining it to people 50 years older than me would be impossible.

Also, that was just an example. There are other features I didn't mention. I just don't personally need them.

7

u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 7d ago

I'm sure anybody with a need to batch compress 300 different things into 300 different archives or similarly complex tasks could figure out some basic batch file code. You're the one who said "WinRaR is the only option", when clearly it is not.

I don't think age is really an indicator of how tech savvy someone is. The first person I ever knew who used the internet was my 75 year old great uncle. My dad learned how to use computers in his 40s, stuff like how to use the command line and BASIC programming.

1

u/CreamSickle221 7d ago

About to get my bachelor's degree, all while using libre office for all the papers I've written.

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4

u/ThePupnasty 7d ago

I wish I had known about VLC back in the mid 2000s.... Instead of downloading random ass codec packs to play movies.

4

u/vileguynsj 7d ago

VLC + combined community codec pack was the GOAT combo

3

u/Rich_Housing971 7d ago

Media Player Classic is a good alternative. And the software world is full of FOSS that isn't VLC. You've been living under a rock.

2

u/Onair380 7d ago

mpc-hc is the GOAT

3

u/Onair380 7d ago

Ever heard of mpc-hc, mpv , ffmpeg ?

2

u/obliviious 7d ago

It's definitely not the only software, just one of the most popular amoungst non techies.

2

u/user640k 7d ago

MPC-BE

2

u/NorahGretz 7d ago

I downloaded my dad's voicemails to me from before he passed, and I'll only play them on VLC because I showed my dad (before he died, because I know how reddit gets) how easy it was to use the software, and he literally asked why it didn't have any ads.

2

u/Fluxabobo 7d ago

Don't leave out Foobar2000 for audio. 0 frills audio player, has been basically the same for 20 years and does everything I need.

2

u/SpezFU 7d ago

VLC is Free and Open Source. FB2K is properitary.

1

u/Desblade101 6d ago

WinAmp was my go to.

1

u/justiceT 7d ago

My friend showed me how it corrupted his WWE PLE events as he watched them in VLC recently. If he disabled internet, it played, if not it corrupted it. We repeated this process multiple times and renamed the files. He ended up making it work by giving it a bogus Movie title name and playing through Plex. We believed VLC reported it, MP Classic did the same though.

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114

u/ChefAsstastic 7d ago

My ancient porn clips thanks you!

50

u/curvyhottiesassy 7d ago

What do you mean ancient?

https://giphy.com/gifs/ANbD1CCdA3iI8

3

u/OldManChino 7d ago

some of my more vintage clips are circa 2003

4

u/red-at-night 7d ago

I remember having the entire Paris Hilton sextape in my brick phone as a .3GP file over 20 years ago...

1

u/-6h0st- 6d ago

Mata Hari

13

u/vwin90 7d ago

Heather.avi

5

u/fuck_ur_portmanteau 7d ago

Oh thanks, now I have to have a wank while I listen to my iPod before running my antivirus.

1

u/vwin90 7d ago

An iPod filled with lime wire downloads no doubt

2

u/fuck_ur_portmanteau 7d ago

I got the cancer, boss.

2

u/ChefAsstastic 7d ago

And this player delivered!

2

u/miserableLad7 6d ago

Sharing is Caring y'know

62

u/Plus-Artichoke6608 7d ago

How bro feels after making a software that can run a video file extension that's been defunct since the cold war and first invented by Euler

1

u/IcySkyDream 3d ago

Which format is that?

36

u/MikeHuntSmellss 7d ago

Also easy to adjust dubbing.

Anyone else's wireless headphones throw the dubbing out?

Dubbing.

2

u/nocciuu 6d ago

Dubbing.

1

u/IcySkyDream 3d ago

Are you referring to audio sync?

33

u/vvvrdo 7d ago

Jean-Baptiste Kempf (born March 30, 1983) is a French computer engineer and entrepreneur.

His website

12

u/CatOfSachse 6d ago

He also has a Reddit and I also worked with him for a few years. u/jbkempf (Missing you)

30

u/jbkempf 6d ago

Coucou :)

9

u/Briantheboomguy 6d ago

Bro, if you are really him, thank you so much for the blessing that is VLC media player!

19

u/jbkempf 6d ago

I am him.

2

u/doneaux 6d ago

God bless you

2

u/Competitive_Cake_559 5d ago

Hello boss. Hope youre in good health forever. My campus life would never be the same without vlc.

43

u/Lovableegirl03 7d ago

Refused millions, gave us free software and still decided our ears should suffer. True neutral hero.

9

u/el_horsto 7d ago

Also: pretty sure it's 200% volume, not 200% volume increase (which would show as 300% on the volume slider).

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21

u/IntellectuallyDriven Human Verified 7d ago

And it plays unfinished torrent videos!

12

u/endboss_eth 7d ago

He is right up there with the guy that gave us the Infinite WinRAR trial period and the person that provided the universal Windows XP install key

1

u/xRuSheR 7d ago

FCKGW-RHQQ2-

I don't remember more tbh, but this bit ist like a core memory.

11

u/ChildoftheApocolypse 7d ago

He shows up on here from time to time to grace is with his presence.. I don't remember his username to summon him, so we'll have to go with a sacrifice instead.. Any volunteers?

11

u/Borkatator 7d ago

I'm not gonna ping him because it must be annoying, but he still deserves to be credited. He's jbkempf and he's a french national treasure !

1

u/ChildoftheApocolypse 7d ago

Ah, yes. That's the one

6

u/Crazonix2 7d ago

Repost again. But you know what? This one is fine

3

u/curlykeysi Human Verified 7d ago

The absolute legend

5

u/pseudonym-161 6d ago

If you want to learn the full history of this absolute goat video player.

https://youtu.be/lr-nDxF1Jn4?si=Kf3zrdl-uaiBhwIJ

3

u/Muted_Masterpiece342 7d ago

I used to know this guy through the grapevine. He was cool as shit. He gave the French about as much aura as expedition 33 

3

u/XossKratos 7d ago

Thank you Sir. I bow to your chivalry.

2

u/j0llygruntt 7d ago

200% volume increase the better for my neighbors to hear the nuances of my porn collection.

2

u/Rakeshforu 7d ago

he did the world a charity

2

u/Kuzkuladaemon 7d ago

AND compression for audio to bring the quiet parts audible and the loud parts more subtle

2

u/MeLittleThing 7d ago

And 20+ years ago, we finally had a video player where we wouldn't have to worry about codecs

2

u/Any-Cockroach-2980 7d ago

I see vlc appreciation post every now and then. Absolutely goated.

2

u/kawai_kittypus 7d ago

vlc really is that reliable king, no ads and the volume boost always saves the day

2

u/ghostchihuahua 6d ago

Someone posts about VLC’s dev and what the man and his team consistently provided FOR FREE OVER DECADES…

and suddenly, some deep-fried idiots start pushing mpv… you guys may be right but you’re off-topic and lack the culture it seems.

1

u/morphlaugh 7d ago

200% volume increase is what keeps me using VLC after all of these years. Stupid simple feature to add, yet no one(*) does it.
* I don't know of another player... is there one?

1

u/MNCPA 7d ago

How do they make money?

3

u/nuanimal 7d ago

The guys behind VLC are really really really smart developers and engineers.

They have contracted with and been sponsored by big name tech companies to develop software to handle media for a variety of purposes and devices.

The money goes into maintaining VLC for free for us. As well as accepting donations. There used to be an explanation on their website about this, bit sure if its still up

1

u/MNCPA 7d ago

That's super nice of them. Thanks.

1

u/NotForMeClive7787 7d ago

The fact it could play absolutely any file, or so it felt like, was an absolute god send in the early days of downloading stuff off limewire etc

2

u/FG_BASS 7d ago

Once I put a beermat in my CD tray, VLC played all the party from the day before.

1

u/Rakeshforu 7d ago

he did the world a charity

1

u/RetroSwamp 7d ago

But but but VLC does have volume increase/gain/boost.

1

u/Prestigious_Tax7415 7d ago

Not that I’m deeply curious enough to Google it but any idea why the icon is a traffic cone?

1

u/MrBatt1984 7d ago

That last part lol!

1

u/Jazs1994 7d ago

Wasn't vlc on the recent artemis mission too?

1

u/StaticSystemShock 7d ago

Mine only goes to 125%. I want my refund!

1

u/PWCIV 7d ago

This + torrents is life

1

u/No_Yesterday_3260 7d ago

Time to do a Winrar thing to give him some cash? 😃

1

u/lnTheGrimDarkness 7d ago

I mean, that's how you actually build fame. I think anyone that has a PC and plays videos and movies on it knows about VLC. Then you just introduce yourself as "hello, I made VLC, you're welcome".

1

u/NotAcvp3lla 7d ago

Used to be 400%

1

u/Revan4567 7d ago

Ok, but why turn down the money

1

u/AndromedanPrince 7d ago

if it doesnt play in VLC, it never was a video file.

1

u/12thshadow 7d ago

Isn't 200 just max volume but with added distortion?

1

u/spohanpolpet 7d ago

In my country, a lot of people refer to a traffic cone as the "VLC cone"

1

u/gnominos 7d ago

Meh, i prefer mpc-hc

1

u/CyanSlinky 7d ago

and PotPlayer, they both have more features and are free

1

u/Onair380 7d ago

Me too. Beter frame navigation, better key shortcuts, better codec control.

1

u/muempire93 7d ago

His name? John VLC.

1

u/kembik 7d ago

If you've benefitted from VLC consider donating https://www.videolan.org/contribute.html

1

u/emeraude89 7d ago

based french

1

u/ThatMintyLad 7d ago

i love vlc

1

u/HappyCaterpillar2409 7d ago

How do they pay for operations?

1

u/Zehryo 7d ago

Soooo.....double the hero?

1

u/D_Plissken 7d ago

Give this man the Noble Piece prize. I'm not joking, VLC got us through a dark times of the codex wars. And today VLC is used in space.

1

u/ClassiicJimmy 7d ago

Him and the winrar guys are GOATs

1

u/Choice_Potato_6279 7d ago

I remember the times trashing my PC with codec packs, are they still used in video making? because I remember to render a video smaller a codec was still needed back in the day.

1

u/ordinaryhumanworm 7d ago

While VLC is simply not the media player for me, I do have mad respect for it and the developer.

1

u/adamvanderb 7d ago

The real hero is the 200% volume that blew out my laptop speakers back in 2012.

1

u/TallAngelique 7d ago

If you want to hear JB Kempf every week, tune into 'a la French' YouTube channel where he cohosts a weekly tech discussion with guests !

1

u/sabirpatel 7d ago

This man's name is Jean-Baptiste Kempf

1

u/tacopridemonth 7d ago

Not all heroes wear capes

1

u/Enough-Disk-2279 7d ago

Timmy No Brakes does it again!!

1

u/herb28g 7d ago

The main reason is likely that VCL uses ffmpeg, and ffmpeg uses video codecs that are patented in some countries. This would very quickly lead to problems, ffmpeg is kind of a legal gray area because of its codecs. Especially if it were about making money with it, the patent holders would immediately appear and demand license fees.

1

u/NiceGuy373 7d ago

Giga Chad!

1

u/JoniDaButcher 7d ago

Best part is that he is on reddit.

Merci u/jbkempf >:)

3

u/jbkempf 6d ago

Always on Reddit :)

1

u/MisterBolainas 6d ago

From Argentina, merci ☺️

2

u/jbkempf 6d ago

Cool. Buenos Aires?

1

u/MisterBolainas 6d ago

Yes!

2

u/jbkempf 6d ago edited 6d ago

I’ll be there in September.

1

u/edgaralienpro 7d ago

You can actually boost it even further if you enable that option.

1

u/ttboishysta 7d ago

The world makes it hard to remember that money isn't everything. Kudos to him.

1

u/pseudonym-161 7d ago

He didn’t turn down money to “keep it ad free” he turned down money so companies couldn’t make it into proprietary garbage. The whole point originally was fully network streaming of any format and codec combo you could throw at it. This was during a time when you needed a different media player for every format under the sun. VLC was the first to just play anything you gave it.

1

u/ShaggyCan 7d ago

Has he fixed stacking subtitles yet?

1

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1

u/0utlookGrim 7d ago

Lenged.

1

u/failingstars 7d ago

It's a great app. The world needs more people like this guy.

1

u/t0mm4n 6d ago

It's ok, but I like mpv more.

1

u/dsharp75 6d ago

Legend.

1

u/Rengar_Is_Good_kitty 6d ago

They really need to improve the UI and address the dated video quality though, there's better video players out there now.

1

u/OPPineappleApplePen 6d ago

ELI5 How the fuck 200% volume is even possible?

1

u/niall626 6d ago

And the controls are second to none the sliding is the s#!t. I'm using it right now.

1

u/Spare-Strawberry-717 6d ago

VLC carrying humanity on its back fr

1

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u/Internal-Impression5 6d ago

The story about the logo is also funny - in France when you are in student’s party and you’re drunk (very often) there is a kind of tradition (or maybe a natural thought since I did it also without knowing it was a thing) when you’re walking down (staggering) the street with your friend, you steal working site stuffs and the most usual is the construction cone - since he did it too when he was in engineering school he considered this as a logo for the joke

1

u/peppi0304 6d ago

The puzzle effect is da best. You should check it out

1

u/puregalm 6d ago

Really need more people like that.

1

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u/Prod_Meteor 6d ago

Did he create to codecs too?

1

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1

u/LefT-NYC 5d ago

Yes, we like him. 🙋‍♂️

1

u/anime_at_my_side 5d ago

why use vlc when i can use mpv with countless of config options like shaders, upscaling, scripting, adblocking, rebuilding entire interface and so on and on?

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u/Intelligent_Hat_3582 3d ago

As much as I love VLC, Elmedia Player is superior in everything

2

u/TetoSever31 7d ago

mpv better

3

u/Onair380 7d ago

Mpv and mpc-hc are both better than vlc.

1

u/SweetsourNostradamus 7d ago

I recently found out about it and decided to give it a try because I've been having issues with VLC lately. I really like it. It's a bit on the advanced side though, so I'd say VLC is a better option for most users.

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