this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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I have a few packages that I install from the aur (ffmpeg-full and ssmimulacra2_bin-git) but I have been having some issues with them so I would like to learn what is the recommend way of having access to these packages without interfering with my system packages.

I use ffmpeg-full when I want to mess around with libfdk-aac, and vvenc but I have a few problems with ffmpeg-full, one Is that it takes about 4-8 hours to update. The second issue is dependency hell and my final issues is that some packages only accept regular ffmpeg and will not run without.

I'm only having problems with ssimulacra2 because one of its dependencies requires a specific version of ffmpeg. If you have any alternatives to this package, they are welcome since I only installed this one in particular because it was listed on the aur.

I was thinking of using Docker to accomplish this task, but I have no idea how to start. Is this the wrong path to go?

Thank you for you time.

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[–] MalReynolds@piefed.social 3 points 2 days ago

Stick 'em in a distrobox, export as needed.

[–] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 2 points 2 days ago

Don't fuck with arch packages. Trying to resolve and maintain that dependency hell will be an unworkable nightmare.

If you only need libfdk-aac occasionally you can go with a docker container https://hub.docker.com/r/jrottenberg/ffmpeg

Example:

docker run -it --rm \
  -v "$PWD:/data" \
  jrottenberg/ffmpeg:snapshot-scratch \
  -i /data/input.mp4 -c:a libfdk_aac /data/output.m4a
[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Does aur or Pacman support package pinning like Debian based releases?

[–] Comexs@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 days ago

I think pacman support somethings similar. In /etc/pacman.conf you can add packages to a ignore list. I only used it when nvidia driver gives me problems which it has been a few years at this point.

# Pacman won't upgrade packages listed in IgnorePkg and members of IgnoreGroup
#IgnorePkg   =
#IgnoreGroup =

I kinda need ffmpeg to be up to date and want ffmpeg-full to be accessible. Not sure how this feature solves my needs.

[–] liliumstar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago

You could install a version of ffmpeg-full locally, just for your user, with a different name. I do this for x265-mod-patman-git. It's available as x265-mod and doesn't conflict with anything.