Replace Smacker

[meekee7]

The Smacker library bundled with the code is very old. In its current version, it is a blocker for the 64bit port. Furthermode, it does not let us use SAFESEH for trespass.exe, creating a safety and security issue. The library needs to be replaced with something:

• Use libsmacker (LGPL V2.1): a lightweight solution, but not an API-compatible drop-in replacement. Some work is required. http://libsmacker.sourceforge.net
• Use libavcodec (Part of FFmpeg, LGPL V3.0): perhaps a bit overkill, but it would support almost every video codec under the sun.

[meekee7]

My prototype for a replacement of RDA Smacker with libsmacker is 70% complete. However, before that can be submitted, a few decisions must be made.

• Should libsmacker be used at all?
• Use the latest version of libsmacker with the LGPL 2.1 license or a slightly older version with a Creative Commons license?
• Use it as a static or dynamic library (DLL)? Static is easier on a technical level. A DLL takes a bit more effort (but is perfectly doable) and makes LGPL compliance easier.
• libsmacker consists of only a couple of source files. Shall we just put them in the main repo or shall we create another separate repo to use as a Git Submodule?
  • If a separate repo is created, we could go the extra mile and use Git to import the SVN repo from SourceForge, retaining the commit history this way. There is also the GitHub Import Tool.
  • A separate repo would also help with LGPL compliance.

[meekee7]

After discussion on Discord, it seems that there is demand to support more modern video formats - so FFMPEG/libavcodec would be the way to go.

These tutorials seem like a good place to start: http://dranger.com/ffmpeg/ https://github.com/leandromoreira/ffmpeg-libav-tutorial