this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2026
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Why not both?
edit: wtf are these replies :D
edit2: also to clarify my original comment was meant as both are good. For example you can't easily install MPV on Bazzite and VLC does as good of a job. I do tend to use MPV over VLC but I don't ever crave the other one as I have at least one of those available. I did run into few videos that I had issues running with MPV and vice-versa but those are rare and specific cases. Always the other player did the job so I also can't say that both are perfect.
This mindset contributes to bloat, unless it is needed. Or install the alternative when really needed.
a separate video player is bloat. just use a browser.
Vim is bloat. Just read the source in vi.
ED! ED! ED IS THE STANDARD!!!
You are right, professionals have standards.
please, tell me your definition of bloat
more than one program
IMO bloat is something that is on your PC which YOU did not install and you actively want to get rid off. Also something that you don't use and is just running in the background using resources. Otherwise it's not bloat, it just takes some space on the drive and has no other negative effect on anything. It just sits there waiting to be used. You could at that point argue that your old photo album is bloat because you're not actively looking at the pictures.
oh you're the thread starter! ahem...
i find the first reply to yours absolutely insane and completely off-base. so i continued in the same vein. turns out the guy was being completely serious.
All good. I wasn't meaning to reply to you before but to the guy you've originally replied to :)
Bloat can also mean a program that does 1000 things and you use only a few things of it. Or if you have one application that loads ton of stuff into RAM just to watch a video. Another day you load the same application to edit a source code, but it still loads ton of stuff into RAM. That one application in this case is the bloat, even if its used regularly. The threshold of bloat, even if the definition is the same, is also different for every person to person. That adds up to the confusion or misunderstanding.
After the discussions with him, I think he is just trolling (lime!). At one point, his suggestion was no need for an entire operating system, other than the Kernel and a Browser.
I mean... if I use Blender only for sculpting but the whole application loads all of it's features.. I can hardly argue it's a bloat because the app works as intended. It's not the applications problem that I don't use all it's features. It is a 3D modeler, video editor, image editor, texture editor, etc... If I for example open Edge and Copilot and OneDrive activate with it and keep pestering me to try them then yes, that's bloat because I'm getting pestered to use something that is NOT part of the web-browsing experience.
I can agree with you at least that this definition does differ person to person.
I personally couldn't care less about RAM usage as long as it's reasonable and have RAM to spare.
That's your definition. You even say that you don't care about RAM, but a program hogging lot of RAM while you don't use all the features is bloat by all definition. Isn't it? You just don't care about this sort of bloat. And that's totally fine. My original reply was to give a reason why someone did not want to install both applications doing basically the same thing. That's one sort of bloat. You may not care, but the person asked why not install both.
For offline videos?
just drag and drop
This seems simultaneously overkill and extremely minimalist at the same time.
Firefox can open videos, but if I try to skip ahead on a HEVC encode I only get audio and there's performance issues in general. Also no way to change audio tracks and no subtitles.
Video is bloat
No thanks. I use a fast video player to play a video, instead loading up a browser all the time. Using a separate video player is not bloat. Using two separate video player for the same task is bloat, when it is not needed. Don't compare browsers to video players.
all major browsers have built-in fully functioning video players, ergo they are video players. and most people have a browser running anyway so startup is likely faster than a standalone application. using a separate video player is bloat. same with music players, and text editors, and pdf viewers.
the browser is truly the new emacs.
Using a full blown browser to do everything is bloat. I keep using optimized tools for specific tasks. You completely changed the topic. It was about using two programs for the same task. Video players are optimized to play videos. I try to avoid using bloated browsers that does everything, but nothing well (besides browsing web) and fill the RAM for no reason.
Hope that is clear now. I tried to make it simple and understandable as possible. The guy asked why not install both video players and I gave him a reason not to do. There was no browser in the discussion until you brought it up.
using a full-blown operating system to do everything is bloat when the browser can already do it all. just kernel and browser should be enough.
I don't know if you are trolling, but that is a nonsense reply. The original question was why not install MPV and VLC at the same time. I don't use a browser for everything, because its bloat. I use dedicated applications that does one job, and does it well. You can keep using your browser for everything, but that is not what this post topic is about.
using a computer is bloat when the browser can use it for you. i have a second computer just running selenium to use my computer for me.
I don’t know if you are trolling, but that is a nonsense reply. The original question was why not install MPV and VLC at the same time. I don’t use a browser for everything, because its bloat. I use dedicated applications that does one job, and does it well. You can keep using your browser for everything, but that is not what this post topic is about.
😘
I don’t know if you are trolling, but that is a nonsense reply. The original question was why not install MPV and VLC at the same time. I don’t use a browser for everything, because its bloat. I use dedicated applications that does one job, and does it well. You can keep using your browser for everything, but that is not what this post topic is about.