mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
262 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
262 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
<chapter id="intro"><title id="tintro">Introduction</title>
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<sect1><title>What is the VideoLAN project ?</title>
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<sect2><title>Overview</title>
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<para>
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VideoLAN is a complete software solution for video streaming, developed
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by students of the <ulink url="http://www.ecp.fr">Ecole Centrale
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Paris</ulink> and developers from all over the world, under the
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<ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public
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License</ulink> (GPL). VideoLAN is designed to stream MPEG videos on high
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bandwidth networks.
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</para>
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<para>
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The VideoLAN solution includes :
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>the VideoLAN Server (VLS), which can stream MPEG 1 and 2
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files, DVDs, digital satellite channels, digital terrestial television
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channels and live videos on the network in unicast or multicast,</para>
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<listitem><para>the VideoLAN Client (VLC), which can be used as a server
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to stream MPEG 1, 2 and 4 files and DVDs on the network in unicast or
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multicast ; or used as a client to receive, decode and display MPEG streams
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under multiple operating systems.</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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Here is an illustration of the complete VideoLAN solution :
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</para>
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<figure><title>Global VideoLAN solution</title>
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<mediaobject>
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<imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="plan-videolan-640.&magic;" format="&magic;" scalefit="1" scale="60">
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</imageobject>
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</mediaobject>
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</figure>
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<para>
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More details about the project can be found on the
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<ulink url="http://www.videolan.org">VideoLAN Web site</ulink>.
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</para>
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<sect2><title>VideoLAN software</title>
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<simplesect><title>VideoLAN Client</title>
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<para>
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The VideoLAN Client (VLC) works on many platforms : Linux, Windows, Mac
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OS X, BeOS, *BSD, Solaris, Familiar Linux and QNX. It can read :
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>MPEG 1, MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 / DivX files from a hard disk
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or a CD-ROM drive,</para>
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<listitem><para>DVDs and VCDs,</para>
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<listitem><para>from a satellite card,</para>
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<listitem><para>MPEG 1, MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 streams from the
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network sent by VLS or VLC's stream output.</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>VLC can also be used as a server to stream :</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>MPEG 1, MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 / DivX files,</para>
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<listitem><para>and DVDs,</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>to :</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>one machine (i.e. to one IP address) : this is called
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<emphasis>unicast</emphasis> ;</para>
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<listitem><para>a dynamic group of machines that the clients can join or leave
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(i.e. to a multicast IP address) : this is called
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<emphasis>multicast</emphasis>.</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<note><para>VLC doesn't work on Mac OS 9, and will
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probably never do.</para></note>
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<simplesect><title>VideoLAN Server</title>
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<para>
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The VideoLAN Server (VLS) can stream :
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>an MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 file stored on a hard drive or on a
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CD,</para>
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<listitem><para>a DVD located in a local DVD drive or copied on a hard
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disk,</para>
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<listitem><para>a satellite card or a digital terrestial television card,</para>
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<listitem><para>an MPEG encoding card ;</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>to :</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>one machine (i.e. to one IP address) : this is called
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<emphasis>unicast</emphasis> ;</para>
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<listitem><para>a dynamic group of machines that the clients can join or leave
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(i.e. to a multicast IP address) : this is called
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<emphasis>multicast</emphasis>.</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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A Pentium 100 MHz with 32 MB of memory should be enough to send one
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stream on the network. When streaming a lot of videos stored on a
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hard drive, the actual limitation is not the processor but the hard
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drive and the network connection.
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</para>
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<para>
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VLS works under Linux and Windows, but only the Linux version
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have all the functionalities. The Windows port of vls can
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only stream a video from a file.
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</para>
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<sect1><title>How can I use VideoLAN ?</title>
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<sect2><title>The documentation</title>
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<para>
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The user documentation of the VideoLAN project is composed of four documents :
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>the <ulink
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url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/videolan-quickstart/">VideoLAN
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Quickstart</ulink>. This document will give you a quick overview of
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of VLC, VLS, and the Video On Demand
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solution.</para>
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<listitem><para>the <ulink
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url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/videolan-howto/">VideoLAN
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HOWTO</ulink>. This document is the complete guide of the VideoLAN
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streaming solution.</para>
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<listitem><para>the <ulink
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url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/vlc-user-guide/">VLC user
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guide</ulink>. This document is the complete guide for VLC.</para>
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<listitem><para>the <ulink
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url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq-vlc/faq/">VLC FAQ</ulink>. This
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document contains Frequently Asked Questions of VLC users.</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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The latest version of these documents can be found on the <ulink
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url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/">VideoLAN Web site</ulink>.
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</para>
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<sect2><title>User support</title>
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<para>
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If you have problems using VideoLAN, and if you don't find the
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answer to your problems in the documentation, please look at the
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<ulink url="http://www.via.ecp.fr/ml/videolan">online archive of the
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mailing-lists</ulink>. There are two English-speaking mailing-lists for
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the users :
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para><emphasis>vlc@videolan.org</emphasis> for the questions
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on VLC,</para>
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<listitem><para><emphasis>streaming@videolan.org</emphasis> for the questions
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on VLS, mini-VLCS and the network.</para>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to the mailing-lists,
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please go to the <ulink url="http://www.videolan.org/support/lists.html">
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mailing-list page</ulink>.
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</para>
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<para>You can also talk with VideoLAN users and developers on IRC :
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server <emphasis>irc.freenode.net</emphasis>, channel
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<emphasis>#videolan</emphasis>.</para>
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<para>If you find a bug, please follow the instructions on the <ulink
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url="http://www.videolan.org/support/bug-reporting.html">bug reporting
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page</ulink>.</para>
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<sect1><title>Convention</title>
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<para>In this document, we adopt the following conventions for the Unix
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commands :</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>commands that should be typed as
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<emphasis>root</emphasis> have a <command>#</command> prompt :</para>
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<screen>
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<prompt># </prompt><userinput>command_to_be_typed_as_root</userinput>
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</screen>
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<listitem><para>commands that should be typed as a regular user have a
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<command>%</command> prompt :</para>
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<screen>
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<prompt>% </prompt><userinput>command_to_be_typed_as_regular_user</userinput>
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</screen>
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</itemizedlist>
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