Which version of ffmpeg is newer ffmpeg-N-100679-g24dc6d386c or ffmpeg-N-4.3.1?

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Which is newer?

ffmpeg-N-100679-g24dc6d386c is newer. It is from the git master branch, and is a snapshot of the current, up-to-date FFmpeg code for the date it was released. It corresponds to commit 24dc6d386c (note I omitted the g prefix) which is from 2021-01-20.

4.3.1 is from 2020-07-11. Since new features are not backported to release versions (only certain bug fixes) it is just an extension of 4.3 which was released on 2020-06-08. The FFmpeg Download page contains the dates for releases.

So ffmpeg-N-100679-g24dc6d386c is about 7 months newer than 4.3.1.

Which do I use?

  • ffmpeg-N-* for general users. If you want the latest code and features. Required for anyone who wants to submit a bug report. If you experience a problem with the newest release. It is stable ~98% of the time I'd guess from using it over many years.

  • Release version: if you are required to stay within a certain API version. For distros, distributors, users of the FFmpeg libraries, etc.

Versions with N-xxxxx are nightly builds / snapshots and are unstable (but newer). Use them only for testing or if the last release has a bug that is already fixed and only available in the nightly.

Otherwise I recommend to use the latest release (currently 4.3.1). This is typically more stable.

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