How to install the latest version of VLC media player in debian

Question

Recently there was a news that VLC has been upgraded to version 2.1.0 and added support to many new formats and fixed some versions

I am using debian and I want to upgrade my VLC on my box. I had the debian backports repository in my sources.list and I ran the following command to install debian

apt-get -t wheezy-backports install vlc

It said that my VLC has already been installed to the latest version (VLC media player 2.0.3 Twoflower (revision 2.0.2-93-g77aa89e)). So that means the latest version of VLC has not been incorporated in the repository yet.

So my question is, is there any trusted repository that I can use on debian to install VLC 2.1.0. I don't want to use the source, as I want it to get updated automatically. Even the official VLC site asks to use the official debian backports repository for downloading latest version.

How do I install version 2.1.0

Solution

The short answer right now is that you have to wait until it shows up in wheezy-backports, or build from source.

Right now, even Debian unstable only has version 2.0.8, so it may take a while. If you're okay with adding a third-party repository, then deb-multimedia.org can get you to 2.0.6 in wheezy, 2.0.8 in testing, and 2.1.0 in unstable. So, there is the possibility of upgrading to unstable, then adding the deb-multimedia repository. That's going to change your system a lot though.

To summarize, your safest option is to just wait. If you can't wait, then try to build from scratch. If that ends up being too difficult, and you don't mind upgrading to unstable, then you can do that and add the deb-multimedia repository to your sources.list.

Comments

[Ramhound]

I would start by using the source for the time being. I would then subscribe to the mailing list and watch for news when the backport repository will be updated

[GµårÐïåñ]

Have you tried to update your repository? Not the application but the repository to make sure the index is updated to include newer applications and versions? Try issuing sudo apt-get update and then try again and see if the new version is listed or not. It could also be a delay in the rep getting the new version listed, it happens. So as suggested by @Ramhound you can for now use the source or just wait until its listed.

[neo1691]

Yes I did update it. Should have mentioned that in the first place!

[Tim Jonas]

If your worried about trusted sources you could download vlc source code from vlc website and compile it and install it.