latest Linux SMP_SF vs. repositories

[brittney24]

Quite a difference in Mint's 18.1 latest SMP - 15.11.0~ds0-1 (as of 3/30/17) vs. 17.3.0.tar.bz2 on SF.

Can the tarball version just be extracted to a directory, or does it need building 1st?

Mint's not usually that far behind - on most apps. Any idea why 2 major versions difference this time?

[rvm]

The tar.bz2 in sourceforge is the source code, so yes, you have to build it.

[brittney24]

Thanks.
No idea why SMP version in Mint's stable repository is so far behind?
I'm not sure of the real world implication when a distro's repo version (any app) is 2 major versions behind.

I see Ubuntu 16.1's stable repo has smp 16.4.0~ds0-1 - which is closer to latest.

When a larger distro (ubuntu, mint) "back port" security & possibly other fixes to an older version - listed on their repo, do they normally backport *only* security fixes? And / or also major non-security fixes that rendered an app unusable for some folks?

Do they backport most of the latest stable version's "fixes" - but not necessarily new features? Or does anyone really know?

[GeneBenson]

Hi brittney24,

I'm a long time Mint user and SMP user. Currently on Mint 18.1 and SMP 17.3.0.1. I get SMP from rvm's repository. It works just fine and I'm always up to date.
Just add: ppa:rvm/smplayer to your sources list using Mint's "Software Sources" app.

[brittney24]

Thanks Gene. I'd already done that before saw your post.
In my other recent post - using smp 17.3 from the PPA, MPV won't start - at all. Appears to be missing from my system (see other post).
Was it installed by default for you & have you tried it?

[GeneBenson]

Hi brittney24,

I answered this in your other post "MPV not installed".