Requiest to add personal-files interface to vlc snap on store

store-requests
#1

Hi,

We’ve recently merged a feature for VLC to be able to allow access to some personal files to fetch AACS library for Bluray decryption access: https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/merge_requests/3582

The upload to snap store failed due to: “Use of the personal-files interface is reserved for vetted publishers. If your snap legitimately requires this access, please make a request in the forum using the ‘store-requests’ category (https://forum.snapcraft.io/).” — David Lane

Please allow that usage for our snap, merci!

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#2

For the help of other reviewers, I have reproduced the plug declaration here for review:

plugs:
  dot-config-aacs:
    interface: personal-files
    read:
    - $HOME/.config/aacs

Also I see from the linked MR the following explanation:

which is needed for playing Blurays with a KEYDB.cfg file

Doing some other research I found https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Blu-ray#AACS which also references the same path.

What is not clear to me is why the snap-specific location of ~/snap/vlc/<revision>/.config/aacs would not work? The snap execution environment sets $HOME to ~/snap/vlc/<revision>/ so if the snap tries to access $HOME/.config/aacs this will automatically be the snap local version.

Can you explain why this needs access to the “real” ~/.config/aacs? Thanks.

#3

Hi Alex,

Multiple pieces of software refer to the ~/.config/aacs directory for locating the KeyDB to decrypt Bluray disks, such as Handbrake, MPV and VLC.

While we can suggest that people copy their KeyDB inside of ~/snap/vlc/<revision>/.config/aacs to enable Bluray playback it would represent a divergence from the standard currently being implemented by other software, we do not think it is behavior users would expect VLC to make and adds another step to an already fairly mysterious and complicated procedure for Bluray playback.

It would also create duplicate KeyDB files which users may forget need to be updated in two locations and cause problems where one software might be able to open a disk while another cannot, I do not want to create a situation where the snap version of VLC is perceived as a pain to manage and maintain, I think this is a betrayal of its potential. There is also a growing concern with the size of the database itself, community sourced KEYDB files currently stand around 50MB and continue to grow as more keys are added, duplicating this data may become a concern for more and more people in the future.

Kind regards, Baa.

#4

@Baa thanks for the updated information - I agree, it would make more sense to allow VLC to use the standard location for this, particularly since it relies on the user to create this file and it is not something VLC could create directly itself.

As such, +1 from me for read access to ~/.config/aacs named dot-config-aacs for vlc.

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#5

+1 from me too. +2 votes for, 0 votes against, granting auto-connect and use of personal-files named dot-config-aacs for read access to ~/.config/aacs for vlc. This is now live.

1 Like