Re: VLSub not automatically loading subs

[TeusLollo <TeusLollo@users.noreply.github.com>]

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New comment by TeusLollo on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/45045#issuecomment-1638843325

Comment:
This whole situation seems a mess:

VLSub has been historically unstable:
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/22747
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/25337

Yet, in the present time:
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/17724#note_223578

_It seems that upstream VLSub development and maintenance stopped in 2017: the last commit on https://github.com/exebetche/vlsub dates from April 2017, https://addons.videolan.org/p/1154045/ was last updated in September 2017, and since then github issues and pull requests are not processed anymore. So I guess this simplifies our options.
To wrap this up, I think we should:_

_close any trac ticket that was fixed upstream, merging any needed patch from there
review the diff and rebase our in-tree changes on top of the final upstream version, or merge anything that should be
review any open (or self-closed) upstream pull request or issue since 2017 for valuable fixes and contributions, and pick them up
migrate any important open upstream issue to trac, and crosslink tickets
find a way (maybe a big open issue in all capitals) on the upstream github and the addons.videolan.org page, to advise users that those versions are discontinued there, and inviting them to report issues and contributions to trac_

_The git log suggests that Hugo has been a maintainer for the in-tree VLSub, thus I'm reassigning so this has more chances to be in the right hands._

And, in fact:
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/27168
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/27168#note_337034

_OpenSubtitles.org API important dates:_

_2022-06-15 registration of new user agents is stopped
2023-12-31 end of life, API endpoint will be turned off_

https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/27168#note_379616

_well, the EOL of the old API is nearing and they started adding warnings into subtitle files downloaded via the API. I am a heavy user of this plug in, both on my AndroidTV streamer as well as the Linux desktop version. It has other bugs as well and needs a rewrite anyway, I suppose._

So, what happened was:

1) VLSub ceased development and went unmaintained in 2017 (Check also my post at https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/45045#issuecomment-1636778878)
2) Upstream tried their hand at integrating the plugin into their own codebase, yet results were mixed, and the thing was mostly treated as a matter of scarce importance.
3) Now, given what's said at https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/27168, opensubtitles.com is changing their own API, which would render this plugin, already half-functional, completely useless.
4) Upstream should thus update/rewrite the plugin, yet they don't know if/when they will do it.

What I'm guessing happened is as follows:

1) The VLSub is already notoriously bugged, I've read of issues going back and fort between multiple VLC versions.

2) @gorecki3 eventually tried his hand at VLSub on Void Linux, yet it was past the date 2022-06-15, when "registration of new user agents is stopped". Thus, he did not have a cached user agent, compared to other linux distros he tried previously, which, I presume, were deployed before 2022-06-15, thus had the time to do "registration of new user agents" before 2022-06-15. 

3) I'm speculating here, but, since the plugin did not have an user agent cached, and the website opensubtitles.com had stopped allowing registration of those since 2022-06-15, VLSub simply fails silently since it can't login to opensubtitles.com (This happens in anticipation of opensubtitles.com switching APIs)

4) All of this is null anyway, because _"the EOL of the old API is nearing and they started adding warnings into subtitle files downloaded via the API. I am a heavy user of this plug in, both on my AndroidTV streamer as well as the Linux desktop version. It has other bugs as well and needs a rewrite anyway, I suppose"_

Since @gorecki3 can't get a hold of the log, we can't confirm my "cached user agent" theory. 

What he could do, instead, would be to deploy another linux distro (Clean state, absolutely no files imported from anywhere else) which he knows previously worked, and see if VLSub works. If it fails like on Void Linux, it may indeed be that "registration of new user agents is stopped" and thus, without a cached user agent, it can't work. 

But even if it would work (Due to some pre-configuration stuff, or some other distro-specific privilege depending on how authentication of those user agents works), it wouldn't matter, since the API will be switched-off by the end of the current year, pending a plugin rewrite by VLC upstream devs, or anyone else who may volunteer. 

This matter really should be brought to VLC upstream developers, who are aware of this at https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/27168, besides that, I stated my "cached user agent" theory, which may or may not be correct. 
But, even if incorrect, it wouldn't matter for long, since the plugin will need a rewrite once opensubtitles.com switches APIs anyway by the end of the year. 

This doesn't seem a Void Linux problem per se. Of course, I'm not a developer, those are just my two cents on the matter.