Yt-dlp and some basic understanding

Applications
1

First question above others: Is it legit to install packages via pkcon or is that not recommended?

So I wanted to install yt-dlp on my C2. I installed the standalone provided through Chum Gui to realize it’s hopelessly outdated.

I tried updating it via yt-dlp -U which resultet in

Deprecated Feature: Support for Python version 3.8 has been deprecated. Please update to Python 3.9 or above

So I am confused: Where did python 3.8 come from?

rpm -q --whatr equires python3” gives me “No package requires python3

Can I uninstall it then? How to do this the recommended way?

Getting back to the initial question: Can I install python pip via pkcon and use that since searching the forum unveils to me there seems to be no working app?

Or can I install the current version of python which allows me to download and run yt-dlp as executable file? If so, how is the recommended way?

I hope you’re less confused after reading this than I…

EDIT:

I understand pyrhon 3.8 is preinstalled.

Question: How do I update to current version of python?

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2

you maybe want to use zypper, because that also tells you about conflicts and asks you how you want to resolve them. you can install it with pkcon. sometimes when i search and don’t want to wait until zypper refreshes sources i like to do pkcon search name . sometimes i saw more packages in zypper though that didn’t show up in pkcon

3

You don’t update python, but it will probably be updated in next sailfish version :slight_smile:

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4

Do I get it right then that SFOS has components which depend on python which is why python is integrated into the OS and can’t be updated since those components might not work with a new version and therefore need to be updated, too?

So this goes hand in hand only?

5

I don’t know about software but yesterday at the community meeting there were discussions about updating python to 3.11 if I remember correctly. So at least I have understood that Jolla needs to do the Python update. I don’t know if community can help with that or not in github

6

official yt-dlp will not work until, at the earliest, the next major SFOS update, which in the last community meeting, it was claimed would include py3.11.

i forked yt-dlp and re-added python3.8 support here:

just tested and it works on my xperia 10iii on sailfish 5.0.0.68 on python 3.8.18 to download videos from youtube

edit: here is a binary that should work until youtube changes things:

https://github.com/teleshoes/yt-dlp/releases/download/v2025-08-27%2Bpy38/yt-dlp

NOTE: yt-dlp fully removed support for python3.8 last year. previous versions deprecated support for py3.8, but it still worked, which was great until websites made changes making the old versions useless. newer versions fixed the problems but python3.8 was unsupported. my fork has the fixes in version 2025-08-27, and makes python3.8 work again, but keeps py3.8 deprecated.

6 Likes
7

pkgx is an option in such cases

pkgx yt-dlp

Usage: yt-dlp [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]

yt-dlp: error: You must provide at least one URL.
Type yt-dlp --help to see a list of all options.
[defaultuser@JollaC2 dev]$ pkgx yt-dlp --version
2025.08.27

But it’s kind of risky (if you would for example install newer python with it systemwide, high chance of bricking some crucial scripts and the phone in the process, just running things should stay in ~/.pkgx), but if you’re comfortable with shell and recovery console it’s an option

1 Like
8

Thanks to everyone for clarification. I’ll just wait for the upcoming update, I guess

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9

pkcon is wrapper around zypper. It’s sometimes tad annoying as it obscures errors and doesn’t allow easy resolution of problems but in the end they’re all installed via rpm

yes

you don’t

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10

to be more precise, PackageKit is a wrapper around libzypp and rpmlib.

12

This most recent nightly build of yt-dlp works perfectly fine for me on aarch64, eg. the 10 III. No need to install newer Python or any other dependencies as everything is bundled

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/download/2025.08.30.232839/yt-dlp_linux_aarch64

and this one works fine on armv7l, eg. XA2

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/download/2025.08.30.232839/yt-dlp_linux_armv7l

4 Likes
13

Huh. I thought this wasn’t possible anymore, but this version upgrades just fine, whereas both teleshoes and release don’t. After running --update-to nightly on all 3 versions:

[defaultuser@Xperia10II-DualSIM bin]$ ./yt-dlp_teleshoes --version
2024.10.22.051025
[defaultuser@Xperia10II-DualSIM bin]$ ./yt-dlp_linux_aarch64_release --version
2024.10.22.051025
[defaultuser@Xperia10II-DualSIM bin]$ ./yt-dlp_linux_aarch64_nightly --version
2025.08.30.232839

So both release and teleshoes actually downgraded after upgrading.