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I have downloaded a static built of a linux program (ffmpeg) I want to use in my Ubuntu 14.04

I just copy the executable (ffmpeg) into /usr/local/bin and the program works. I have been doing so for long now with this program. The author of the static built updates it very often.

But I have no man pages. Inside the directory where the static built comes, there is a directory called manpages. I think I might copy the files inside that directory (or the directory itself) to some location in my hard drive and from that moment I would be able to type in a console: man ffmpeg

Where should I put those files?

Remark: I don't want to delve into the complexities of compiling the program on my own (gathering information about the components I should include in the compilation, etc) and I don't want to use the fork (avconv) of ffmpeg that unluckily comes with my ubuntu because of the multiple bugs I have experience with it, and because of its lack of some ffmpeg features (video de-shaking!). Thanks.

Mephisto
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1 Answers1

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To find the paths on which man pages are searched, you can use the manpath command (see also this superuser question). In (my) Ubuntu 14.04 system, this delivers the following search path:

/usr/local/man:/usr/local/share/man:/usr/share/man

So you could just put the man pages into /usr/local/share/man.

I’m not sure which static build of ffmpeg you are using; if it‘s the one currently mentioned on the official ffmpeg page, then this will probably not work, though. The manpages directory of that distribution is not in the required man page format; the .txt files only contain dumps of man pages. Compare these .txt files to existing man pages under /usr/share/man, for example.

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Chriki
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  • It is that compilation. Therefore those man pages will not work and there is little to add here. Thanks for your answer. – Mephisto Nov 30 '15 at 05:01