livestreamer

[labbe5]

Install livestreamer from standard repositories. I use Debian Buster as my base OS, and it is available.

After you have it installed, you can go to Youtube to get an URL, such as : https://youtu.be/cqxwKB4Thsg from Commando 1985 Action Movie - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya.

livestreamer https://youtu.be/cqxwKB4Thsg best --player mpv

If you have VLC installed you do not have to use --player vlc, because livestreamer defaults to vlc. Other media players are compatible, but mpv and vlc are recommended. If you want other quality than best, use worst, instead of best, or 240p, 360p, 720p, etc.

Livestreamer is convenient for users of older systems, such as mine (2007 Toshiba laptop).

Here is an example of what to look for in your terminal :

johnny@debian:~$ livestreamer https://youtu.be/cqxwKB4Thsg best --player mpv
[cli][info] Found matching plugin youtube for URL https://youtu.be/cqxwKB4Thsg
[cli][info] Available streams: 144p (worst), 240p, 360p, 720p (best), audio_mp4, audio_webm
[cli][info] Opening stream: 720p (http)
[cli][info] Starting player: mpv

Finally, livestreamer is supposed to be used as user, but if you want to use it as root : livestreamer is not supposed to be run as root. If you really must you can do it by passing --yes-run-as-root.