FFmpeg is one of the most widely used open source multimedia frameworks globally, with it powering audio and video processing for applications like VLC, OBS Studio, HandBrake, Jellyfin, etc. and being widely used in live-streaming, including platforms like Twitch.
On the other hand, rav1d is a new Rust-based decoder developed by Prossimo that aims to be a memory-safe reimplementation of the C-based dav1d decoder, which is widely recognized as the fastest software AV1 decoder in use across multiple platforms.
A recent post by FFmpeg has reignited conversation surrounding the trade-offs between performance, cost, and memory safety when building such critical systems.
Commenting on Prossimo's recent performance bounty program for rav1d, FFmpeg mentioned that "Rust is so good you can get paid $20k to make it as fast as C". That looks like a direct jab at Rust and the rav1d decoder to me. 😲
The performance bounty has set out to close a performance gap where rav1d is ~5% slower than dav1d. Prossimo is offering a sizable $20,000 as a reward for anyone who manages to close the gap.
They have put out a bunch of rules that restrict pretty much most of the world from contributing, limiting this bounty only to certain regions and excluding a large portion of the global developer community.
Are they Right?
The information technology industry has been steadily moving towards Rust, a programming language known for its memory safety and performance. The U.S. White House even formally endorsed the shift towards memory-safe programming languages in a 2024 report from the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD).
However, the push for Rust adoption hasn't been without controversy. One such instance is the effort to integrate it into the Linux kernel, which has faced resistance and internal tension, with a recent occurrence causing friction and resulting in the creation of a Rust kernel policy to prevent future conflicts.
Despite growing adoption, many in the developer community continue to question whether Rust’s benefits truly outweigh those of longstanding languages like C.
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