Many (if not most) New Leaf Journal readers will know that I run Linux on all of my computers. I use the XFCE desktop environment on my main workstation. There are a number of ways that I can search for and launch applications, but my default method is triggering the XFCE Whisker menu, which is bound to super+space. Once I pull up Whisker, I search for the application I want. Unfortunately, I sometimes pick the wrong application (not my first such error). On December 10, 2024, I pulled up Whisker and typed “m” to search for an application (probably Mullvad). I inadvertently opened mpv Media Player.
For those not in the know, mpv is a minimal and free and open source media player. It is my default media player and I also use it to stream online videos. However, I almost always launch mpv from the command line or from my file manager by opening a media file (note: all of my recent Living for the Day After Tomorrow screenshots were captured from mpv Media Player). Thus, I almost never see mpv Media Player without something actually playing. I was greeted by a surprise when I saw the blank mpv window.
The mpv logo is wearing a Santa hat. I approve of this development. I have previously written about Santa hats seen in the wild, but never in a reasonably popular free and open source media player. Not having previously noticed that mpv has a festive side, I decided to look into the Santa hat matter. Fortunately, it is easy to figure out the mystery behind the mpv Santa hat since mpv’s source code is available on GitHub.
Firstly, I found a GitHub issue from 2019 which appears to detail the addition of the Santa hat to the program. We also see where the code was merged. Now I am no coder, but it seems obvious to me from the description and the code in the commit that mpv checks whether it is December and, if it is December, adds a Santa hat to the logo. The Santa hat appears by default, but it can be disabled. How does one disable mpv festivity? Anti-Santa hat users can change the “greenandgrumpy” value from false to true in the osc.rst configuration file, which includes many settings for mpv’s optional (but enabled by default) on screen controller.
The Santa hat was added to mpv before I first used the application 3-4 years ago, but I did not notice it until now. Count me in favor of the festive flourish. I will also take the opportunity to recommend mpv, which is available cross-platform. The official Wiki and FAQ provide additional information about using and making the most of mpv Media Player.
