Yt-dlp – A YouTube-dl fork with additional features and fixes

> Are the sponsor parts really so bad?

It depends. Some Creators get pretty creative with their sponsor blocks. JayzTwoCents comes to mind with his "iFixit" ad - it's hilarous every time it appears.

Right. This is not just Mac OS, same thing can happen on Windows. Modern media DRMing sometimes involves bypassing your OS entirely[0]. Audio/video streams have special hardware paths through the CPU and GPU. HDCP uses encryption to create a safe pipe between the incoming stream and your monitor, so the data can't be snooped on or modified mid-flight. Etc.

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[0] - Or at least almost entirely, I suspect at least the kernel must get involved somehow. Otherwise Widevine support wouldn't be an issue on Linux the way it is (or was).

Some people, like Internet Historian puts some effort in and the sponsor segments are actually entertaining and I don't mind watching those. Some people also do the quick shout out that takes some 10 seconds and they're fine too.

I also watch some meme compilations with my SO and they're usually pretty different. I appreciate that compiling those memes into one video is for the convenience of the viewer but the original video creators don't benefit from those, only the ones making the compilations so I don't want to support that. On top of that, there are some channels that have several minutes long product ads inside the video, not the normal YouTube adverts. I simply hate those.

Mostly for off-line usage. Especially for videos where I care about audio only, I can download the audio part and then save it to my phone so that I can listen to it later without a need to have network connection. Another use case is archival.

Well...

> what are they supposed to do if they want to earn money (or even a living) making videos that will make you happy

Make me happy? It's simple: don't do videos for a living. If you have something interesting to say, say it, and put a PayPal link (or Patreon, if you discover that you regularly have something interesting to say). If you don't have anything interesting to say, just don't do the video. I'm not gonna watch it anyway.

But that's just me, really. There's no good answer to your question, because for me, the moment a YouTuber wants to do videos in order to make money (or a living), I don't want to watch them anymore. Under the current system, they're creating a huge conflict of interest for themselves - monetizing views through advertising is in direct opposition to delivering quality and trustworthy content. Almost all ways to improve engagement degrade the value delivered to the viewer.

I'd be more comfortable with creators doubling down on Patron and one-time donations. Even the merch[0]. "I make this stuff for as long as I can afford it, want to help, send me money" is a honest deal. So is a paywall, but that's tougher to implement on the Internet.

> Perhaps more importantly, would you give them money?

Yes, I would and I do. I subscribe to a bunch of Patreons, occasionally buy stuff from creators or send them direct donations. But not for everything, of course. That's the nature of the market. A random video I got linked to is worth $0 to me until I finish watching it, and after I'm done, it's hard to price.

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[0] - Though I seldom buy any, and really dislike the concept. Most merch is a waste of matter and energy used to create it; it exists only to break through people's reluctance to spend money on intangible content, but at the cost of most money being lost in making and shipping stuff that will end up in a landfill after a short dust-gathering break at some viewer's home. I hate these sorts of "hacks" for human psyche, but I see why they're needed.

There's also a conflict of interest here too - the videos could become just a vector for peddling merch. But so far, I haven't seen any YouTube creator falling into that trap - unlike ad monetization, which affects everyone.