ffmpeg, gstreamer, xine, ... what are they? why so many?

[sup]

I have been around linux for almost a year but I still do not get what exactly are the differences betwen these "multimedia systems." What distinguish one from the other that there are so many of them and not just one?

[henriquemaia]

This is all about choice. A developer has an idea and develops it. Users then choose a program they prefer based on his/her preferences.

"This program sucks!" - ok, use another. And this is great.

[sup]

Well, but then there is this Unix philosophy "have one but good tool that does the job." I just wonder if there is any difference between those for end user.

[slougi]

Actually it goes: "Write programs that do one thing and do it well." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy)

There could be any number of programs that do the same thing.