MPlayer grabs external formats and hacks into them to make them playable under other operating systems than they were designed for. It plays back encrypted DVDs and broken media files, and can encode media files.

The best way to install MPlayer is by compiling it from source code. Though pre-compiled binary packages (.deb and .rpm) are available, a source-based installation gives you a fully customised player, optimised for maximum performance in terms of your system's processor type, video drivers, and other features.