binutils - recommended version is 2.11.x.

gcc - recommended versions are 2.95 and 3.4+. 2.96 and 3.0.x are known to generate faulty code, 3.1 and 3.2 also had problems, 3.3 some minor ones. On PowerPC, use 4.x.

Xorg/XFree86 - recommended version is 4.3 or later. Make sure the development packages are installed, too, otherwise it won't work. You don't absolutely need X, some video output drivers work without it.

make - recommended version is 3.79.x or later. To build the XML documentation you need 3.80.

FreeType - 2.0.9 or later is required for the OSD and subtitles

ALSA - optional, for ALSA audio output support. At least 0.9.0rc4 is required.

libjpeg - required for the optional JPEG video output driver

libpng - required for the optional PNG video output driver

directfb - optional, 0.9.13 or later required for the directfb video output driver

lame - 3.90 or later is recommended, necessary for encoding MP3 audio with MEncoder.

zlib - recommended, necessary for compressed MOV header and PNG support

LIVE555 Streaming Media - optional, needed for some RTSP/RTP streams

cdparanoia - optional, for CDDA support

libxmms - optional, for XMMS input plugin support. At least 1.2.7 is required.

libsmb - optional, for SMB networking support