>- opening a file that does not work does nothing, you don't know what's happening, is the file corrupted, is the codec not supported ??

You could open the console to see errors. https://mpv.io/manual/master/#console

>- the no ui idea is nice for opening a single file, but then you go to the rabbithole of millions of settings / config to do anything more complicated, playlists? ( why can't I drag and drop on the window )

I cannot relate to that. "ad-hoc" playlists or even adding more files while some are already playing works fine for me on macOS. There's a chance the built-in UI differs between operating systems, not sure.

>- it's hard to compile, so it's up to you to find up to date version on your distro

I consider that hardly the fault of the mpv project. Other than that, there are usually third-party providers for mpv binaries.

Never had to deal with your third point, I just open it via the CLI and it's pretty verbose regarding issues it encounters.

If your distro has outdated packages, that's a problem with your distro.

You can always just open files with a CLI if you want to see the error messages.

What do you mean can't drag and drop on a window? That's literally how you add subtitles or open a file if you opened mpv from the shortcut, rather than by opening a file.

None of the distro keeps package up to date with mpv. Only rolling one are probably updated.

Adding a file does not enqueued them, it just open it and play it right away.

Hold shift while dropping the file to enqueue it. At least on macOS that works.