Are there Linux command-line options?
Yes. Linux users have a command-line option to download YouTube videos. As with all things Linux command line, there are some gray areas here, such as whether a given tool still works or if there's a better one out there.
The first option is youtube-dl. You can get it from its official site, GitHub, or through your favorite package manager. But some folks say youtube-dl is old hat and hasn't been updated in a while. There's another open-source project on GitHub called yt-dlp, a fork of youtube-dl with more features and more active maintenance. I haven't tested it myself, so use it at your own risk.
Also: The first 5 Linux commands every new user should learn
Both youtube-dl and yt-dlp offer an incredibly wide range of features if you need them. Personally, I'm sticking with ClipGrab -- I don't have time to turn YouTube downloading into a third full-time job. But it's up to you.
What is the safest way to download YouTube videos?
The absolute safest way is to use YouTube Premium's offline download feature, since it's an official, fully approved method provided by Google itself. When you download a video via YouTube Premium, you're abiding by YouTube's terms of service as well as the video's usage restrictions (the videos are DRM-protected and tied to your account).
YouTube will enforce any regional or copyright restrictions on those downloads, so you won't be able to download videos that the platform doesn't allow in your country. And you won't run into any malware or sketchy software issues, because it's a built-in feature.
How can I download private videos?
You can only download private videos if you already have access to them (or they're your own -- YouTube Premium will let you download your own private videos). If you can log in and watch the video in your browser, you can usually download it.
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