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Linux TV Options (lemmy.zip)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.world
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With the recent GN video I'd been wondering about turning an old mini PC from eBay into a little Linux TV box for streaming. I'd need access to Android apps (I guess through Waydroid).

After a brief look, it seems that the two options are some form of LibreElec system running Kodi or Arch running Plasma Big Screen. Any thoughts / advice? And if I went for Big Screen, does anyone know of any distros that ship with it or will I have to spin it up myself on Arch?

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[–] 14 points 2 months ago (5 children)

I'm trying on and off to do the same at the moment. Part of my problem as well is making it as accessible as possible for my wife who will simply just not use something as soon as there is even a minor amount of friction.

I tried initially to use steams big screen mode to have everything bundled together in an easy interface. I ran into problems with that though and how the likes of Netflix was basically just a browser forced into fullscreen. It worked great until you wanted to exit tk change services which just didnt work as it should (using a controller or a remote).

I want to try out plasma big screen to see if that can provide the easy to use interface because as it is right now I just have a browser open with the few services we use ready to go but navigation just is not fun when using an air mouse to try and hit tiny ass buttons.

I dont want to use kodi as I have always thought it was trash ans when I have used it before my wife flat out refused because of the interface.

So no suggestions I'm afraid but I will be watching this thread to see what other people have come up with to solve this problem.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    It does feel like such a subtle but firm line, that divides people who just want things to work and not demand anything in return, and people who see computing and media as inherently political and worth investing energy into, and critically choosing what to use and what to avoid. How we bridge that gap and wake people up is, in my mind, a bigger problem than any single use case.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 child)

    People shouldn't have to think about what companies are going to fuck them over or exploit them as they go about their daily lives. The modern world is far too complex. The government is supposed to protect the people from criminals and enemies, foreign and domestic, no matter what their organization or motives are.

    As it stands, most of surveillance capitalism is criminal espionage — just a fascist/authoritarian invasion of privacy — and would be illegal if our political classes weren't corrupt criminals themselves, pre-financed and pre-positioned by the oligarchs/plutocrats of the economic elite. The current clusterfuck is an illusion of "democracy" that is functionally-equivalent to capitalist dictatorship, where our governments actively collude with businesses to extract wealth from the population.

    What I'm saying is that no appliance software should be surveilling you, period. None of the data brokers should exist. Most data collection and sharing that isn't explicitly necessary to deliver a service should be illegal. People should be free to live in a world where the greatest concerns when buying a TV are the build quality, features, and UI. Not fucking covert malware or espionage. What is currently considered normal and acceptable is psychotic.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    Yeh same thoughts as Brave Little. My fam are good with slight changes and will adopt if its easy. It ok if i do it in small stages and i explain what and why. I have the same long term plan with consoles/phones so moving has to be a discussion with give and take.

    The biggest note is when i have visitors, if its too awkward they will baulk and try and connect the device the old way.

    I don't like Kodi either, tried it decades ago, even with advances and skins its still too overwhelming looking vrs a screensavers and cards approach. I kinda like having my apps separate somewhat like android.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    The Kodi interface was really bad last I tried it, but it depends a bit on the skin. I remember when I was getting into it with libreElec many years ago, I used a remote control and had to manually edit the Kodi skin to get it to respond to the buttons the way I wanted and change the layout slightly. Huge pain for what's supposed to be a TV appliance platform.

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