6 ms·

For many this is not wishing for cable again, rather going _back_ to pirating, which was itself better than cable. Certainly myriad streaming services are bett

For many this is not wishing for cable again, rather going _back_ to pirating, which was itself better than cable. Certainly myriad streaming services are better than cable- but are they better than pirating? Harder to be confident of that now than a few years ago

Loughla 5y ago
>but are they better than pirating? Absolutely not. I am absolutely confident of that statement. One box of drives, a small machine to act as a Plex server, and VPN is all you need. Pre-made, high quality tools exist to automate everything. It's almost completely friction-less. Pirating is easier, better, and faster now than it has ever been. The push to splinter streaming services is only speeding up its adoption, again. Cable is the old cable, streaming services are the new cable, but with more barriers and more difficult setup.
- 35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
  I'm not sure who downvoted you, but I cannot agree more. For giggles, I just went ahead and priced this out: One-time costs: * Plex Pass: $80 * NZB indexer access: $10 (for 2 or 3) Ongoing monthly costs: * File server (three-year deprecation): $55 * IPTV: $15 * Unlimited Usenet account: $3 This took an afternoon of setup, but has just worked since. Heck, the other day I discovered a new season of a show had apparently been released – because it completed downloading and filled Plex overnight.
  - dexterdog 5y ago
    Drop the plex cost and use jellyfin
    - perryizgr8 5y ago
      This looks amazing. I have got to try it. Hopefully it works as seamlessly as Plex does.
      - dexterdog 5y ago
        I had been using Plex for many years and got sick of the way they try to force things like podcasts and web shows on you. I knew that advertising and library scanning was on the way if it wasn't already there so I switched to Jellyfin a couple of years ago. I have a number of friends and family that use my server as well and none of them have complained.
        perryizgr8 5y ago
        I tried Jellyfin. Although it is great for an open source project, it lacks polish. Especially on the android TV app, there are multiple obvious problems. I encountered too dealbreakers within the first half hour of usage: - Resume does not work reliably - Subtitles are ugly and un-configurable I will keep monitoring it from time-to-time, and switch from Plex as soon as these 2 problems are fixed. Thanks for recommending, I have been on the lookout for such an app for a long time.
    - ryandrake 5y ago
      Or XBMC/Kodi. There are many well established free client softwares.
    - 35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
      I bought a one-time Plex pass, so there's no ongoing cost. I've yet to see any significant reason to change away from it yet. Is Jellyfin better beyond the price?
  - donkarma 5y ago
    Where do you get Usenet for that cheap?
    - 35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
      I was wrong – it was $3.99, so $4 :) I picked up Thundernews when there was an "unlimited for $4" sale going on, and have used it ever since. Keep an eye out for their sales, because they don't seem to expire them. They resell UsenetExpress so pick up a block account or two from another provider for fills as always.

Loughla 5y ago

>but are they better than pirating? Absolutely not. I am absolutely confident of that statement. One box of drives, a small machine to act as a Plex server, and VPN is all you need. Pre-made, high quality tools exist to automate everything. It's almost completely friction-less. Pirating is easier, better, and faster now than it has ever been. The push to splinter streaming services is only speeding up its adoption, again. Cable is the old cable, streaming services are the new cable, but with more barriers and more difficult setup.

35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
I'm not sure who downvoted you, but I cannot agree more. For giggles, I just went ahead and priced this out: One-time costs: * Plex Pass: $80 * NZB indexer access: $10 (for 2 or 3) Ongoing monthly costs: * File server (three-year deprecation): $55 * IPTV: $15 * Unlimited Usenet account: $3 This took an afternoon of setup, but has just worked since. Heck, the other day I discovered a new season of a show had apparently been released – because it completed downloading and filled Plex overnight.
- dexterdog 5y ago
  Drop the plex cost and use jellyfin
  - perryizgr8 5y ago
    This looks amazing. I have got to try it. Hopefully it works as seamlessly as Plex does.
    - dexterdog 5y ago
      I had been using Plex for many years and got sick of the way they try to force things like podcasts and web shows on you. I knew that advertising and library scanning was on the way if it wasn't already there so I switched to Jellyfin a couple of years ago. I have a number of friends and family that use my server as well and none of them have complained.
      - perryizgr8 5y ago
        I tried Jellyfin. Although it is great for an open source project, it lacks polish. Especially on the android TV app, there are multiple obvious problems. I encountered too dealbreakers within the first half hour of usage: - Resume does not work reliably - Subtitles are ugly and un-configurable I will keep monitoring it from time-to-time, and switch from Plex as soon as these 2 problems are fixed. Thanks for recommending, I have been on the lookout for such an app for a long time.
  - ryandrake 5y ago
    Or XBMC/Kodi. There are many well established free client softwares.
  - 35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
    I bought a one-time Plex pass, so there's no ongoing cost. I've yet to see any significant reason to change away from it yet. Is Jellyfin better beyond the price?
- donkarma 5y ago
  Where do you get Usenet for that cheap?
  - 35fbe7d3d5b9 5y ago
    I was wrong – it was $3.99, so $4 :) I picked up Thundernews when there was an "unlimited for $4" sale going on, and have used it ever since. Keep an eye out for their sales, because they don't seem to expire them. They resell UsenetExpress so pick up a block account or two from another provider for fills as always.