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Plex, Jellyfin, LibreELEC, Kodi... those are the best solutions for those wanting to manage their own destiny and TV experience. You can run them on practicall

Plex, Jellyfin, LibreELEC, Kodi... those are the best solutions for those wanting to manage their own destiny and TV experience. You can run them on practically anything and there are Tiny PCs, stick-form-factor Raspberry Pi devices (like CM4 TV Stick), and other silent small boxes you can attach to a TV for a thin client interface or just a shared media library / TV experience. It'd be nice if Amazon, Apple, Netflix, et all had integrations though, besides wrapping a browser window.

barbazoo 3y ago
> Plex, Jellyfin, LibreELEC, Kodi... those are the best solutions for those wanting to manage their own destiny and TV experience. As long as one produces their own content, right?
- buildbot 3y ago
  Correct me if I am wrong, but hasn’t it been found (In the US) that making a digital copy of a DVD you own totally okay?
  - MobileVet 3y ago
    Correct. Personal archival is protected under fair use. [1] 1. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23311/exemption-to-prohibition-on-circumvention-of-copyright-protection-systems-for-access-control https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23...
    - Caboose8685 3y ago
      Personal archival isn't exempt anymore, that dropped some years ago. The only archival exemption now is for "qualifying institutions".
      - cmeacham98 3y ago
        You have a source on that? I can't find anything - so as far as I can tell you're just spreading misinformation.
        Caboose8685 3y ago
        I mean just read through the link above. You'll find no exemption for personal use when it involves bypassing DRM. Which I don't think any DVD or blu-ray anymore lacks. I'm also reasonably sure that "3. Proposed Class 6: Audiovisual Works—Space-Shifting" in the above link would cover personal archival and that was explicitly rejected. Don't get me wrong, I'm still all for it, but it's not permitted anymore like it used to be.
  - cmeacham98 3y ago
    Correct (as long as you don't distribute it), but not all content is available on DVDs, and many things come to DVDs much later than they are available elsewhere. That said, there is a _less legal_ solution to those problems...
    - Caboose8685 3y ago
      Unfortunately not. The exemption dropped some years ago.
  - slg 3y ago
    Sure, and the "water pipe" they sell on the boardwalk is for "tobacco use only". Let's be honest, most people use this software to serve up their library of pirated content. The number of people who are even still buying physical media is relatively tiny. That is why retailers like Best Buy are abandoning that market. The population of people who buy that physical media and then manually rip it has to be miniscule.
    - aschla 3y ago
      Quick side note on Best Buy abandoning selling physical media, the cashier at Best Buy said they'll probably just throw the rest of their stock in the trash when they stop selling them in early 2024. So if anyone is interested in some free blu-rays and doesn't mind dumpster diving...
- elcomet 3y ago
  Those all have apps for Netflix and others, as well as video on demand.
- dartharva 3y ago
  what do you think
- HumblyTossed 3y ago
  What exactly are you implying? You think I can't rip a Blue-Ray or DVD?
- mindslight 3y ago
  No, just pirate. I can kind of understand why people started giving Netflix money for the convenience, despite that supporting an industry desperately trying to destroy the Internet. But now with a thousand and five different "services", continually squeezing users for more revenue, digital restrictions management that makes perfectly good hardware stop working, and ever more surveillance telemetry in the various apps and devices? Rent an off the shelf seedbox, or set up your own with a consumer VPN, and don't think twice. Consider it just another "service" and see if it wins out in your life. And if down the line you end up deciding it doesn't work well for you, you still get to keep access to everything you've obtained!
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    So instead of just paying a few bucks a month I’m going to go through the trouble of trawling the internet to find a good torrent and then set up my own Plex server (been those done that) - alternative I can just open an app and not think about it.
    - mindslight 3y ago
      Judging by the various threads on this topic, the current streaming reality isn't "a few bucks" and it actually involves quite a lot of cognitive overhead (exactly when you just want to be relaxing!). Neither do you have to go "trawling" for torrents - public trackers/catalogs easily get you the contemporary zeitgeist and its back catalog. But sure, keep on enjoying the simulated liberation of the corporate sandbox. My comment was meant for those on the fence.
    - AussieWog93 3y ago
      It's funny you mention that. Convenience is exactly why I switched to piracy earlier this year. To watch content legally, I first have to work out who owns the rights in Australia (it can be different to the US, and often changes - e.g. last time I watched The Terminator it was on Netflix but now it's on Amazon Prime), see if I have that app (I'm not signing up to an app to watch one film, even if it were free it's not worth the bullshit), and if not pick a different film and start the whole process again. It's worse for TV shows, where season 1 could be exclusive to Netflix but seasons 2-7 are only on Stan. To pirate content, I open the Elementum tab in Kodi, type in what I want to watch, and 20 seconds later it's directly streaming from the bittorrent network in fantastic HD quality. Elementum is a plugin for Kodi, works great.
- h2odragon 3y ago
  Archive.org has vast amounts of video; from public domain through "that's not supposed to be here." There's lots of other sources too.
  - all2 3y ago
    I'm curious now, can you give an example of one of the 'that's not supposed to be here' things?
    - h2odragon 3y ago
      cheerfully! Here's 3 examples of movies of Cultural Import * that are copyrighted and technically, probably shouldn't be there. But they're unavailable, or hard to find; possibly outlawed in some places. I'm quite grateful to someone for taking the trouble to find, digitize, and upload these classics, and that archive.org can host them. + I'll leave it to you to figure out what the "cultural import" is in each case here. As with all Art, it's certainly debatable. https://archive.org/download/rollerblade/rollerblade.mp4 https://archive.org/download/rollerblade/rollerblade.mp4 https://archive.org/download/flesh-gordon-1974_20220429/Flesh%20Gordon%20%281974%29.ia.mp4 https://archive.org/download/flesh-gordon-1974_20220429/Fles... https://archive.org/download/barbarella_202110/Barbarella.mp4 https://archive.org/download/barbarella_202110/Barbarella.mp...
slothtrop 3y ago
Since all of these streaming platforms are available on the browser, it should be trivial to run this through a pc/pi even without API support, if a little cumbersome. SHould also run faster than the ad-ridden software on Firestick/Chromecast/Apple-tv.
- jwells89 3y ago
  A PC will work fine for general viewing but might be a problem for those looking for more advanced features, e.g. Dolby Vision. Apple TV has a few things one may consider “ads”, but they’re limited to promotion of Apple’s own shows (no third parties) and can be done away with by simply ignoring the stock TV app and moving it off the top row of the home screen where it’ll never get highlighted. They haven’t bothered me personally, and my Apple TV 4K working flawlessly since buying it in 2017 is worth that tiny tradeoff.
  - sfRattan 3y ago
    I've been looking into Apple TV 4K boxes as an alternative to Roku --- I'm sick of their ads baked into the UI --- and I've read in a couple places online that if you put the Photos app in first position of the top bar you'll get a slideshow of whatever photos are in there instead of promos for a particular app's shows. Is that so? It'd definitely put me across the line into switching. With Jellyfin now supported with the native Swiftfin app it'd have everything I need.
    - jwells89 3y ago
      Yeah, that’s correct. Only apps in the top row that are highlighted can display content on the home screen and the leftmost app is highlighted at boot/wake. I don’t have any experience with Jellyfin+Swiftfin but Infuse has worked well with my Plex server. As a sidenote, to test this I woke the the old 2015 Apple TV HD that the 4K model replaced and to my surprise it’d updated itself to the latest tvOS and still runs smoothly. Not bad for an 8 year old device, and no doubt in better shape than most competitors of a similar age.
  - deleted 3y ago
foobiekr 3y ago
The Jellyfin user experience would be a ton better if the client app for the iphone/ipad actually took advantage of local playback instead of relying on transcoding. Random seeks, rewinds, and especially subtitles timing are all better if the client is just accessing a file stream. This is especially true as the codecs change and the on-NAS GPUs fall behind due to the lifecycle differences.
- ThatMedicIsASpy 3y ago
  iphone/ipad would be a ton better if you could install kodi on it.
- eatbitseveryday 3y ago
  Run the Infuse client and point it to your Jellyfin instance.
  - foobiekr 3y ago
    SwiftFin seems to do the job, but this is also a good suggestion.
- mortify 3y ago
  Can you not disable transcoding on the iOS version of Jellyfin?
- wilsonnb3 3y ago
  Are you using SwiftFin? It is much better than the standard Jellyfin iOS app, I’ve never had any problems with it. Shoutout to the FinAmp app for music, too.
  - foobiekr 3y ago
    This is awesome, no, I was not. Excellent suggestion.
scarface_74 3y ago
You can’t run Plex well on just about anything if you need to support transcoding

barbazoo 3y ago

> Plex, Jellyfin, LibreELEC, Kodi... those are the best solutions for those wanting to manage their own destiny and TV experience. As long as one produces their own content, right?

buildbot 3y ago
Correct me if I am wrong, but hasn’t it been found (In the US) that making a digital copy of a DVD you own totally okay?
- MobileVet 3y ago
  Correct. Personal archival is protected under fair use. [1] 1. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23311/exemption-to-prohibition-on-circumvention-of-copyright-protection-systems-for-access-control https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23...
  - Caboose8685 3y ago
    Personal archival isn't exempt anymore, that dropped some years ago. The only archival exemption now is for "qualifying institutions".
    - cmeacham98 3y ago
      You have a source on that? I can't find anything - so as far as I can tell you're just spreading misinformation.
      - Caboose8685 3y ago
        I mean just read through the link above. You'll find no exemption for personal use when it involves bypassing DRM. Which I don't think any DVD or blu-ray anymore lacks. I'm also reasonably sure that "3. Proposed Class 6: Audiovisual Works—Space-Shifting" in the above link would cover personal archival and that was explicitly rejected. Don't get me wrong, I'm still all for it, but it's not permitted anymore like it used to be.
- cmeacham98 3y ago
  Correct (as long as you don't distribute it), but not all content is available on DVDs, and many things come to DVDs much later than they are available elsewhere. That said, there is a _less legal_ solution to those problems...
  - Caboose8685 3y ago
    Unfortunately not. The exemption dropped some years ago.
- slg 3y ago
  Sure, and the "water pipe" they sell on the boardwalk is for "tobacco use only". Let's be honest, most people use this software to serve up their library of pirated content. The number of people who are even still buying physical media is relatively tiny. That is why retailers like Best Buy are abandoning that market. The population of people who buy that physical media and then manually rip it has to be miniscule.
  - aschla 3y ago
    Quick side note on Best Buy abandoning selling physical media, the cashier at Best Buy said they'll probably just throw the rest of their stock in the trash when they stop selling them in early 2024. So if anyone is interested in some free blu-rays and doesn't mind dumpster diving...
elcomet 3y ago
Those all have apps for Netflix and others, as well as video on demand.
dartharva 3y ago
what do you think
HumblyTossed 3y ago
What exactly are you implying? You think I can't rip a Blue-Ray or DVD?
mindslight 3y ago
No, just pirate. I can kind of understand why people started giving Netflix money for the convenience, despite that supporting an industry desperately trying to destroy the Internet. But now with a thousand and five different "services", continually squeezing users for more revenue, digital restrictions management that makes perfectly good hardware stop working, and ever more surveillance telemetry in the various apps and devices? Rent an off the shelf seedbox, or set up your own with a consumer VPN, and don't think twice. Consider it just another "service" and see if it wins out in your life. And if down the line you end up deciding it doesn't work well for you, you still get to keep access to everything you've obtained!
- scarface_74 3y ago
  So instead of just paying a few bucks a month I’m going to go through the trouble of trawling the internet to find a good torrent and then set up my own Plex server (been those done that) - alternative I can just open an app and not think about it.
  - mindslight 3y ago
    Judging by the various threads on this topic, the current streaming reality isn't "a few bucks" and it actually involves quite a lot of cognitive overhead (exactly when you just want to be relaxing!). Neither do you have to go "trawling" for torrents - public trackers/catalogs easily get you the contemporary zeitgeist and its back catalog. But sure, keep on enjoying the simulated liberation of the corporate sandbox. My comment was meant for those on the fence.
  - AussieWog93 3y ago
    It's funny you mention that. Convenience is exactly why I switched to piracy earlier this year. To watch content legally, I first have to work out who owns the rights in Australia (it can be different to the US, and often changes - e.g. last time I watched The Terminator it was on Netflix but now it's on Amazon Prime), see if I have that app (I'm not signing up to an app to watch one film, even if it were free it's not worth the bullshit), and if not pick a different film and start the whole process again. It's worse for TV shows, where season 1 could be exclusive to Netflix but seasons 2-7 are only on Stan. To pirate content, I open the Elementum tab in Kodi, type in what I want to watch, and 20 seconds later it's directly streaming from the bittorrent network in fantastic HD quality. Elementum is a plugin for Kodi, works great.
h2odragon 3y ago
Archive.org has vast amounts of video; from public domain through "that's not supposed to be here." There's lots of other sources too.
- all2 3y ago
  I'm curious now, can you give an example of one of the 'that's not supposed to be here' things?
  - h2odragon 3y ago
    cheerfully! Here's 3 examples of movies of Cultural Import * that are copyrighted and technically, probably shouldn't be there. But they're unavailable, or hard to find; possibly outlawed in some places. I'm quite grateful to someone for taking the trouble to find, digitize, and upload these classics, and that archive.org can host them. + I'll leave it to you to figure out what the "cultural import" is in each case here. As with all Art, it's certainly debatable. https://archive.org/download/rollerblade/rollerblade.mp4 https://archive.org/download/rollerblade/rollerblade.mp4 https://archive.org/download/flesh-gordon-1974_20220429/Flesh%20Gordon%20%281974%29.ia.mp4 https://archive.org/download/flesh-gordon-1974_20220429/Fles... https://archive.org/download/barbarella_202110/Barbarella.mp4 https://archive.org/download/barbarella_202110/Barbarella.mp...

slothtrop 3y ago

Since all of these streaming platforms are available on the browser, it should be trivial to run this through a pc/pi even without API support, if a little cumbersome. SHould also run faster than the ad-ridden software on Firestick/Chromecast/Apple-tv.

jwells89 3y ago
A PC will work fine for general viewing but might be a problem for those looking for more advanced features, e.g. Dolby Vision. Apple TV has a few things one may consider “ads”, but they’re limited to promotion of Apple’s own shows (no third parties) and can be done away with by simply ignoring the stock TV app and moving it off the top row of the home screen where it’ll never get highlighted. They haven’t bothered me personally, and my Apple TV 4K working flawlessly since buying it in 2017 is worth that tiny tradeoff.
- sfRattan 3y ago
  I've been looking into Apple TV 4K boxes as an alternative to Roku --- I'm sick of their ads baked into the UI --- and I've read in a couple places online that if you put the Photos app in first position of the top bar you'll get a slideshow of whatever photos are in there instead of promos for a particular app's shows. Is that so? It'd definitely put me across the line into switching. With Jellyfin now supported with the native Swiftfin app it'd have everything I need.
  - jwells89 3y ago
    Yeah, that’s correct. Only apps in the top row that are highlighted can display content on the home screen and the leftmost app is highlighted at boot/wake. I don’t have any experience with Jellyfin+Swiftfin but Infuse has worked well with my Plex server. As a sidenote, to test this I woke the the old 2015 Apple TV HD that the 4K model replaced and to my surprise it’d updated itself to the latest tvOS and still runs smoothly. Not bad for an 8 year old device, and no doubt in better shape than most competitors of a similar age.
- deleted 3y ago

foobiekr 3y ago

The Jellyfin user experience would be a ton better if the client app for the iphone/ipad actually took advantage of local playback instead of relying on transcoding. Random seeks, rewinds, and especially subtitles timing are all better if the client is just accessing a file stream. This is especially true as the codecs change and the on-NAS GPUs fall behind due to the lifecycle differences.

ThatMedicIsASpy 3y ago
iphone/ipad would be a ton better if you could install kodi on it.
eatbitseveryday 3y ago
Run the Infuse client and point it to your Jellyfin instance.
- foobiekr 3y ago
  SwiftFin seems to do the job, but this is also a good suggestion.
mortify 3y ago
Can you not disable transcoding on the iOS version of Jellyfin?
wilsonnb3 3y ago
Are you using SwiftFin? It is much better than the standard Jellyfin iOS app, I’ve never had any problems with it. Shoutout to the FinAmp app for music, too.
- foobiekr 3y ago
  This is awesome, no, I was not. Excellent suggestion.

scarface_74 3y ago

You can’t run Plex well on just about anything if you need to support transcoding