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?
I have two TVs running completely off arch. One is a Lenovo Tiny PC, the other is a home server I built.
The frontend for both is just the normal arch desktop, running cinnamon with just some visual customizations. Each one has autologin, and on boot they open to the desktop with icons for Plex and a web browser that has shortcuts to all our streaming services on its home page. I also had Kodi running on them, which is handy because you can boot into it, but everything I was using it for Plex did better. I don’t bother with a remote, I just use a Bluetooth mouse.
The little PC in my bedroom is basically just a frontend. The bigger system in my living room is a frontend but also runs a Plex server, some servarr apps, plus a bunch of unrelated services. My wife is not super tech-savvy but it’s intuitive enough for her to figure out the interface.
My biggest friction point is my one streaming sports app that won’t save my login longer than 7 days, so I have to keep logging in to it but I don’t have a keyboard attached. I use a virtual keyboard as a workaround but it takes forever to peck out my login that way, and the app will log me out in the middle of a game if my login expires. More annoying than anything.
I’m not familiar with Waydroid or Big Screen, and I don’t use either of these systems for gaming, so I don’t have any advice there.
Obviously not the most secure method in the world, but would it be worth putting that password in a text file so you can just copy it with a mouse click instead of grappling with the virtual keyboard? Or a one-line script that just sends the string to your clipboard?
ETA: Hopefully that password is unique to that app account to minimize the threat of compromise.
Are Android apps really a priority? If so, I’d suggest setting up an Android TV box; I’ve considered the Konstakang LineageOS build myself. That’s mostly for ARM devices like the RPi though, if I understand correctly.
I’ve been running LibreElec with Kodi for years, and while it feels a bit clunky, it just works™.
I’m open to using a Linux native app for IPTV, but I’m not sure if the provider would work with that - open to suggestions for good native IPTV apps that have a remote-friendly interface
I would recommend considering Plasma Bigscreen as an interface option.
What we need now, and maybe it exists, is a proper remote for this. In not keen on the idea of using hand held or full keyboards/mice. Or phones.
Oh shit, I didn’t know this was a thing. I’ve just been running Plasma on a used mini PC, but Bigscreen seems like it could make for a more comfortable experience. Neat!
EDIT: Aaaand it’s not available in Debian 13. Well, that’s unfortunate.
I just run Debian with Kodi.
Helps to have something like this with a keyboard and air mouse/trackpad.
I either watch locally stored media or stuff on firefox though. Not sure about apps.
ETA: I see someone else here mentioned Plasma Bigscreen. If you choose Debian you it won’t be available for a while. It was removed from Debian 13 because it hadn’t been updated in a while but someone has been working on it for a while now. Hopefully it’ll be back soon.
For many years, I’ve used a HTPC with a few different distributions. At the moment, it’s running Debian with Gnome. For me, this is good enough, since the UI allows me to easily do all sorts of computer stuff like having multiple virtual desktops, many browsers, lots of tabs, spreadsheets and a system monitor. Obviously, you need a wireless keyboard + touchpad combo to use this HTPC.
If you’re aiming for a more simplified UX, I would go with something like LibreELEC
This was an interesting little video about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nROKp0BpFek
Yeah it’s interesting! Not sure if I’d take this exact approach - I really only want one android app so I think I’d be more open to Linux native apps for other things, and also I’d be more inclined to use Plasma than the launcher he went with
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.
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.
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.
From where I’m standing, we don’t disagree about anything except for the power of the word “should”.
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.
There’s https://www.mythtv.org/ It’s heavier-weight than kodi, but includes its own OTA/cable setup for actual TV. Does not integrate as well with streaming services as kodi, but it seems like a lot of my kodi plugins have stopped working in the last couple years. Mythtv used to be bundled in a “Mythbuntu” distribution, but they seem to have collapsed.
Kodi frontend with a mythtv backend has been a pretty workable solution for me, but it won’t stream from Prime, Apple, Netflix, Disney, etc
I haven’t found anything better than just Linux Mint on a mini PC and Logitech k400 with autostarting browser with bookmarks to streaming sites.
I wish there was a FOSS android distro for htpc/streaming boxes but that would probably just be blocked by Google and the rest of the streaming giants
There’s also the whole Netflix 720p on Linux thing…
it depends on what your after, I run OSMC connected to the living room TV, that runs kodi. I use jellyfin for media streaming both in the house and out, Jellyfin can consume an IPTV stream if you have it (like tvheadend)
OSMC also comes with tvheadend that will allow you to use a TV card to stream live TV to anywhere
Keep in mind Plasma Bigscreen is not 100% ready for prime time yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6JsuTnJnN4&t=1318s
Man it’s been years since I first heard of this. I was hoping it would be further along
It won’t work because DRM
Major streaming services all work in a web browser…
You don’t need Waydroid to run a web browser. In addition they’re typically limited to 720p in the browser.
Piracy 😇
You don’t need waydroid for that.
