186
Plex has paywalled my server! (lemmy.giftedmc.com)

I tried testing a movie from my home server in plex through firefox and repeatedly got this message, even after reloading.

I knew that they had paywalled the apps on mobile and streaming from outside the network but now they have also blocked watching your own movies through your own hardware.

I do get the point that making software should be able to sustain people but I dont see the move of plex as a fair thing to do. Yes, they have made great software but taking your home server hostage feels like the wrong move.

Even a pop up that says "we need you to donate please" would have been fine. make it pop up before every movie, play donation ads before any movie but straight up disabling the app is kinda cruel.

Anyway, i have switched to jellyfin and it is insanely good. please give it a try. you can run it alongside plex with not issues (at least i had none) and compare the two.

In any case, good luck. Let me know if you need help.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

In this thread:

  1. An OP that doesn’t understand how their network is working
  2. People rushing to suggest a solution that they fawn over because it’s open source. I have yet to see anyone recommend Emby.
  3. “Tailscale will solve all your problems!” Great - how do I make that work on an LG TV that’s 100 miles away?
[-] tabular@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)
  1. Open source has high immunity to devs making changes at the expense of user for their benefit because anti-features can be removed. Recommending another proprietary alternative here would be like saying they aught to leave an abusive partner but then recommend someone with the same red flags they had.
  1. It’s also the most complex to set up, and for many people the threshold is “walking your tech-illiterate mother-in-law through side loading it over the phone, because she lives 100 miles away… She’s afraid to touch her computer for anything except email and Facebook. And then resetting her password every 30 days, because she keeps locking herself out of it.” Suddenly the “just fucking sign into Plex and it automatically discovers your server” option becomes a lot more appealing.
[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Jellyfin is the most complex to set up, right? (Just making sure I’m reading this correctly)

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] tabular@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

To continue the metaphor: a partner can have many alluring qualities (income, hobbies, looks) but what does that matter if the relationship is abusive? Leaving (and dating someone "worse") can be more difficult that just staying in the relationship, but the priority should be clear.

[-] loutr@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

My tech-illiterate mom uses my Jellyfin instance with no issues. I sent her a link to the app store, her credentials, my server's hostname and that was it. And once it's set up, Jellyfin is much more straightforward to use than Plex.

Sure Jellyfin has issues and doesn't support as many types of devices, but Plex is far from perfect. I use it like twice a year, and the UI gets more and more confusing with each update IMO.

[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago
[-] Zanathos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Thank you Internet stranger for reminding me of this sketch.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

3 - An OpenWRT router with Wireguard connecting to another router 1000 miles away will do the trick.

[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Great; how do I get my Mother to do that over the phone?

[-] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It's not a cake walk, but I've something similar for a friend who can barely turn on his PC.

The OpenWRT router was fully configured before shipping it to him and the existing router's needed Wireguard port was opened by me using the Comcast Android app. All he had to do was connect his TV to a new wifi network. That wasn't easy, but he ultimately succeeded.

[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

Ok, so you didn’t walk someone through it; you shipped them something preconfigured.

That’s not going to scale as I share out my server.

[-] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 month ago

That’s not going to scale...

How many mothers do you have?

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago
[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Thanks.

One of my pet peeves is when people immediately jump to whatever their fanboy program of choice is regardless of if it’s actually the right program to run in the situation given.

[-] MaggiWuerze@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago

It's also always the Jellyfin fans that get emotional about this. Liking Plex is like a cardinal sin to them and I should be happy to migrate my entire viewership to a new solutions that requires them to install a vpn client on their device.

Every post I see here about Plex is some variation of Gotcha! or Schadenfreude where they expect everyone to say, "oh no, guess I'll pack it up and start fresh"

[-] kieron115@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Seriously. I hate when people assume default settings are the only option. You don't even need a Plex account to set up Plex. It will just be less seamless and user friendly. Never adopt the server, configure these via localhost (ssh tunnel works) and then set up your networking. Don't even need to update it, it will run for as long as the database stays stable. Which should be years or more.

[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

If #3 is your use case, then yeah, pony up the fees. Or learn to code I guess.

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago
[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Where do I find Wireguard for my LG TV?

You can’t expect my relatives living 100+ miles away to start monkeying around with their router. That be like asking you to set the spark plug timing correctly using a timing gun.

[-] HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Did you even read the link? You don't need it on every device. It's not really that difficult to understand.

I AM A 48 YEAR OLD FORMER FUCKING TRUCK DRIVER FOR FUCKS SAKE, and yet, I still managed to set up tailscale on my phone and a computer, and then access my stuff that ISNT running tailscale in any way, shape or form, from my phone, simply because I decided to figure it the fuck out.

Stop being so damned lazy.

[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Stop being so dam lazy and do all the things you pay someone else to do.

Mow the lawn. Fix the plumbing. Run new electrical. Neuter the cat. Clean your teeth. Do your taxes. Properly segment your network into several VLANs so that your IoT devices can’t talk to your internal network.

[-] HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I do all of those things except neuter animals. Most rural folks do.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (21 replies)
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
186 points (90.4% liked)

Selfhosted

49624 readers
240 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we're here to support and learn from one another. Insults won't be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it's not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS