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Advice for Linux media center
(sh.itjust.works)
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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If you don't need transcoding, then anything should be able to handle it. But, if you are planning to stream over the Internet to your phone on LTE, you'll "probably" want transcoding, or if you are streaming to set top boxes, they may not support the codecs you used, and will also require transcoding.
I personally am using Jellyfin, and find it to be great for TV shows, movies, and you tube (via tubearchivist + its jellyfin plugin). It's dead simple to setup, its metadata is perfect, and there are great frontends for it. Other than the big update from about 6 months ago, it has mostly been a set it and forget it.
Some people use jellyfin for music, but I find navidrome a much better option for music.
I run my media server on a fitlet2. It isn't super powerful, but has been a great little machine. It can transcode 1080p just fine, but would struggle for doing anything higher than that.
It hosts about 30 other things too, including my camera and NVR with frigate.