If you’re just starting out, skip Plex and go right to Jellyfin. It’s a bit less powerful and less polished, but FAR more reliable.
There’s this thing in Plex called the “Plex dance” (https://www.plexopedia.com/plex-media-server/general/plex-dance/) that you have to do every once in a while because something went wrong and you have to reset your library. But it also means you lose any customization you’ve done on your library, like setting specific covers (e.g. matching TV season posters) and you lose all your watched/unwatched data. I got sick of doing that and moved to Jellyfin. Haven’t had to do it since.
I’ve been using Plex for over a decade and Jellyfin for a few years, IMO Plex is the better of the two, but that’s only because it’s an actual company not an open source project like Jellyfin is.
The fact that Jellyfin is written in .Net makes it a pain in the ass to install on Linux (if you’re not using some sort of containerized installation) and it always floods the logs with gigantic stack traces anytime something errors out, and it’s usually only helpful to the devs, not the end user.
Isn’t Jellyfin something that I have to run through a computer, phone, or tablet? My living room TV is just a Walmart special with a Roku box. I’m too lazy to get more technical than that.
Edit: I stand corrected. I see it on Roku. I’ll see what it does. Thanks
That’s just the Roku client (which is what I program for). All it can do is pull data from your Jellyfin server using the server’s API. You’ll need to have the server software running somewhere and point the Roku client to it.
I don’t know about that side of it, I just run it as a docker container and play it on my PC or cast it to my Chromecast from my phone to play on the TV.
Today I learned that Plex exists, so thank you!
If you’re just starting out, skip Plex and go right to Jellyfin. It’s a bit less powerful and less polished, but FAR more reliable.
There’s this thing in Plex called the “Plex dance” (https://www.plexopedia.com/plex-media-server/general/plex-dance/) that you have to do every once in a while because something went wrong and you have to reset your library. But it also means you lose any customization you’ve done on your library, like setting specific covers (e.g. matching TV season posters) and you lose all your watched/unwatched data. I got sick of doing that and moved to Jellyfin. Haven’t had to do it since.
I’ve been using Plex for over a decade and Jellyfin for a few years, IMO Plex is the better of the two, but that’s only because it’s an actual company not an open source project like Jellyfin is.
The fact that Jellyfin is written in .Net makes it a pain in the ass to install on Linux (if you’re not using some sort of containerized installation) and it always floods the logs with gigantic stack traces anytime something errors out, and it’s usually only helpful to the devs, not the end user.
Isn’t Jellyfin something that I have to run through a computer, phone, or tablet? My living room TV is just a Walmart special with a Roku box. I’m too lazy to get more technical than that.
Edit: I stand corrected. I see it on Roku. I’ll see what it does. Thanks
That’s just the Roku client (which is what I program for). All it can do is pull data from your Jellyfin server using the server’s API. You’ll need to have the server software running somewhere and point the Roku client to it.
By itself, the Roku client will do nothing.
Yeah I learned that when I tried to open it.
The Plex thing has straight up streaming material like Tubi, so that was neat.
Highly unlikely I’m going to go the lengths of learning to sail, storing my booty, and transfering it to a server I don’t understand.
Yeah, you need a Jellyfin server with all of your media to make Jellyfin on there useful.
I don’t know about that side of it, I just run it as a docker container and play it on my PC or cast it to my Chromecast from my phone to play on the TV.
Oh my. I’ve had a Plex server for over ten years now. Enjoy! 😄