Or even better, get one of the many LibreELEC supported devices (including, as somebody mentioned, a Raspberry Pi 5) and put LibreELEC on it (which is a pared-down Linux with Kodi).

Personally after maybe a decade running successive generations of TV Media Players to play my growing video file collection on my TV, on my latest upgrade I ended up going down the Mini-PC with Linux and Kodi on autostart route (as I used it also as a home server) and am very satisfied with it, though if I wanted to just use it as a Media Player I would've gone with LibreELEC and on of the various ARM SBCs they support (maybe the Pi, maybe something cheaper).

There really is no reason to use closed commercial solutions for this.

[–] cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 7 points 7 hours ago

fire tv is awful but are they banning plex? jellyfin?

[–] ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 5 points 6 hours ago

I need to get rid of my Amazon prime account...

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 8 hours ago

Just get a GabeCube or a raspberry pi 5 if you really just need streaming

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 26 points 14 hours ago

You don't own your TV.

[–] sirico@feddit.uk 2 points 8 hours ago

Back to Kodi

[–] Cooper8@feddit.online 7 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

aren't I glad I just bought an Onn instead.

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 6 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeah same with me getting a Xiaomi Box. Not being able to swap the default launcher on the Fire Stick was motive enough.

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

How are Onn or Xiaomi different? I think Onn is walmarts brand right?

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 8 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

ONN and Xiaomi are different in that they run a version of Android TV that's closer to stock, and thus is less locked down. As I said, last time I checked the Fire Sticks don't even let you swap their Ad ridden default launcher without workarounds (that they are hard at work in breaking), meanwhile on the Xiaomi/ONN box you just download one from wherever you want and it's done, they also are not doing any "piracy app crackdown" (well, until Google's stupid future Sideloading restrictions come into play)
And yes, ONN is a Walmart Brand.

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Is switching the launcher equivalent to switching operating system? I'm a bit concerned it would still be tracking and collecting data.

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Not really no, all swapping the launcher does is free you from staring at the ad ridden "Google TV" launcher but they could still track you.

[–] theangriestbird@beehaw.org 7 points 13 hours ago

Well if they drop Jellyfin, I know at least one friend that would rather drop their Fire TV than go without. Here's hoping this backfires and just drops Amazon's TV user base with no positive tradeoff for them.

[–] dimkin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 17 hours ago

I wonder where they would draw the line? Smarttube? It's not piracy but circumvents ads. Mayby Jellyfin or Plex? They are not piracy specificly but it's how I consume?

[–] mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 10 hours ago

Tivotization? Doesn't that shit runs Linux?

AH FUCK I FORGOT. Yeah Linus Torvalds decided he didnt want GPLv3 on Linux...

Fun indeed.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 112 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Just use a mini PC and pirate everything. The amazon fire interface sucks anyways. Every streaming service is in a different app and you have to remember which app to use for each show.

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 hours ago

Yah we have one TV in our house and it has a RPI5 on it with a SSD and a keyboard with a trackpad in it… it’s the perfect machine to watch everything ever with an awesome interface.

[–] Hyperrealism@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 hours ago

Or buy a second hand pc for not much more than 50 euros/dollars. Install linux and it'll be more than fast enough for torrenting, playing media and a bit of surfing. Companies are off loading anything that can't run windows 11 right now.

Also means you're not torrenting stuff on your main system while gaming.

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 22 points 21 hours ago

After a long time trying to wrap my head around, I finally have jellyfin, are Services, with transmission running behind a vpn, all running seamlessly with a single docker compose file. It's beautiful. I'm only sad I didn't do it sooner. Fuck these companies.

[–] Cherry@piefed.social 3 points 18 hours ago

Got any suggested tutorials?

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 44 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

So they’re blocking Youtube? A few copyrighted things knocking around on there last I checked.

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 38 points 20 hours ago (4 children)

The Star Wars Holiday Special will remain there because no one wants to admit they own it

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 9 hours ago

This one?
https://youtu.be/UL-hL6_XR30

[–] Harkronis@kbin.melroy.org 3 points 12 hours ago

More like almost nobody wants to admit that they took part in it or lucas himself greenlighting it.

[–] Doubleohdonut@lemmy.ca 4 points 17 hours ago

Bea Arthur's finest role 😆

[–] BruisedMoose@piefed.social 2 points 17 hours ago

I remember buying a bootleg copy of that and the Corman Fantastic Four movie on VHS at some record show years back. Owning those was a matter of pride.

[–] belated_frog_pants@beehaw.org 1 points 10 hours ago

Fire tv sucks, get anything else

[–] Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Most interesting part of this article is the mention of VegaOS, which I hadn't heard of. Not because I approve of anything Amazon does, ever, but depending on how much of a Linux it actually is, the jailbreaking / homebrew potential is intriguing.